Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning

The symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are often nonspecific but can include headaches, nausea, tiredness, and chest or stomach pains. If you experience any of these symptoms, seek medical advice immediately.

How to safeguard against carbon monoxide poisoning

To protect yourself and those around you, tenants should adopt several precautionary measures:

• Ensure your appliances are installed correctly
• For gas appliances, check the gas flame stays blue and doesn’t flicker or turn orange
• Check there is no soot around gas appliances and that chimneys and flues are not blocked
• Watch that your gas pilot light doesn’t keep blowing out
• In rooms with gas appliances, check you cannot see or smell smoke or that there’s not excessive condensation
• Complete regular appliance maintenance
• Keep your rooms well-ventilated
• Fit carbon monoxide detectors near gas appliances and ensure your detector stays in working order

If you suspect carbon monoxide, open all windows and doors, move yourself outside and call the National Gas Emergency Service for free on 0800 111 999* immediately. The helpline is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Your landlord’s responsibilities

Whilst you have responsibilities to protect yourself, your landlord has some too. Here they are:

• They must ensure all appliances are in working order at the start of the tenancy
• They must organise annual gas safety checks by a Gas Safe registered engineer and provide a gas safety certificate for all gas appliances on the property
• They must install a carbon monoxide detector near all solid-state fuel appliances (e.g. log burners or open fires)