The Corgi Trust has published the results from a review of Carbon Monoxide incidents for 2008/9 which involved piped natural gas and LPG within Great Britain.

Of the 56 domestic incidents reviewed, all 56 involved the use of mains gas. No incidents were reported on the use of LPG; that is from refillable fuel tanks or cylinders, reports the leading gas safety charity.

The report does highlight that gas cookers significantly contributed to a rise in mains gas fatalities caused by Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning across Great Britain from 1 July 2008 to 30^th June 2009.

Seven of the 17 deaths caused by CO were associated with cooker appliances, the highest number since 2000/1. Four of the seven deaths were linked with enclosed grill models that did not have automatic shut off valves that operate when the grill is used incorrectly with the door shut. In contrast, the report also identifies gas cookers left on and open for prolonged periods in a small or poorly ventilated kitchen, perhaps to provide an additional source of heat, as an area of misuse that needs to be addressed.

This report has been prepared by Downstream Gas and is funded by The CORGI Trust as a continuation of the work established during a Joint Industry Programme (JIP) addressing carbon monoxide (CO) issues in 1996. This work identifies common concerns involved in CO incidents related to appliance and system design, the home environment, installation, servicing and maintenance. The conclusions reached are intended to help further improve safety, to target investment on CO incident prevention and to identify additional research work.

This is the thirteenth report in a series that began with the publication of a first annual report in 1996 and covers the 12 months of July 2008 to June 2009. During the period details of 56 domestic piped gas incidents were submitted to Downstream Gas and their analysis constitutes the main part of the report. None were linked mains LPG. Details of a further seven incidents that occurred before July 2008 were also received and are included in an appendix and in the revised historical figures in the main body of the report.

To read the full report click here.