CORGI Carbon Monoxide Report

CORGI has released its second report that highlights the areas and groups of people who are most at risk of gas-related carbon monoxide poisoning.

Lack of an official, centralised incident reporting system and many cases going undiagnosed, means the overall figures in this report could be much higher.

Worst hit regions
London, Yorkshire, The Midlands and Wales are the worst affected regions in the UK, reporting the most incidents per head of population.

Vulnerable groups
The elderly, those living in private rented accommodation and those living in non-English speaking communities have all been identified as vulnerable groups.

Consumer awareness
The public in general are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning due to their startling lack of knowledge of the dangers. CORGI’s consumer research reveals that 91% of people have a smoke alarm installed but 65% of people do not have a carbon monoxide alarm. Shockingly, 3% of people do not even know what a carbon monoxide alarm is.

Recommendations
Carbon monoxide poisoning can be cause by many factors such as blocked flues and chimneys, installation or appliance faults, owner error and even weather conditions. Counter measures recommended to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning include using a CORGI registered installer to annually service appliances and installing a carbon monoxide alarm.