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Heard the news today?

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-17739737

Gas fitter jailed for 3 years after his customer dies of CO poisoning. Just goes to show you really can't be complacent with gas. He's got to live with that guilt for the rest of his life now. I don't think I could cope.


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very sad loss of life just goes to show even the pro`s make mistakes
 
I agree, very sad and shouldn't have happened. A terrible mistake that will live with all concerned for the rest of their lives.

I suppose the backlash will be all negative to our trade but it must be said that 'He who has never made a mistake has never made anything'.
 
I know it sounds bad, but it's made worse for us as he was a registered installer. If he'd been a cowboy then there would be no surprise. And unfortunately by the sounds of it this was a genuine one-off slip up on his part.

Probably been rushing through the job to try and compete with the illegal installers prices. I feel sorry for all involved tbh, including the installer, but he should have done his job correctly and made safety his priority.


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And why is the Gas Safe Register (a private company operating outside government, of course) not being criticised for failure here. He was/is a Gas Safe Registered Engineer, who wasn't 'gas safe'! If this was a case involving a death by shotgun, those people who approved the issue of a shotgun certificate would be under the microscope and being hounded by the tabloid press, by now.
 
I was wondering what the fault was too

No word from hse or gas safe yet thou

Prob be in next months magazine
 
I read about this case before, apparently it had something to do with not using the securing screws supplied with the flue? Not sure it the flue came apart though.
 
goz666 said:
Knocks me sick, three years for that.....He'd get less for being a paedophile !!!
Click to expand...

funny how they can always send a one manband to prison but large companies like british rail cause many deaths by failing to carry out correct procedure and all they get is a big fine not just once but on at least two occasions that ive heard of recently one being the potters bar incident and the second was a crossing they new to be substandard

oh its the rich wot gets the pleasure
and the poor wat gets the blame
its been like that for ever
oh wat a bleeedin shame
 
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We do not know the actual cause of this so called co poisoning, if we did we could comment but because we don,t we can not
I wish the chap the very best as he is obviously now suffering
 
now you've mentioned screws haven't we had a topic on this before ? my point then was the screws tap into the air intake not the outlet
 
are they talking about the little self tappers that you connect the horizontal flue onto the flue elbow? If so, how would the flue dislodge from the elbow on its own accord?
 
to goto work as a gas fitter and to be home as a killer ,,,feel sorry for all here in this story
 
Is the answer to fit a CO detector with each install? They're relatively cheap. British Gas seem to push them all the time like power flushes.
 
I don't understand how this has happened, if it was a new boiler would it not go into shutdown if the flue outlet wasn't making a good seal. ????
 
Sad story for all concerned.

I can't help wondering that if she wasn't from a wealthy family (which I believe she was) whether the sentence would have been more of a fine as opposed to a custodial sentence?
 
It is very sad indeed and my prayers go out to all concerned. And as some point out, it could happen to anybody. But it also proves being GasSafe does not guarantee good work as we are all human and humans can make mistakes.
 
I still don't get how it came apart? When the flue goes from the boiler to the core in wall and out, there is hardly any room for movement. So how does it just come apart. Unless it was a long run of horizontal flue. This is such a shame. I feel for all
 
mutley racers said:
I still don't get how it came apart? When the flue goes from the boiler to the core in wall and out, there is hardly any room for movement. So how does it just come apart. Unless it was a long run of horizontal flue. This is such a shame. I feel for all
Click to expand...

Me either. Once it's in the elbow and sealed around it shouldn't be able to move. With or without the screws!


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i feel all details of exactly what happened should be made available to all engineers via the gas safe magazine or the website as professionals we shouldn't have to surmise from various news reports the hse must have the full details on file to make available
 
It is a bit unusual isn't it? What sort of boiler flue was it? Perhaps it was a two piece that came apart and leaked into the cavity. One report I read said it took only 17minutes to give off enough carbon monoxide to kill the girl in the shower. That is pretty quick? Was the bathroom vented they usually are? Was the boiler in the bathroom? So many questions but so sad for the girls and fitters family.
 
Isn't a new boiler chucking out this amount of CO faulty, irrespective of whether it's going through a flue or not?
 
Yes I agree dontknowitall, it does seem wrong. But then you never know if the report was right or not. If it was, it should be a great concern to everybody. But then a big combi doesn't half shove out some flue gas.
 
If she was showering the boiler will have been firing at full knacker. We don't know what was wrong with the flue, it sounds to me like the boiler was re-cycling the POC's rather than bringing in fresh air.


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Maybe the flue wasn't pushed in properly. When fitting a vertical flue to a boiler downstairs it isn't so easy to get right first time so I check every new install with a flue gas analyser. If it doesn't quite go in all the way then it will show on the co/co2 ratio or co ppm.
 
that's all i can think it could be. Obviously the installer did not have an analyser. Maybe it's a good thing they are becoming compulsory
 
mutley racers said:
Maybe it's a good thing they are becoming compulsory
Click to expand...

To be able to use, not neccessarily to actually use


The boiler was in the garage; (Independant)

Miss Anderson died within just 30 minutes of being exposed to the carbon monoxide after fumes leaked from the flue pipe connected to the boiler in the garage of the Victorian townhouse.
 
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what's that snowhead, it is only compulsory to understand how to use them? I thought you were not allowed to work on fires or boilers without them? That is what I was told any way
 
You're not allowed to leave an incomplete flue, but people do.

Just because people are trained doesn't mean they always abide by the training.
 
mutley racers said:
what's that snowhead, it is only compulsory to understand how to use them? I thought you were not allowed to work on fires or boilers without them? That is what I was told any way
Click to expand...

You need the CPA1 qualification, but you don't legally have to own/use an analyser.


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