Sprue Safety Products teamed up with the University of Portsmouth last week to provide information, advice and give-away carbon monoxide alarms as part of a safety awareness clinic run during Freshers' Week.

More than 16,000 students visited the two-day Freshers’ Fayre, where they received essential information on how to stay CO-safe, including having working alarms in the right locations.

Union president Cat Redding said: “This was a great opportunity to remind students to check with landlords that all heating and cooking appliances in their accommodation have been safety checked, and to warn them of the danger signs and symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning to look out for.

“We also teamed up with Sprue Safety Products to give away 20 FireAngel carbon monoxide alarms in a free tombola, which attracted lots of students. This gave us the chance to talk to them about the risks of carbon monoxide. Some were really clued up, but others didn't even know what it was. We will definitely be running this campaign over the cold winter months, as it really highlighted a need for further awareness.”

Students and other people living in rented properties can be at greater risk, as cooking and heating appliances are often older or misused. By law, landlords must ensure all appliances are safety checked and they are required to give tenants a copy of their gas safety record to show that the gas appliances in their property are safe to use.

For more information on the CO alarms available from Sprue Safety Products, visit www.sprue.com or www.fireangel.co.uk. Sprue has also produced a handy installation video to clarify how to fix and locate a CO alarm correctly.