The UK Safety Charity Gas Safety Trust changes name

A UK safety charity has this week announced two major changes. The Gas Safety Trust will now be known as The CO Research Trust to provide a more accurate reflection of the work it carries out, and Baroness Finlay will become the new Chair of the Board of Trustees.

The Gas Safety Trust will now be known as The CO Research Trust, to provide a more accurate reflection of the work it carries out, and Baroness Finlay will become the new chair of the Board of Trustees.

Since the Trust was established in 2005 the UK’s gas industry has taken significant steps forward to prevent CO exposure, thanks in part to better regulation and improved technologies. However, the picture is less clear in other fuel sectors. The new name reflects the broader focus of CO concern, beyond gas safety, it said.

Since 2013, the Trust has invested almost £3 million into research projects and is committed to investing a further £1.5 million in the next five years.

Other areas of focus for the Trust will be:

•   A novel biomarker
  • Better treatment and therapeutics
  • Understanding vulnerable groups / co-morbidities
  • Quantifying prevalence / data
  • Built environment / energy efficiency measures
  • Other fuels and environments

Taking up the responsibility of chair of the Board of Trustees, Baroness Finlay is consultant in palliative medicine at Velindre Cancer Centre and honorary professor of palliative medicine at Cardiff University. She has a long-standing interest in promoting carbon monoxide (CO) safety.

In 2011, she chaired the inaugural research inquiry ‘Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning’ and was also the parliamentary chair of the 2015 report ‘Carbon Monoxide: From Awareness to Action’.