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NGN offers free carbon monoxide checks to customers

Northern Gas Networks (NGN) has teamed up with Gas Safe Register and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service to offer free home safety checks to customers in Newcastle.

The three organisations will next week offer people at a Newcastle shopping centre free carbon monoxide assessments and the installation of an alarm if they meet specific qualifying criteria.

NGN head of social strategy Tom Bell said: “Poorly maintained gas appliances can be really dangerous and we take the safety of customers very seriously. We want to make people aware that a few simple checks can have a big impact on improving the safety of their appliances to prevent gas leaks, fires, explosions and CO [carbon monoxide] poisoning.

“It is recommended that gas appliances are checked every year to ensure that they are in good condition and this should be done by a Gas Safe Registered engineer.”

Carbon monoxide is often referred to as the ‘silent killer’ as it has no smell, colour or taste, making it difficult to detect and resulting in around 50 deaths in the UK each year.

NGN has been active in its support for preventing CO incidents in homes, having launched a trial scheme in April to install 150 innovative CO detectors in social housing, which send an SMS notification to a nominated mobile phone when CO is detected.

In February, the Gas Safety Trust launched an online portal for data and information relating to CO poisoning in the UK.