A Wearside housing association has been fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £25,000 in costs after one its tenants died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The Sunderland based social housing landlord, Gentoo Group Ltd, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after 80 year old George Rutherford was found dead in his Penshaw home in 2007.
The source of the carbon monoxide was discovered to be a solid fuel burner which powered the heating and hot water system. Although an annual inspection visit had been carried out a month previously, the fire was lit at the time of the inspection, so the "throat plate" where ash accumulates was not inspected.
At Newcastle Crown Court, the social landlord pleaded guilty to breaching the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations SI 1999/3242, by failing to make effective maintenance arrangements for solid fuel heaters in the homes they rent out. Gentoo Group conceded that the policies it had in place were deficient and they ought to have done things like providing twice yearly safety checks, making sure the chimney flue was swept twice a year and making sure tenants cleaned the system's throat plate once a month.
After the case, HSE Principal Inspector Bruno Porter said, "The judge accepted that although it cannot be said that Mr Rutherford's death occurred as a result of the company's breach there was at the very least a not insignificant risk of death. Landlords and providers of social housing must make sure that solid fuel appliances are regularly maintained-chimneys must be swept regularly and they must make sure the tenant is capable of, and is actually carrying out, any safety-critical cleaning."
After Mr Rutherford's death, Gentoo changed a number of procedures, including making significant improvements to their annual safety checks and fitting carbon monoxide detectors in their properties with solid fuel appliances.
