uninformed about a gas leak at work

[jules_iam]

This Tuesday my place of work was briefly closed to mend a gas leak in the kitchen. this was the first i'd heard of a leak but apparently it has been a problem for at least 3 weeks now but it had only just been called out. i over heard my manager explaining the problem to the man and she said "the smell is so bad in the mornings it physically makes me feel sick"
now is it me or is three weeks far too long for us all to be exposed to this? Two employees have been off with sickness and headaches and 80% of the rest of us have felt ill with headaches, sore throats, coughing fits, dizziness and clumsiness. not to mention the risk of explosion, fire etc

[emeritus]

Natural Gas isnt Toxic so its highly unlikely the Headaches, nausea, dizziness etc are down to this.

Although I agree it should have been reported earlier

[daffy654]

I was under the impression that natural gas wasn't poisonous,surely your symptoms can't be explained by a leak.If there was some sort of flue blockage then you might get carbon monoxide poisoning.

[ChuckFickens]

Natrual gas is not toxic, but if high concentrations it will cause the symptoms described purely due to lack of oxygen.

But you should be able to easily smell it if the amounts are that high.

[emeritus]

Cant help thinking that a group compensation claim is on the cards !!!

[jules_iam]

The problem was reported to more than one manager and the only reason i can think of for them to have not dealt with this straight away is that it's the busy season and they probably didn't want to lose any trade while it was being fixed. i just don't think it was very professional to put us at risk like that. the gas man said it was due to a connection being very loose, he said if it had come apart we would have had about 10 seconds.