A recent alert issued by WorkSafe and Energy Safe Victoria is warning Victorians never to use petrol generators or outdoor gas appliances inside following the death of a man in Ferntree Gully on Sunday.
Carbon monoxide is a colourless and odourless toxic gas, which burns with a pale blue flame. Prior to the widespread introduction of natural gas supplies, town gas supplies contained carbon monoxide. Workplace concerns are principally from incomplete combustion of fuels in ovens and furnaces, internal combustion engines (e.g. forklifts used in cold stores), and in coal mines. The usage of petrol driven concrete cutting equipment is becoming problematic. Although workers and vehicle drivers are generally familiar with the dangers, accidents due to carbon monoxide poisoning are relatively common. Escape from a dangerous situation is often impossible, because the first indication of gross exposure may be collapse.
Carbon monoxide falls in the class of chemical asphyxiants which block the transport of oxygen in the blood. Carbon monoxide in the air displaces inhaled oxygen and is carried to the tissues of the body, thereby depriving them of oxygen, so that a form of asphyxia results.
Read more of the WorkSafe alert here
