CO-GAS SAFETY

Stephanie Trotter became involved through meeting Molly Maher, who had lost her son, Gary, through CO poisoning in Tenerife. Molly’s daughter, Sheree was confined to a wheelchair, as a result of the same incident. Molly had set up a charity called Consumer Safety International (lobbying for safer holidays). Stephanie had been campaigning for children’s activity holiday centres to be licensed. (her son, Alex was injured at one and had to have an operation for a clot on the brain. Luckily he recovered completely and now has a 2:1 degree from Southampton University (Philosophy) and is training to become a lawyer, as are both his parents. Stephanie's husband, John Trotter is a senior partner at Bates Wells & Braithwaite, a leading firm of charity lawyers).

Stephanie is a barrister, who has practised and has also lectured at the Inns of Court School of Law for nine years, (postgraduate course - final year of the Bar Exams). She knew nothing about CO poisoning when she started. Hardly any bodies would talk to the charity so she learned from the victims and their families. The same stories recurred again and again.

Quite quickly, Stephanie had compiled a list of aims and objectives that were prepared in February 1995 for our constitution. It is depressing to read these now and find that so few are fulfilled and so many are still extremely urgent. However, there is now a European Standard for CO alarms, (EN50291) and more or less, registration for individual gas operatives. We have also published our own data of CO deaths and incidents. But there are still objectives that are unfulfilled, for example that landlords be licensed, and/or landlords' gas safety certificates require that the appliances is serviced or at least a record of the combustion gas is measured, given to the tenant and kept and that no household be supplied with gas, without proof of service.