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Carbon monoxide at the swim platform: who is liable for poisoning?
Short answer
Carbon monoxide from engines, generators and heaters collects at the stern,
around the swim platform and in the cockpit, with no smell and no colour.
If someone is poisoned, liability usually falls on whoever was in charge of the boat or left the
engine running.
Carbon monoxide is produced by any combustion on board: the engines, the generator, a heater. It has no colour and no smell. On a motorboat it collects where exhaust leaves the boat and the air is still: at the stern, on and under the swim platform, and in a cockpit closed in by canvas. At slow speed the low pressure behind the transom draws exhaust back aboard, and when boats raft up, one boat's generator can fill the next boat's cabin. Headache, dizziness and nausea are easily taken for seasickness, and in carbon monoxide poisoning a swimmer at the platform can lose consciousness and drown.
Whoever is in charge of the boat owes a duty of care to guests and swimmers. If the engine or generator is left running while someone is in the water at the swim platform and that person is poisoned, the skipper may be held liable, and the owner too if a leaking exhaust system was the cause. Claims by injured people are normally made against the boat's third party liability insurance. Each case turns on its facts, above all on whether the danger was foreseeable and could have been avoided.
Switch off engines and generator as soon as anyone is sitting on the swim platform, using the ladder or swimming behind the stern, and never get under way with people on the platform. Fit carbon monoxide alarms in every cabin and under any canvas, and test them at the start of the season. Have exhaust hoses, clips and elbows checked at every service, because a leak in the engine room spreads the gas through the whole boat. If anyone complains of headache and dizziness, get them into fresh air, shut down everything that burns fuel and call for help at once.
Worth remembering
Engine off while people swim
clean air at the platform
Generator left running
gas at the stern, guests at risk
You cannot smell carbon monoxide, so the only defence is the key that stops the engine.
Questions
What owners ask us about this
Where does carbon monoxide collect on a motorboat?
At the stern, on and under the swim platform, in a cockpit closed in by canvas, and in a neighbouring boat's cabin when rafted up. At slow speed the low pressure behind the transom draws exhaust back aboard.
Who is liable if a guest is poisoned at the swim platform?
Usually the skipper who left the engine or generator running, and possibly the owner if the exhaust system was leaking. Claims normally go to the boat's third party liability insurance; each case turns on its facts.
Do I need a carbon monoxide alarm on board?
On any boat with a cabin, a generator or a heater it is strongly recommended. It sounds before you notice anything yourself, and with this gas that is the whole point.
Related
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