Carbon Monoxide (CO) has tragic consquences once again

[Loafer]

Does anyone here remember Derek & Clive's take on labelling things correctly?

[Lmcgrath87]

How sad, we recently had a death from carbon monoxide poisoning in the village.

 

We also had our own issues with carbon monoxide in the boat last week, all sorted now, and before anything tragic happened, you really can't be laid back about this type of thing.

[RufusR]

I must say I was very surprised to find that altough our boat was fitted out to a very high spec neither the builder or the subsequent 2 owners added either smoke or CO alarms , Seems very odd given the low cost and risks , I have gone a bit ott and now have 2 of each , different types with different sounds and even a voice warning as well .. If we sleep though that lot plus the dog barking at them going off then there really is no hope

[Proper Charlie]

Just had a stove fitted on our boat so have bought two carbon monoxide alarms and one smoke alarm which I will fit at the weekend. Carbon monoxide at about 3' from the floor (height of our heads when asleep) and smoke alarm on ceiling not far from stove - is that correct? Thanks.

[magictime]

It would appear a good idea if taken quickly and in isolation but that kind of legislation rarely works as many of us are just plain stupid. There are many examples that could be quoted but lets take an easy one. For years now there has been a product sold in the UK that legislation states had to have a public health warning on the packet it does in fact on many packets state " Smoking Kills " it is the only product in the country you can buy that states this FACT some products give health warnings but non that strongly. Yet how many still smoke?

 

Just under 20% of adults now, I believe, as opposed to more like 45% in the 70s.

[Guest]

Proper Charlie, on 17 Mar 2016 - 3:14 PM, said:Proper Charlie, on 17 Mar 2016 - 3:14 PM, said:Proper Charlie, on 17 Mar 2016 - 3:14 PM, said:Proper Charlie, on 17 Mar 2016 - 3:14 PM, said:

Just had a stove fitted on our boat so have bought two carbon monoxide alarms and one smoke alarm which I will fit at the weekend. Carbon monoxide at about 3' from the floor (height of our heads when asleep) and smoke alarm on ceiling not far from stove - is that correct? Thanks.

 

Have a look here.

 

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/stay-safe/carbon-monoxide-(co)/placing-co-alarms/

 

and

 

http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/stay-safe/fire-safety-for-boats/smoke-alarms-for-boats/choosing-a-smoke-alarm/ which has a link to this PDF

 

D1-FACT-FILE-SMOKE-ALARMS-IN-BOATS-FIA-FINAL.pdf

Edited March 17, 2016 by MJG

[mrsmelly]

 

Just under 20% of adults now, I believe, as opposed to more like 45% in the 70s.

 

Yes its on the decrease but still one in five people that do it is mind blowing. As for other regulation that is frequently ignored the wearing of seat belts is a good example. In a previous life I went to several road accidents many of which the seat belt had helped stop serious or fatal injuries and only once did I attend an accident where a seatbelt direc tly contributed to the death of the driver. In fact at the inquest the coroner stated that the wearing of the seat belt on this occasion had contributed greatly to the significant injury which led to the death of the 19 year old driver. It was a great shame as I was talking to her less than an hour b4 she died. I never drive without my seatbelt but I have been known to be stupid enough to ride my Trike in the past without a crash helmet which is bloomin stupid.

 

Tim

[valrene9600]

I have no time for an organisation that issues Safety certificates for a boat that could be the death of an owner. It insists on gas test for leaks, excellent. But couldn't care less about insisting a boat has a smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.

All they do is give their belt and braces advice to fit them.

Why not do away with the test altogether if the safety of the boater is so low down the list.

[MtB]

 

Mmm... I'm not sure that we really require death or serious injury to occur before we mandate common sense requirements such as labelling that may help to prevent smaller mistakes or accidents.

 

 

Tricky isn't it? So you support the refusal of a safety certificate for things that might only prevent a 'mistake'? Bureaucrat's dream, you!

 

 

 

 

I have several lockers on my boat - at the bow and the stern - each capable of containing a gas bottle. How would common sense quickly know which was which without a label?

 

My version of common sense tells me that the quickest and easiest way for most literate people to differentiate is by reading a label.

 

 

Common sense says look in all of them, in case the labeling is missing from one or more. Or wrong.

[AndrewIC]

I have no time for an organisation that issues Safety certificates for a boat that could be the death of an owner.

If I remember correctly, in one of the revisions of the BSS over the last 15 years, some of the previously mandatory requirements were changed to advisory (ventilation being one of them) on private boats. These were mostly things that might affect the owner and crew of the boat, leaving as mandatory things that may impact others or the environment (explosions, pollution, etc). The reasoning being that the scheme was felt to be excessively prescriptive and "nanny state", and your safety on your boat was ultimately your responsibility. If memory serves, thats more or less how we ended up with with two different sets of BSS requirements for private and hire boats. I know I had a minor row with an examiner about it when it changed.

 

There used to be stories (hopefully apocryphal*) of fire extinguishers being "borrowed" to pass a BSS exam, so even mandating something is no guarantee of compliance.

 

Yes, I have CO and smoke detectors, and an LPG alarm.

 

(* are we I still allowed to say "apocryphal"?)

[Theo]

Snip

 

(* are we I still allowed to say "apocryphal"?)

 

I think, on reflection that I can pass this but thank you for asking

 

Theo

[Jon12345]

In a previous employment I used to receive the statistics for Gas and carbon monoxide related incidents for domestic properties.

 

They where published by the HSE I would assume they do for boats also?

 

This is an old one from 2005/2006 I managed to find online:

 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr634.pdf

[magictime]

 

Yes its on the decrease but still one in five people that do it is mind blowing. As for other regulation that is frequently ignored the wearing of seat belts is a good example.

 

But you were claiming that this sort of legislation 'rarely works'. It's a bit of a stretch to say that because legislation has only succeeded in halving the number of smokers - thereby preventing millions of smoking-related deaths - it hasn't worked. Ditto seatbelt legislation; yes, some people ignore it some of the time, but it's saved thousands of lives by pushing seatbelt use up to 90% or more. Again, that's hardly an example of legislation 'not working'.

[cuthound]

(* are we I still allowed to say "apocryphal"?)

 

I think, on reflection that I can pass this but thank you for asking;)

 

Theo

I can see the recent ban on discussing religion impacting on topics such as floods, high winds and insurance policy terms. After all they all related to acts of (insert the diety of choice)

[Dave Payne]

Spotted yesterday in Aldi they are selling smoke/CO alarms from Thursday i think £13...