Gas cylinder explosion in tool of trade vehicle

Background

An employee has been seriously injured by an explosion in a TOT vehicle. The employee was carrying flammable gas cylinders which may have caused the explosion.

The Dangerous Goods (Transport by Road or Rail) Regulations 2018 provide concessions for the transport of certain types and quantities of dangerous goods within TOT vehicles.

The concessions enable tradespeople to transport size-limited quantities of dangerous goods without meeting all of the regulatory requirements that a person engaged in the commercial transportation of dangerous goods must otherwise meet.

This guidance does not apply to any person who transports dangerous goods as a commercial business.

Safety issues

Tradespeople have died or been seriously injured when their work vehicles have exploded while carrying dangerous goods.

Explosions can happen when gas from oxy-acetylene equipment or liquefied petroleum (LP) gas cylinders leak into the vehicle and form an explosive fuel and air mixture. This mixture can ignite from a spark from the vehicle’s electrical system, such as remote locking and interior lights or from a lit cigarette or an electrostatic discharge.

Compulsory safety requirements

When transporting dangerous goods as tools of trade, each package in the load of dangerous goods must:

• comply with the packaging requirements set out in Part 4 of Dangerous Goods (Transport by Road or Rail) Regulations 2018
• be appropriately marked
• be loaded and unloaded, secured, separated from incompatible dangerous goods and ignition sources, well-ventilated during transport and otherwise transported in a way to ensure:
  • the container is fit for purpose
  • any risk to people, property or the environment is eliminated, or if elimination is not possible, reduced as far as practicable.
• not be altered or damaged.

When transporting dangerous goods as TOT, ensure you comply with transport limits permitted to be transported in a TOT vehicle, as specified in the Dangerous Goods (Transport by Road or Rail) Regulations 2018. If transported dangerous goods do not meet the criteria or quantity requirements to be transported in a TOT vehicle, then you must comply with the commercial transportation requirements under these Regulations.

Recommended ways to control risks

Transporting gas welding and cutting gas cylinders

For enclosed TOT vehicles:

• Install a gas cabinet.
• Ensure the gas cabinet is securely mounted with a vapour-tight seal on the door and around the vent pipe.
• Ensure the gas cabinet is sealed and ventilated to outside air.
• Securely restrain cylinders in an upright position on the vehicle floor.
• Remove regulators.
• Close cylinder valves and use safety caps. Empty all gas hoses.
• Securely seal cabinet door before transport.
• Do not smoke near the vehicle.
• Remove cylinders from the van before use.
• Carry a fire extinguisher.

For open-tray TOT vehicles reduce the risk of an explosion or the cylinder becoming a projectile:

• Ensure gas bottles are secured in an upright position on the back of the utility or tray top.
• Remove regulators.
• Close cylinder valves.
• Tighten safety caps.
• Do not smoke near the vehicle.
• Do not cover trays with a tarpaulin.
• Remove cylinders from the vehicle before use.
• Carry a fire extinguisher.

Legal duties

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act), employers have a duty, so far as is reasonably practicable to:

• Provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to the health of employees and contractors.
  • Where a risk cannot be eliminated, it must be reduced so far as is reasonably practicable.
• Consult with employees, contractors and health and safety representatives, where present, when identifying hazards and risks.
• Consult with employees, contractors and health and safety representatives, where present, when implementing controls to eliminate hazards and risks or, where not reasonably practicable to do so, minimise them.
• Review and revise any measure implemented to control risk.

Provide the necessary information, instruction, training or supervision to enable employees to do their work in a way that is safe and without risks to health.