A joint campaign by Sprue Safety Products and the Gis A Hug Foundation to keep more people safe from the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) in Northern Ireland is gathering pace, with over 30 wholesalers and merchants across the region already signed up.

From 1 October, Sprue has been donating one CO alarm to the charity for every 20 FireAngel CO-9XT carbon monoxide alarms sold from participating wholesalers in the province.

“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with Gis A Hug in this campaign and we’re delighted with the great response we’ve had already from the trade,” said Brian Trueman, Sprue’s area specification manager for Scotland and Ireland.

“The Foundation does a tremendous job in raising awareness of this deadly gas and in protecting the more vulnerable by providing free carbon monoxide alarms.

“With the heating season underway, this is an excellent opportunity for plumbing and heating engineers to keep more people CO safe. By teaming up maintenance work with advice, they play a vital role in ensuring customers take the right action to stay safe, including having working carbon monoxide alarms in the right locations. By doing so this winter, they will help to protect other more vulnerable people at the same time.”

With 12 branches throughout the region, Bassetts was among the first to sign up. Pictured at the Mallusk branch, Paddy Lowry said: “This is a great campaign to be involved in and rewarding to know that more lives can be saved as a result.”

Mr Trueman added: “The new guidance introduced in Northern Ireland last year making CO alarms mandatory wherever a new or replacement combustion appliance is installed in a home – regardless of the appliance's fuel type – will hopefully improve this situation. “However, many think that carbon monoxide only comes from gas appliances and assume they’re not at risk of poisoning because they don’t have a boiler, but any fuel that burns creates carbon monoxide. Worryingly, CO can also enter a property from adjoining buildings.”

The FireAngel CO-9XT is ideal for providing early warning of the presence of carbon monoxide. Based on the most advanced electrochemical sensors available for the domestic market and certified to the European Standard BS EN 50291-1: 2010, this battery-operated alarm is easy to install with a fast-fix single pin bracket, simple to set up and features a tamper-proof internal power pack that has a guaranteed seven-year life.

For elderly or less able residents, it features a large, easy-to-use test button with three LEDs showing power, fault and alarm, so that an immediate visual check can be made to identify if a CO leak has occurred.

For management purposes, the CO-9XT also has a diagnostic capability that, in the event of the alarm going off, enables a report to be downloaded onto a PC giving the time, date and level of CO in the property at the time the alarm was triggered.

In response to some confusion regarding the positioning of CO alarms, Sprue has produced an installation video for the FireAngel CO-9X to clarify how to fix and locate a CO alarm correctly. Further guidance is available in BS EN 50292 and at Sprue Safety Products’ websites: www.sprue.com or www.fireangel.co.uk.

To find out how you can get involved in Sprue’s campaign with Gis A Hug, visit: www.gisahugfoundation.co.uk or www.fireangel.co.uk.