The Health and Safety Executive last week successfully brought a prosecution against two landlords, who also happen to be brothers, after Motoko Riley and her six-year-old daughter Emily were poisoned by carbon monoxide. Southampton Magistrates Court issued fines of £7,000 each to Robert Watts and David Watts, in addition to costs totalling £9,000. The brothers, who both live in Woodlands, Southampton, pleaded guilty to a breach of section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which imposes a duty upon every self-employed person to "conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety".
Despite greater public awareness as to the dangers of carbon monoxide exposure, some landlords continue to put the health and safety of their tenants at risk. Numerous personal injury claims and Health and Safety Executive fines have been brought against negligent landlords over recent years and the number of deaths or serious injuries to result from carbon monoxide exposure remains a significant cause for concern.
In the case in question, Motoko and Emily Riley became ill at their home in December 2007. Emily initially displayed the most serious symptoms, drifting in and out of consciousness after becoming ill. Not long afterwards, Mrs Riley experienced severe headaches and vomiting. Fortunately, both Motoko and Emily survived the incident after a neighbour removed them from the property and took them to hospital. Illustrating just how bad the situation was for the pair, Health and Safety Executives who investigated the incident discovered that the level of carbon monoxide produced by the property's boiler was off the scale.
The landlords were deemed to have exposed Mrs Riley and her daughter to unnecessary risk after they failed to respond to repeated requests over a four-year period to have the boiler serviced. Southampton Magistrates Court also imposed fines of £4,500 and £500 (plus costs of £548) on David MacDonald, a gas service engineer who had declared the boiler safe to use on three occasions, despite the fact that it was patently unsafe.
It is hoped that the fines imposed on the landlords and their engineer will serve as an example to others. Risking the health and safety of tenants is wholly unacceptable; although Mrs Riley and her daughter survived their ordeal, scores of other tenants will not be so lucky this year, as deaths and serious injuries resulting from carbon monoxide exposure continue to lead to claims.
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scott 05.14.10 at 2:23 am
WOW i guess i would have to say that this land lord is going to need a lot to get out of this one!