Council ordered to pay out £25k+ after tenant put at risk of poisoning

A borough council has been ordered to pay out more than £25,000 in fines and costs after a tenant was put at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

A contractor for Chesterfield Borough Council who was carrying out roof work on a house in Stand Road, Newbold had advised the local authority that the chimney stack was leaning and in danger of collapse.

Chesterfield arranged for the stack to be removed and capped. However, the stack contained the flue for a gas fire and gas-fired back boiler.

The removal and capping meant there was no direct route for carbon monoxide and combustion products from the fire and boiler to be safely vented to open air.

As a result gas fed back into the house via the fire into the lounge and attic and outside through the eaves.

The problem was only discovered six weeks later, in October 2011, when Chesterfield carried out the annual gas safety check on the property.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive found that the local authority was aware the property contained working gas appliances as they were listed on two separate databases. However, the council failed to check them.

The HSE added that at no point was the presence of the live gas appliances mentioned to the roofing contractor. The chimney stack was removed and the subsequent invoice detailing the work was paid by the council without question.

Chesterfield pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 for failing to maintain its property in such a way that the tenant was not exposed to the risks associated with carbon monoxide.

Chesterfield Magistrates' Court fined the council £18,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £7,534.

HSE inspector Scott Wynne said: "It was pure luck that the tenant did not suffer any serious effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. This was probably due in part to the particularly warm weather at that time of year which meant the tenant often had the windows open and only used the gas boiler for hot water.

"Chesterfield Borough Council was in a position of trust. It had a duty of care to its tenant but because it did not properly consult its own records or do any kind of follow-up checks once the stack had been removed, it failed in that duty.”

Wynne added: "It was also extremely fortunate that the annual safety inspection was due at that time. If it had been due later in the year the tenant may not have survived to tell the tale."