Hello...Had a conversation with a family friend last night. She told me how her boyfriend worked at a Garage, and he suffers from migraines since a child (although controllable). She told me how her boyfriend was taken ill to hospital last week, and they concluded he had suffered Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Now, when he contacted his employers, they told him it was most likely due to his migraines. The employers seem to not be wanting to acknowledge they are responsible, and the injured party, has stated he wasn't provided with any PPE that may have protected him against the fumes. The doctors have signed him off work sick for 4 weeks, but he is getting paid sick pay, rather than full board. She has asked me for my advise, but as im still an inexperienced Safety Professional, I thought it would be best asking here.
Thank you

I think I would be seeking legal advice as the word of the employer "we supplied adequate PPE" is not enough.

Home gas appliances should still be checked and the report handed to the legal company you have instructed if all comes back clear. Obviously, the check on the appliances would be the first port of call.

Its not really a matter for a health and safety professional at this point.

Hope that helps

also talk to the local EHO's about the general issue

If vehicle exhaust is ruled out as a possibility what are they heating the garage with? Are others showing symptoms (eg nausea, tiredness, lethargy, dizzyness etc)

Steve carbon monoxide poisoning is easy to test for, so if the hospital reckon it
is carbon monoxide poising it probably is that. Of course we don't know the full details, in fact the whole story could be made up, but as this an occupational Health and safety forum let's just assume it is the employer's responsibility. If so what controls would we expect the employer to use to control CO- not PPE but some form of LEV. Do they have any sort of LEV system in the garage or do they just open up the doors if it's not too cold. The point about the heating in the gareg is a very valid one as well.

I must agree that the source of the fumes have to be identified, and exhaust fumes and the heating system would be likely culprits along with welding fumes, charging batteries etc...

I don't think that PPE (RPE) is the answer here, I have never seen mechanics in car workshops wearing air fed RPE. In a lot of car workshops the door is opened lots of time to allow vehicles into and out of the workshop which results in a lot of dilution ventilation, moreso in the summer months.

LEV is the answer here, as identified in previous posts. I would say that to measure WEV in a large workshop could be difficult to achieve, and yes most garages would not understand what these are.

In the first instance I would ask the worker if the garage has an exhaust extraction system fitted and is it used all the time, trust me mechanics can be lazy. Is the garage an HGV garage or a PLG garage, their is a difference of the types of fumes between diesel and petrol.