New law requires restaurants to install CO monitors

Updated: 01/02/2015 11:31 PM Created: 01/02/2015 10:35 PM WHEC.com By: Amanda Ciavarri - @whec_aciavarri

The New Year means new rules for some businesses in New York and you might be surprised to hear this rule wasn't already in place.

Starting this year, restaurants and commercial buildings will have to install and maintain carbon monoxide detectors. The law was prompted in part by an incident inside a Long Island restaurant last year where one person was killed and dozens more were hospitalized from CO poisoning.

Carbon monoxide leaks are a public safety concern; it's called the silent killer. You're required to have a CO detector in your home, but until now restaurants and bars were not required to have them.

Gates Fire Captain Gary Finlayson says, "It is a deadly gas, odorless and basically non-detectable without a CO detector."

Jines on Park Avenue has been serving up meals for decades and a few years ago owner Pete Gines put in a CO detector. Not because he had to, but because he felt it was the right thing to do.

"It's a safety issue," says Gines. "Anytime there is a safety issue, we want to be able to protect the customers and staff members. Staff members are here for 6, 8, 10 hours a day. They are here for a prolonged period time and the customers are in for an hour, hour and a half."

Captain Finlayson says prolonged exposure to CO can cause headache, dizziness, and -- if exposed long enough -- loss of consciousness and even death. That's why they keep monitors on the trucks. Hundreds die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning. Last year, a manager died of carbon monoxide poisoning and two dozen other people were treated at the hospital following a leak at a seafood restaurant on Long Island. Investigators found a leak in the hot water heater.

"It is very important to be cautious and those establishments should probably have them," says Captain Finlayson. "They are using much larger appliances whether it is heating systems or cooking equipment. They are putting out larger volumes and heating bigger areas. They could have malfunctions."

Gines says they always keep a close eye on the equipment in the restaurant. He is glad the state now requires bars and restaurants to put the safety of the customers and employees first.

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New law requires restaurants to install CO monitors