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East Dunbartonshire Council is currently confronting nearly 30 compensation claims from families after a carbon monoxide leak occurred at Balmuildy Primary School in Bishopbriggs. Earlier this year, the council was fined in criminal court for breaching health and safety regulations connected to the 2020 incident. Although the council insists that it maintains a strict safety monitoring system, it is disputing numerous civil claims related to the leak. Parents, however, remain concerned about potential long-term health effects on their children. A recently obtained investigation report has revealed more details about the incident and highlighted that other local schools also missed crucial safety inspections.
One mother, who spoke anonymously via Thompsons Solicitors, described the chaos that unfolded when she rushed to the school after being alerted to the carbon monoxide leak. She painted a distressing picture: children vomiting, fainting, and some lying down as if asleep. According to her, her children had experienced ongoing symptoms of severe illness while at Balmuildy Primary but felt better once home. She expressed profound guilt, stating, “They sat in a building inhaling fatal levels of carbon monoxide which we have been told but for ‘sheer luck’ there was no fatalities due to the high level of CO detected.” Her concern now centers on the unknown long-term consequences of the exposure. Another parent recounted taking her son to hospital because of symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and sickness, confirmed to be caused by CO poisoning. She criticized the council’s handling, calling it “incompetence” given the failure to conduct proper checks.
Families affected by the leak say they were inadequately informed about what happened before the school evacuation, though the council claims it kept parents regularly updated. New details emerged from a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report obtained under freedom of information laws, revealing that on the first day of the incident, 35 pupils and four staff mainly in the school’s tower block experienced headaches, nausea, and vomiting. Windows were opened, and staff requested the council to investigate. Initially, testing began the following day but focused on detecting a standard gas leak, not carbon monoxide. A teacher had brought in a domestic CO detector gifted by her father, which sounded an alarm. Additional detectors purchased locally also confirmed the presence of carbon monoxide, prompting Scottish Gas Network engineers to enter the building, where their equipment immediately triggered alarms, and the school was evacuated.
The HSE report and a subsequent sheriff court hearing uncovered that the school’s boilers had last been serviced in 2018, with no gas safety certificate provided. Furthermore, documentation indicated that out of the council’s 43 schools, 12 had not undergone inspections in six years prior to the incident, and records were missing for another 10 schools. This suggested that their gas systems might have been uninspected for an extended period. The report included a witness statement revealing the absence of a proactive management system for gas heating and boiler safety checks. One witness mentioned becoming aware of these shortcomings in October 2019 and instructing contractors to begin safety inspections, but these had not been completed in the Bishopbriggs area before the leak at Balmuildy. Following the incident, two additional schools were evacuated due to carbon monoxide leaks. The HSE noted that “extensive repairs” were necessary for some boilers and described the situation as “indicative of a systemic failure” to properly oversee repairs and inspections.
Detailed investigation pinpointed one of the school’s boilers in the plant room as the source of the carbon monoxide leak. An unsealed, open service duct access hatch allowed the gas to disperse throughout the building. Since the incident, East Dunbartonshire Council has implemented a system to automatically alert when statutory tests or work are due. Patrick McGuire, senior partner at Thompsons Solicitors, who is handling 29 related cases, emphasized the basic nature of the safety checks that should have been standard, stating, “The families just want the truth and it is a sad state of affairs that they have had to come to Thompsons to try and get a straight answer from the council, but the council appears to not want to deal with this in an open and transparent way.” Meanwhile, council chief executive Ann Davie said parents were kept informed through various channels and assured that the unsafe boiler was immediately taken out of use and relevant authorities notified. She reaffirmed the council’s commitment to safety and monitoring but declined to comment on ongoing litigation
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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