A self-employed gas engineer has been fined £933 after two residents were hospitalised for carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning at a house in Pontardulais.
Swansea Magistrates Court heard how Philip Cannon carried out unsafe gas work on a boiler in the property on 23 January 2015. It was found the boiler emitted extremely high levels of CO. All three present in the property were later treated in hospital for CO poisoning, including Mr Cannon.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Gas Safe Register found Mr Cannon failed to prevent the gas leak after working on the boiler. He allowed the boiler to operate in an unsafe manner and he also didn’t run the required tests, which would have detected the CO at the earliest chance.
Philip Cannon of Neath Road, Pontardawe has pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 6 (1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 Section 33 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Today he has been fined £933 and ordered to pay costs of £4301.66.
HSE inspector Simon Breen said: “Mr Cannon’s failings in this case were highly traumatic for those involved and entirely avoidable.”
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