Employees at Rohm and Haas have an excellent safety record at work, which has benefits for their home lives.

There were no serious work-related injuries, including lost time accidents, for 14 months at the plant in Ellison Street.

Management decided to thank their safety-conscious staff by presenting them with carbon monoxide detectors for their homes.

Richard Moss, who manages the site, part of one of the world's largest speciality chemical firms, said he was delighted with the plant's safety performance during 2007.

He said: "It was a wonderful achievement. Last year, we had many more people on site than usual, due to a large construction project, so that made the site's zero record for occupational injuries and illnesses an even bigger achievement.

"It is also the first time in the site's history that we have gone a full calendar year without any occupational injuries and illnesses, and we felt that it was important for employees to receive recognition.

"It was agreed that everyone should receive a small gift and we chose the carbon monoxide monitor because dozens of people in the UK die in their own homes every year from carbon monoxide poisoning."

Mr Moss added that a former work colleague in the US had "a near miss" with carbon monoxide, as a result of a faulty domestic boiler.

The alarms are designed to alert householders to the presence of carbon monoxide gas, which is known as the silent killer because it has no colour, taste or smell.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can be caused by faulty gas appliances, such as boilers, heaters or fires, or even inadequate ventilation in homes heated by solid fuel, gas or oil.