Gas detection equipment 'might have saved security guard's life'

Drager - Pac 7000 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Personal Gas Detector

A security guard who died of carbon monoxide poisoning could have been saved had the correct gas detection equipment and other safeguards been in place, a jury has heard.

Companies who ask employees to work within confined spaces where toxic gas may be present might be wise to supply them with gas detection equipment such as the Drager - Pac 7000 Carbon Monoxide (CO) Personal Gas Detector.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can be fatal, as was evidenced in the case of a 45-year-old security guard who died on his first shift at an unused Gravesend nursing home.

Aurthur Ebirim had switched on a petrol-powered generator provided for light and heat at Wimborne House, Taunton Vale on October 27th 2011.

The father-of-three had called his wife to describe the place as "lonely and dark" and it was she who raised the alarm the next day when he failed to return home.

Anita Ebirim told This Is Local London that she had feared her husband had been beaten up.

"He called me and said it was lonely and dark. He had never worked in Gravesend before," she explained.

"I said, 'I hope no one's going to beat you up like they used to do'."

The inquest into Mr Ebirim's death found that he was discovered dead in a locked room and that the generator had a hand-written warning on it that the area should remain well ventilated when it was switched on.

Fenton Solicitors' Etala Anderson represented the victim in court earlier this week and claimed that the hearing had been unfair as there had been a lack of access to key witnesses.

The jury did hear from Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector John Hazeldean, who explained that carbon monoxide is a well-known killer and that gas detection equipment and other safeguards could have prevented the tragedy.

"It was not what I would call satisfactory performing," he told the jury.

"You would have alarms, all sorts of things if you thought gas would be present. Reliance on instructions to keep the door open would be insufficient."

According to HSE statistics, approximately 11 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by appliances and flues which have not been installed properly.

This can be avoided by using the correct equipment.  Frontline Safety offer a range of both fixed and portable gas detection instruments, including the Drager Pac 7000 shown above which can be purchased through the website.

Written by Chris Malone