Is Your Holiday Home Protected From The ‘Silent Killer’? Carbon Monoxide Responsibilities For Accommodation Providers

Thursday 17th September 2020

When someone books a holiday, what features do they look for? Maybe a hot tub, fire pit or log burner for that little bit of luxury? A carbon monoxide detector might not be top of the list, but with carbon monoxide (CO), or the ‘Silent Killer’ responsible for around 60 accidental deaths every year in England and Wales, ensuring your holiday accommodation is CO safe should be a priority. Did you know that as a holiday home owner in England, you have a legal responsibility to comply with regulations relating to carbon monoxide safety? Holiday-makers want to have peace of mind that their safety is a top priority when booking a holiday, and carbon monoxide safety is no exception.

Why is carbon monoxide dangerous?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a highly poisonous gas with no smell or taste and can be difficult to detect without the aid of a carbon monoxide detector. Symptoms such as tiredness, shortness of breath, nausea and headaches can be easily mistaken for flu or food poisoning. However, after exposure to high levels for 2 hours, the person may become unconscious and could die from this poisonous gas. With such sudden consequences, early detection is critical.

Accommodation providers: Your responsibilities

CO gas is produced by the incomplete burning of fuels containing carbon, for example coal, wood, gas or charcoal. A build-up in emissions of CO gas can come from:
• Faulty gas appliances
• Fuel burning stoves, open fires or BBQs used in poorly ventilated areas
• Running a car engine in an enclosed space.

Holiday Home Owners, like landlords, have a responsibility to ensure that their properties are compliant with the regulations Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015. These regulations state that a carbon monoxide detector should be fitted in any room that has a solid fuel burning appliance such as a log burner or open fire. Whilst not a legal requirement, it is also advisable to install a detector in any room with a gas or oil burning appliance such as a boiler or oven. You should also check and log all smoke and CO alarms on change-over day for added peace on mind.

The maintenance of gas appliances in all properties is also of paramount importance. The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 outlines the legal duties of self-catering accommodation providers to ensure the safety of any guests. All gas appliances should be installed and checked annually by a Gas Safe Engineer. Accommodation providers need to ensure adequate ventilation throughout the holiday accommodation. This is of particular importance in caravans, lodges and tents or glamping pods.

Provide information for your tenants

With frequent change-over of tenants and short-term occupancy, it may also help to provide a factsheet with guidance on carbon monoxide safety. Information such as how to locate and turn off the mains gas supply, what to do if the carbon monoxide alarm goes off or who to contact in an emergency may prove invaluable. Some tenants will be unfamiliar with gas appliances and general advice on how to use them safely could be useful.

Furthermore, unlike some smoke alarms that are prone to false triggers, a CO alarm is very unlikely to go off unless it detects carbon monoxide. False alarms are very unlikely and residents should be advised to act immediately and assume it is an emergency situation. Many people are not aware of the CO emissions from BBQs and camp fires. Cosy fires and family BBQs can prove deadly if emissions are allowed to accumulate in a tent, glamping pod or caravan. Campsites or caravan sites are advised to alert campers to the possible dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from these activities.

Confidence in the UK holiday market

With the trend in UK ‘staycations’ looking set to continue into next year, ensuring the safety of guests in all accommodation will only help to increase confidence in UK holidays. Families should have peace of mind that their safety is of the utmost importance. There are many options for carbon monoxide alarms including combined or separate smoke and CO alarms, audible and visual cues and fixed or portable units. The requirement of each accommodation type varies depending on size, risks and structure.

The Kidde 7DCO alarm is a great solution for most providers as it is Kitemarked as safe for use in all domestic situations as well as in caravans, boats and tents. Its 10-year lifespan, digital display and option for free-standing or wall-mounting makes it a reliable and flexible option. And, with readings taken every 15 seconds and displayed on the digital panel, guests would have complete peace of mind that they are protected from the ‘silent killer’.

A suitable carbon monoxide alarm — Digital Display Carbon Monoxide Alarm 10 Yr Warranty – Kidde 7DCO

If you are an accommodation provider and would like more information, please contact our customer care team on 0800 612 6537.

Mel Saunders

Head of Marketing

Mel joined Safelincs in 2020 and leads the content and marketing team.

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Safelincs Supplying New Nightingale Hospitals

Tuesday 21st April 2020

Over the last few days and weeks we have supplied a number of the new Nightingale Hospitals with essential firefighting equipment and evacuation equipment, usually within very short delivery time frames. To enable a dedicated articulated lorry to collect equipment for the Nightingale Hospital in Cardiff we arranged a special collection and opened specifically for this over the Easter Bank Holiday. We also had to hit tight deadlines to get fire safety equipment to Portsmouth to meet a boat supplying the Nightingale Hospital in Jersey. We are very proud to be part of the nationwide effort to fight the virus and it goes without saying that we heavily discounted the products for the NHS, as we do not want to profiteer from this emergency.

As an essential business, Safelincs is carefully balancing the supply of life-protecting safety equipment with making sure that we protect the health of our staff and keep risks of contracting and spreading Covid-19 as low as possible. We have put a multitude of safety measure in place, such as daily temperature checks and single occupancy of offices as well as social distancing measures in our warehouse and the introduction of split shifts of staff who never come into contact with each other. Out of our 60 staff members, we only have 21 staff spread out over our large 78,000sqf offices and warehouses and 14 staff working from home. We have also implemented extra daily routines for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and door handles and meetings take place over Zoom.

It has been a humbling experience to see every staff member pull together, coping with the sometimes burdensome safety measures.

Harry Dewick-Eisele

Director

MD and founder of Safelincs. Harry has a wealth of in-depth knowledge of all aspects of fire safety and related legislation.

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Safelincs Supplying New Nightingale Hospitals21st April 2020

Risks of Working From Home

Monday 6th April 2020

Working from home is often a new and exciting experience for many employees, but it also brings with it new responsibilities. There are a number of associated risks that are often overlooked or forgotten; risks that you wouldn’t usually consider when working normally because someone else is responsible.

Home working combines all the safety hazards you would find in your normal working environment but instead places them all in your own home. Our Home Working Fire Safety Kit provides a number of essentials for dealing with these risks, giving you piece of mind.

One risk is the increase in the use of electronic devices and wiring, which is a serious fire hazard. In a rush to start work, sockets can easily be overloaded providing an opportunity for fire to break out. Electrical fires are still one of the most common causes of fire in the UK so limiting the chance of ignition is crucial.

Where possible avoid keeping flammable materials, such as paper, near wires and plug sockets. Make sure that your electrical appliances are correctly looked after – do the wires look to be in good health with no damage to the sheathing? The 1kg Powder Extinguisher in this kit will tackle the common fire risks in your home office, including electrical fires.

Working flexible hours when home working is very common and you may find yourself working at night as a result of this. All business workplaces should be fitted with emergency lighting but it is unlikely that you will have this in your own home. The Safe T Light Portable Emergency Light is ideal for home use and will provide you with adequate light to safely evacuate your home in an emergency, should there be a power failure.

Although many people working from home will be office workers, this kit also serves those in the craft or catering industry. The St John Ambulance First Aid Kit is equipped to deal with the most common accidents in and around the home.

People working from home should be encouraged to review the risks and take the appropriate precautions to prevent fires and accidents from happening. Those precautions should include having the means to detect and manage a fire should one occur. In our Home Working Fire Safety Kit, we have also included an optical smoke alarm and a fire blanket to help you cover all the common risks found in the home.

To assist with protecting yourself, your family and your home, there a few simple steps that we would recommend:

Ensure you have the appropriate fire detection and protection methods for yourself and your home, should a fire break out.
Regularly check the health of your devices and their wiring. If any wires appear to be damaged, that device should not be used.
Ensure all electrical devices are turned off and unplugged when not in use to reduce the risk of fire.
Equip your home with a first aid kit, as injuries are often unexpected and immediate treatment is usually the best course of action.
Know how you would evacuate your home in the event of a fire and practice this with all members of the household.

Home Working Fire Safety Kit - Safelincs

Fire blanket included for emergency escape
Supplied with a portable powder extinguisher and emergency light
St John Ambulance first aid kit provides the essentials for minor injuries
Also supplied with an optical smoke alarm and CO alarm
Protect your home office / home working environment

£71.93 ex VAT

£86.32 inc VAT

Buy Now

For more information about our product range or to place an order, call today on 0800 612 6537.

Connor Storr

PPC Specialist

Connor is one of our product administrators. He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to fire and security safes and fire doors.

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Risks of Working From Home6th April 2020

Fire Door Retainers Hold Fire Doors Open Hygienically

Friday 3rd April 2020

With concerns of the coronavirus being spread through contact with door handles and hand plates, many companies and health care settings are looking for solutions to hold fire doors open; reducing the need to touch door handles, without compromising fire safety.

Fire door retainers, such as Dorgard Original and Dorgard SmartSound, hold fire doors open legally and hygienically.

Dorgard Fire Door Retainers offer easy-to-install solutions that can be fitted to an existing fire door in around ten minutes by your own handyman, without the need to book an engineer to install. By fitting your fire doors with either the Dorgard Original or the upgraded version Dorgard SmartSound, you can hold fire doors open legally and eliminate the need to open the door using the handle once the Dorgard plunger has been depressed. This reduces the risk of germs and viruses spreading. The Dorgard will let the fire door close automatically when a fire alarm sounds, as the devices recognise the sound of a fire alarm.

For settings where at night time the doors should be closed, the Dorgard can be programmed to self-close at a specific time.

Call us today to speak with a customer service adviser on 0800 612 6537.

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

Angie Dewick-Eisele is co-founder of Safelincs Ltd, one of the leading fire safety providers in the UK. Angie was Marketing Manager for many years and as Director is these days responsible for Content Management.

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Safelincs supports Buses 4 Homeless

Thursday 30th January 2020

Buses 4 Homeless is a social enterprise that was set up by Dan Atkins with a mission to provide 14,600 nights of sleep a year for the homeless. This exciting project, offering a three-month rehabilitation programme to vulnerable homeless people, is run from four refurbished double-decker buses and aims to re-engage homeless people back into the community.

Dan contacted Safelincs to ask for advice about fire safety and when we heard about the project we decided to get involved and donate a state of the art Zerio Plus wireless fire detection system, fire extinguishers, and a fire escape ladder. Installing the equipment enabled the first guests to be welcomed onto the project just before Christmas. Dan Atkins said “I picked up the phone and called Safelincs, spoke about the project and what we are doing. Everyone at Safelincs has been so supportive”. Dan went on to say “it is humbling to have such support”.

The buses provide four very distinct areas for the guests including sleeping accommodation, dining, wellbeing, and education. Each individual has the opportunity to work on their own specific areas and issues that led them to become homeless, learn new skills and help them secure employment. The programme offers the opportunity of long term mentorship to underpin long term success. We wish Dan and his team every success.

Buses 4 Homeless fitted with Zerio Plus wireless alarm panel and water mist extinguishers

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

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What to do if my Carbon Monoxide alarm goes off?19th March 2024
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Double Awards for Safelincs

Wednesday 9th October 2019

Safelincs receiving Employer of the Year 2019 East Lindsey Business Award

Safelincs Ltd have been named Employer of the Year and been given a second award for Excellence in Customer Service in the ELBA 2019 business awards. These two awards are testimony to the great team at Safelincs. Harry Dewick-Eisele, MD, said ‘We are incredibly proud of our team and these two awards are down to our great team work and ethical business practices’. He went on to say ‘we believe our success is in selecting the right staff from the start, giving them a comprehensive induction period and then involving them in all aspects of the business’.

Safelincs receiving Excellence in Customer Service 2019 East Lindsey Business Award

These two awards follow continued growth for the company, bucking the trend by growing 30% year on year for the last four years. Ensuring that staff are well trained, have a voice within the company and are empowered to provide the best customer service are all contributing factors for Safelincs’ success. With a product range of over 6000 products Safelincs can offer comprehensive fire safety solutions to customers of all sizes and work with organisations such as Eton College, Empire Cinema, the NHS, as well as schools, colleges and universities.

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

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How are fire doors rated?

Thursday 26th September 2019

Fire doors are given ratings which relate to the length of time the doors will give protection against a fire breaking through the door. Typial ratings for fire doors look like this: FD30, FD30s, etc. FD stands for fire door, and the number stands for the minutes of protection the door is certified for, in this instance 30 minutes protection. The ‘s’ after the number rating indicates that the fire door has not only intumescent fire door seals but also brushes to prevent the spread of cold smoke.

Fire doors form an essential part of your fire protection plan, slowing down and compartmentalising a fire. As such, you must get the right fire door in the right place; after all, it could save lives.

If you would like to gain a deeper understanding of fire door ratings, read our article ‘Fire Door Ratings: FD30 or FD60?‘ to find out more. Alternatively our online fire door configurator will guide you seamlessly through the process of purchasing a fire door.

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

Latest Posts by Angie Dewick-Eisele

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Safelincs team up with Evie Toombes, para show jumper and ambassador for hidden disabilities

Thursday 6th June 2019

Safelincs are proud to be able to help support Evie Toombes with her quest to fund a medical horse box. Evie is an inspirational teenager with spina bifida and is a para show jumper from Skegness, Lincolnshire. She is also an ambassador for hidden disabilities and visits schools to talk to children about her hidden disability in the hope that she will give confidence to other children to speak about their problems.

Over the past few years Evie’s condition meant that she was unable to tolerate food and as a result lost a lot of weight and now needs to be fed through a tube into her stomach. Her condition also affects her legs, bladder and bowel.

Evie and Daisy the Horse aka 'High Offley Business Centre' — Evie with Daisy aka ‘High Offley Business Centre’

Ill health and numerous hospital visits started to make it very difficult for Evie to continue to compete, so two years ago Evie embarked on a plan to fund a medical unit horse box which would give her the ability to go to shows with all her medical equipment.

“Thank you for your support towards the purchase of my medical horse box, the security of having a vehicle that is safe and well equipped enough to deal with the current medical needs I face (that has landed me in hospital at least once a month every month for 15 months) is truly incredible,” said Evie Toombes.

Riding gives Evie freedom from her health issues and the bond with her horse and ponies gives her a boost when she is feeling unwell. Evie has won several trophies. We wish Evie every success in her future competitions.

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

Latest Posts by Angie Dewick-Eisele

What to do if my Carbon Monoxide alarm goes off?19th March 2024
What is BAFE certification?28th March 2023
Free online fire safety log book for organisations with multiple sites8th March 2023

Time to Change, Safelincs sign the pledge

Wednesday 13th February 2019

Signing the “Time To Change” pledge is just one of the many steps that Safelincs have taken to make changes towards how people feel about mental health.

We have trained two Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) and have implemented a confidential system for staff to contact them and ask for support. We have also appointed a Well-Being Team. This team of four staff are planning and implementing activities throughout the year that open up conversations about mental health.

Harry Dewick-Eisele, MD, and Stuart Baxter, Commercial Development Manager, signed the pledge to demonstrate that top management are taking the issue of mental health seriously. Harry Dewick-Eisele said ‘We want talking about mental health and any related issues to be as commonplace as talking about a cold or a broken leg’. All the management team at Safelincs are onboard with this initiative and we have an open door policy and staff can pop in to a manager’s office at any time to talk.

The “Time To Change” website has lots of resources of which we have already used several, such as the Conversation Starter and handouts to get conversations going. We will be engaging staff in a number of activities over the year to ensure that talking about mental health becomes the norm at Safelincs.

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

Latest Posts by Angie Dewick-Eisele

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Nest Product Generations – How to Identify Your Products

Thursday 2nd March 2017

It is well known that electronic technology advances very quickly, with products being outdated and replaced by a newer version every year. More and more frequently these subsequent versions of the same product are being called ‘generations,’ such as a ‘5th gen iPod.’ Nest Labs’ range of ‘smart home’ products is no exception to this trend and the oldest two have already undergone a few iterations of redesign and improvement.

This guide has been written to help you quickly and easily identify which generation your Nest Products belong to.

Nest Protect

	1^st Generation	2^nd Generation
Edges	Straight Edges	Rounded Edges
Backplate	Square	Circular
Battery Door	No Battery Door	Battery Door
Serial Number	05A or 05C	06A or 06C

Model Number

Open the Nest app on your phone and tap Protect at the bottom, tap the Settings gear at the top followed by the alarm you’re interested in, and then go to Technical Info. If it says your model is Topaz-1.x then you have a First Generation, while Topaz-2.x denotes the Second Generation alarm.

Nest Learning Thermostat

	2^nd Generation	3^rd Generation
Colours	Stainless Steel	Stainless Steel, Copper, Black, White
Appearance
	7cm screen diameter 320 320px resolution	8.25cm screen diameter 480 x 480px screen
Base
	Yellow spirit level Rectangular Display connector	Blue spirit level Oval display connector
Heat Link
	One status light 10cm height and width	3 status lights 11cm height and width

Nest Cam

	Indoor	Outdoor
Colour	Black	White
Appearance
Differentiating Features	Securely stream 1080p video to your phone, tablet or laptop Various positioning options No installation – simply plug into power and set up via phone app Compatible with standard camera mounts and tripods	Weatherproof camera nad cables Magnetic mount with metal plate for wall attachment Night vision Clear 24/7 video with 130 degree viewing angle