Two more hotel poisonings

captainco

A resort in Arkansas 23 poisoned, ten to the hospital and a Hampton Inn in Ohio, seven in critical condition. Wonder why I carry a CO monitor when I travel!

RayWohlfarth

I do the same CO poisoning in hotels seems to be occurring more frequently. Really scary

captainco

I don't know if it is occurring more often or we are just beginning to discover what is happening. People have only been using CO detection instruments on a regular basis for about 20 years and there still enough.
A few years ago the National Fire Protection Agency claimed that CO poisonings have doubled in the last 10 years since CO alarms came out. Duh! Over 80,000 non-fire relate.

Ironman

Quite often, it’s because the people who own the hotels/motels don’t wanna spend money to fix anything. When they have to, they get the cheapest jackleg or their clueless “maintenance man” to do it. I’ve seen it too often.

captainco

ironman - the key here is the unqualified maintenance personnel more than anything. That is why hotels, schools, nursing homes and multi-family buildings are on the top of my list.

mattmia2

Landlords in general are usually super cheap. In motels usually the dhw is the only fuel burning appliance, the rooms are usually heated with a heat pump or electric heat ptac.

SlamDunk

Isn't it in the owner's best interest to hire reputable contractors for insurance purposes and isn't in the contractor's best interest to use qualified techs for the same reason? I wonder what the settlements are.

ChrisJ

SlamDunk said:

Isn't it in the owner's best interest to hire reputable contractors for insurance purposes and isn't in the contractor's best interest to use qualified techs for the same reason? I wonder what the settlements are.

Probably.
But they usually don't. We see a few on this forum doing their own work.

SlamDunk

There is a difference between doing your own work where only you and your family are the only ones to suffer your mistake and working in the commercial space where anyone but you and yours would suffer your mistakes.

I can do just about anything a contractor, in most trades, can do because I do it for my employer and she is insured; but I rarely, if ever, do anything for my friends and neighbors-unless it is a life safety issue and no one else can help them soon enough. It's a liability issue. I can be dragged into court for something they did themselves but didn't fess up to. It has to be a business owner's biggest nightmare.

ChrisJ

SlamDunk said:

There is a difference between doing your own work where only you and your family are the only ones to suffer your mistake and working in the commercial space where anyone but you and yours would suffer your mistakes.

I can do just about anything a contractor, in most trades, can do because I do it for my employer and she is insured; but I rarely, if ever, do anything for my friends and neighbors-unless it is a life safety issue and no one else can help them soon enough. It's a liability issue. I can be dragged into court for something they did themselves but didn't fess up to. It has to be a business owner's biggest nightmare.

I think you misunderstood, or I wasn't very clear.
I meant we've, or at least I've noticed a few landlords on here doing their own work in the buildings they rent and they didn't seem competent.

SlamDunk

oh. sorry for the misunderstanding. yeah, to me, that qualifies as commercial-even if they live in the dwelling, with tenants, it is not worth the risk. Best to have someone insured.

JakeCK

What bothers me most is how do you know the HVAC tech is competent? Seems there are plenty who managed to get the licenses and insurance but still don't have a clue, or care to have one. It is why I do so much of my own work, I have trust issues when it comes to contractors after getting burned a couple times. And they checked all the boxes when I was vetting them.

retiredguy

I stayed in a lot of hotel/motels in my career all over Pennsylvania and even a few nearby states, servicing and repairing heating systems and in the winter I rarely used their heating system to stay warm. I always took a small, quiet, electric heater with me. It worked well and I did not have to contend with the strange smells, noise, and dangers. My recommendation to all and to those I helped train, learn everything and I mean everything, you can about your trade, do not be afraid to ask for help, and do the work as if your family was living there. Once you have been exposed to or involved in a few boiler explosions, your fault or not, it opens your eyes to the possibilities.

my 2 cents

Bob Harper

Mine alerts in most restaurants. I was recently in Denver teaching a class on CO and the CAZ. We were in the warehouse of a dealer with both rollup doors raised so tons of ventilation. Next door in the parking lot was a pellet stove grille smoking. My belt alarm alerted at 52ppm from about 50 feet away. It alerts when I'm walking up to a house and the yard monkeys are running their gas-powered machines. It has alerted in hotel lobbies where they had a ventfree gas logset firing. 40 foot ceiling. You don't have to be encapsulated to get exposed.

pecmsg

captainco said:

ironman - the key here is the unqualified maintenance personnel more than anything. That is why hotels, schools, nursing homes and multi-family buildings are on the top of my list.

The Bean Counters started that ball rolling a long time ago. If we get 20 years out of the equipment that's good enough. If we get 15 years, If we get 10 years.
Sad to say Bean counters do not consider loss of life a liability!