GUIDE TO FUEL SAFETY BILL - 17.05.09
(Nutshell and some reasons for drafting this bill) ...See List of Supporters of Bill?
Data
CO-Gas Safety has found 181 deaths and over 1,175 near misses from accidental Carbon
Monoxide (CO) poisoning in three years, from 01.09.95 to 31.08.98.
DTI figures show 50 deaths and 175 injured per year from accidental CO from domestic appliances,
(N.B. DTI does not include accidental CO cases relating to vehicles).
Cost Implications of this Bill
Initial funding might be required but the Bill should be cost neutral or even produce surplus
funds, especially if the costs of each sudden death, (£902,500), and injury (£30,250 average -
both DOT figures at 1997 prices) are taken into account. The Fuel Safety Levy should bring
in at least £19 million per year to be spent on safety improvements. Licensing landlords should
pay for itself and provide interesting, worthwhile jobs.
Please note even on DTI figures these deaths are costing £45,125,000 asnd the injuries are
costing £5,293,750, i.e. £50,418,750 or more than £50 million per year.
Licensing of Landlords, Carbon Monoxide and Fuel Safety in Dwelling-Houses
Bill 1998
Part A Licensing of Landlords of Dwelling-Houses Part B An Annual Safety Check for dwelling-houses (with regard to CO
contamination of dwellings) Part C No Gas Work Without Registration
Part D Registration of any Person who Undertakes Work to Install and/or Maintain
Appliances powered by Combustible Fuels other than Gas Part E Registration of Chimney Engineers Part F Compulsary Insurance of any Person Registered to Undertake Work on an
Appliance Powered by Combustible Fuel Part G New Offence of Causing Serious Injury by Undertaking Work on Appliances
Powered by Combustible Fuel - Gross Negligence Part H Fuel Safety Levy Part I Miscellaneous Provisions to Prevent Deaths and Injury from Carbon Monoxide
Poisoning
A bill to license landlords of dwelling-houses and to improve safety with regard
to the dangers
from carbon-monoxide poisoning from gas and all combustion fuels.
The government has pledged to license Houses of Multiple Occupation but due to deaths
and injuries in ordinary rented accommodation it is felt that all landlords need to
be licensed - N.B. Dog Kennels are licensed (and have been for about 30 years).
N.B. A recent case has highlighted the difficulty of defining HMOs. Even under
the new proposed definition we do not see why ordinary families will not enjoy
the same protection as three unrelated persons.
An annual check (similar to the MOT vehicle check) is attractive but seems
impossible to enforce. This is a compromise on such an annual MOT and puts
the duty on the mortgage lender. Insurance has been considered but will not work.
Only real possibility is to link with Community Charge but this could be very difficult
to administer and enforce. Possibly could be linked with fuel supply - i.e. no supply
without service.
This is to make it illegal for people to undertake DIY gas work, (for example the recent
tragic case of the death of two children and their grandmother from a gas water heater,
installed by the father of the children). At present DIY is legal provided the person
is "competent".
This is to provide registration for fuels other than gas, (44% of the accidental CO deaths
(from domestic appliances for heating or cooking) recorded by CO-Gas were from solid fuel).
This is to provide for registration of chimney sweeps as their work is as important to
safety as that of gas operatives.
This is to provide Public Liability Insurance for persons undertaking such work in order
to raise standards and where necessary, to provide funds for the injured person or
bereaved family, (where someone is injured in a car there is compulsory insurance
and the Motor Insurance Bureau).
If a consumer dies , an operative can be charged with manslaughter, an imprisonable offence.
If by luck, the consumer survives, for a year and a day, the operative can only be charged
with an offence punishable by a fine. Yet the consumer may be a virtual vegetable
and the negligence can be the same, i.e. gross.
The equivalent of a mere £1 per household per year would provide resources for the many
measures which need to be taken to stop these unnecessary deaths and injuries, from better
training and equipment, spot checks and enforcement, to provide some help and support
for bereaved families. Why is there so little help for these people? What is more,
by helping people, flaws in the sytem can be spotted and dealt with.
(i) Vehicle MOTs to include test for exhaust leak into vehicle or cabin.
To cover the cases CO-Gas has come across, where drivers could cause accidents by falling asleep
because of CO.
(ii) Conveyance of property - preliminary questions by purchaser to vendor to include
questions on the installation and maintenance of appliances burning combustible fuels.
To cover the cases we have found where someone moves into a property not realising
that the cooking and heating appliances are lethal.
Comments, (whether good or bad) are very welcome:- * Should CORGI and Environmental Health Officere have powers to issue prohibition
notices under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974? * Should the specific duty on landlords to maintain gas appliances be extended to
appliances powered by other combustible fuels? * Should we strive to try to marry safety with efficiency? Please note that if the government took up this Bill it would no doubt be changed
considerably. I have tried to use some drafting conventions but this has been abandoned
where to do so would either make the text even longer or would obscure the immediate meaning.
Stephanie Trotter, Lorien House, Common Lane, Claygate, Surrey KT10 0HY
This could work and is better than a power to prosecute which could cause double jeopardy
problems. But would this be needed if the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was properly
resourced and the law required the licensing of all landlords?
If there is licensing, this could be made a specific condition of the licence anyway.
We did try this but reluctantly decided it did not seem to work. However, inevitably,
safer appliances are also more efficient so fuel should be saved and emmissions reduced.
It is also unlikely that the idea of allowing the licensing authority itself to prosecute
would find favour - the job of prosecuting would probably be given to the Health and
Safety Executive. However, I would like to see an independant prosecutor because the
HSE is short of resources - in 1996/7 it only investigated 4% of the 50,000 major incidents
and only 15% of the 359 cases of gassing, poisoning and asphyxiation - HSE's own figures,
published by the institute of Employment rights Tel 0171 738 9511
If you would be kind enough to add your name to our petition for the Fuel safety Bill, we would be very grateful. please click on the "sign our petition" link below.
İStephanie Trotter 1999
