How to stay safe from carbon monoxide
Obey the law and maintain vigilance to protect your home from CO poisoning
If you’re like most Ontario residents, you’re aware that you now need to have a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm installed outside all sleeping areas if your home has an attached garage or any devices that burn wood, oil, gas or other fuels for heat or energy.
After all, as of April 15, 2015, it has been the law — the Hawkins-Gignac Act was passed after six years of urging from John Gignac, a former Woodstock firefighter who lost his niece, her husband and their two children to CO poisoning.
But installing a CO alarm is only step one on the road to safety. You also have to ensure your alarm is fully functional, with a working sensor and batteries, and is not past its “best before” date. It turns out, not everyone is aware of that crucial information. Many homes still not protected According to a recent Ipsos poll, more than 90 per cent of Ontario respondents said they have a CO alarm installed in their home. While that figure is surely inflated (due to alarm confusion and not wanting to admit to not being in compliance with a law), nearly one out of four do not realize that CO alarms need to be replaced every seven to10 years. That means 25 per cent of Ontario homes may be relying on outdated alarms to keep their families safe. (Back in 2001, for instance, the Ontario Building Code added mandatory CO alarm installations for residences built after 2001 — meaning many hardwired CO alarms may be up to14 years old.)
It’s a statistic that deeply concerns Gignac. “Seeing how many homeowners may be relying on outdated alarms to keep them safe is worrying,” he says.
“Whether hardwired, battery powered or plug in, CO alarms must be replaced every seven to10 years to be at their best.” The discrepancy comes from different manufacturers having CO alarms certified for different lifespans.
And optimal operation is more than just pushing the test button, because as Gignac points out, even outdated alarms are likely to respond to the test button. “The circuitry is still working,” he explains, “so when you push the button, you’ll hear a beep. But the sensor has likely lost some of its sensitivity. And that’s what’s going to save your life — the sensor.” The silent killer A fully operational sensor is key because unlike its related hazard, smoke, carbon monoxide is colourless and odourless and tasteless, which is why it’s referred to as “the silent killer.” The only safe way to detect this deadly gas in your home is via a CO alarm. And because such household items as fireplaces, furnaces, appliances, propane heaters, gas stoves as well as cars emit the gas, a CO alarm is crucial to keep your family safe. Otherwise, it’s easy to mistake the signs of CO poisoning — headache, nausea and dizziness — for the flu or other common illness, particularly with cold and flu season almost upon us. Depending on the degree and length of exposure, CO poisoning can damage your heart and brain or even kill you.
Those most at risk are the very young and the elderly — a message Gignac also spreads in his outreach and education efforts about the dangers of carbon monoxide. “I went into one home here in Ontario just to speak to the lady of the house, and I looked at her CO alarm — it was 15 years old. And it had no battery backup. And she was an elderly woman,” Gignac recalls. “That’s just one woman. It happens all the time. I went out to my truck and got a CO alarm and installed it for her.” Ongoing outreach Gignac is able to provide that kind of service thanks to fundraising through the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation for CO Education, a charity set up in memory of his late niece, Laurie Hawkins, and her family. It was that devastating loss that first drew Gignac’s attention to the dangers of CO.
“Six years ago, when I first started, I didn’t have a CO alarm,” he admits, “so it’s kind of something that slipped through the cracks — nobody really knew a lot about. But now, after tremendous efforts and support from the government, our foundation, Kidde Canada [a manufacturer of smoke and CO alarms] and the Insurance Bureau of Canada, it’s become much more common knowledge in the province of Ontario.”
For Gignac, though, the law and the education around CO haven’t gone nearly far enough. He started advocating for CO legislation in the Yukon Territory and succeeded in May 2013. Ontario followed, but the process took six years — caught in the cycle of the government proroguing and the last provincial election. Gignac is currently discussing similar legislation in New Brunswick and other provinces, where he says citizens and firefighters are surprised that such a law isn’t in existence.
Should a mandatory CO alarm law be passed in New Brunswick, don’t expect Gignac to stop pushing for CO laws until all of Canada is covered — and, down the road, on every level of every home. He’s optimistic that governments will see the wisdom in laws designed to save lives. “It’s the same situation as smoke alarms back in 1994,” Gignac says. “You only had to have one working smoke alarm outside your sleeping quarters — it started the same way. Now we have to have them on every floor and in the bedrooms. That’s what we’re hoping will happen with CO alarms.”
But in the meantime, Gignac’s message to Ontarians is simply comply with the law — make sure you have a fully working CO alarm outside your sleeping areas. And if you’re in doubt about the age of your existing CO
“Whether hardwired, battery powered or plug in, CO alarms must be replaced every seven to 10 years to be at their best.” JOHN GIGNAC FORMER FIREFIGHTER
alarm, just buy a new one. As Gignac says: “It’s cheap insurance as far as I’m concerned. And I particularly like the new models that have10-year batteries you never need to change. It’s great convenience for homeowners and it saves money too.”