Role of Technology in Identifying, Managing and Learning from CO Exposure Incidents

TSSA International Conference Carbon Monoxide Risk Assessment

and Management

9th/10th November 2016

Toronto, Canada

Leigh Greenham BSc CEng MIET

CoGDEM

Council of Gas Detection & Environmental Monitoring

UK-based trade association, with international membership

Founded in 1974, now over 60 member companies

Members are manufacturers and service providers in the field of gas detection

Protecting everything from the smallest bedsit, caravan or tent to the largest offshore oil & gas platform or refinery

Key role in writing standards

CO helpline in the UK - 0800 1694 457

Relevant CO Detectors

• Domestic CO alarms• Dataloggers• Medical screening instruments• Personal Protective Equipment,

workers’ CO detectors• Electronic Combustion Gas Analysers

(aka Flue Gas Analysers, FGAs)• In-situ combustion sensors

Typical CO alarms from CoGDEM member companies

The applicable standards

• EN 50291 (construction and testing of domestic CO alarms)

now split into:

• EN 50291-1 as before for domestic dwellings

• EN 50291-2 new tests for recreational vehicles

much lobbying for EN 50291 to be published in EU Official Journal under the Construction Products Regulations (CPR)

• UL 2034 & CSA 6.19-01(‘Residential carbon monoxide alarming devices’)

CO alarm innovations

Low concentration indication

Warning display

Wireless comms & Internet of Things &Connected Homes

Travel alarms

Sensor formats

Internal datalogging & phone apps

Innovations – Flues in Voids monitoring

Innovations – Flues in Voids monitoring

Low cost CO datalogger

• USB stick format

• 0 to 1000ppm or 0 to 300ppm ranges

• Programmable logging period, 10 seconds to 5 minutes

• 32,000 readings, max 3 months capacity

• Simple interface

• Graphic and tabular o/p

EasyLog – motorhome cooker emissions test

COHb screening instruments (1)

• Exhaled breath monitoring

• 15 second breath hold

• Face mask for unconscious patients

COHb screening instruments (2)

• Pulse CO-Oximetry

• Non-invasive

• Suitable for unconscious or unwilling patients or those with facial injuries or respiratory problems

CO PPE for workers

Gas Distribution Networks now equipping their First Call Operatives with industrial grade CO monitors

Blue Light emergency service usage now commonplace

Low cost personal CO detectors

Typically:-

• small, can be lapel-mounted• one or two year life • sealed for life battery• limited display• no pump option• limited datalogging

Innovative high-integrity instrument

Flue Gas Analysers – standards & assessments

EN 50379 (performance and testing of FGA products, updated 2012)BS 7967 (use of FGAs)TS 50612 (first EU guidance document, led by UK, published 2013)2012 - CPA1 mandatory in UK 2013 - CMDDA1 option2014 - mandatory measurement of the combustion performance of new gas boiler installations

Flue Gas Analysers – mandatory test for CO

Flue Gas Analysers – Benchmark

New sensors for CO in-flue

Learning from CO alarm helpline calls

Learning from CO alarm helpline calls

Frequently Asked Questions (pre-purchase)

• Where can I buy a CO alarm?

• I’m old and on benefits, can you send me a free alarm?

• Can I buy a CO alarm to take on holiday?

• I’m a landlord, do I have to fit a CO alarm?

• I am pregnant or I have a young baby, do I need a more sensitive device?

Frequently Asked Questions (after purchase)

• Where do I fit my new CO alarm?

• Why did my alarm activate late at night?

• My alarm sounded, is my long term health at risk?

• My alarm is bleeping slowly and the green light is flashing, is there CO around?

Some of the more unusual calls

• Ethnic cooking in domestic kitchens

• Flats above restaurants and shisha bars

• Other CO migration cases

• Rare events: commercial coffee grinding, smouldering cables, overheated coconut oil