BRIDGET MABANDA
HARARE-Passengers Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) has called upon transporters especially bus companies to discourage their personnel from ferrying filled gas cylinders because they are highly flammable.
PAZ president, Tafadzwa Goliath said usually passengers conceal the cylinders in sakes as a way of safeguarding them.
He said, “This development has been noticed during our monitoring initiatives and poses a danger to passengers and the public. Flammable gas even in small quantities can cause devastating explosion in confined spaces like vehicles.
Goliath also said the law enforcement agents to be on the look out for passengers who carry flammable luggage.
Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) chief Executive officer, Engineer Edington Mazambani said during transportation, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders are not allowed to be in the same enclosure as passengers.
“LPG is unlike most common forms of energy. LPG is stored under high pressure as a liquid and used as a gas. Thus, a leak of LPG liquid will lead to presence of LPGas expanding to fill the enclosed area.
“This gas is highly flammable or explosive depending on the gas-air mixture hence the need for care to be taken in storage, handling, and distribution of LPG to mitigate against incidents, accidents and their consequences,” said Mazambani.
He added that the cylinders should be transported in an adequately ventilated area, in upright position and be well secured so that they do not move freely because the leak of LPG can lead to
Asphyxiation (deprive of oxygen to the body) which may lead to unconsciousness and or death, cold burns as well as fire/ explosion in the presence of an ignition source which may lead to damage/loss of property, deaths.
Nexas Gas, technical manager, Alwyn Mabehla said people should know that LPG is highly flammable and as such strict precautions are needed in handling as well as transporting it.
He added that, ordinarily people should never use industrial LPG cylinders for domestic use as this presents many dangers but if people prefer to use it, it is important for domestic users of LPG to regularly check for any leaks that might be on their cylinders.
“Safety is critical at all times in the handling and transportation of LPG as it poses danger to human life if not handled properly. Another important thing is LPG is never transported using public transport and passengers should avoid vehicles ferrying LPG,” he said.
ZERA) recently condemned the use of some of 48kg cylinders smuggled from neighboring countries as they pose serious risk to both the user and others around them.
Research has shown that in the majority of these incidents, the gas would have leaked from the cylinder overnight through an open valve or via a worn hose or damaged piece of heating equipment left permanently connected to the cylinder.
Health and Safety Authority said gas cylinders being transported in enclosed vehicles must be stored in a dedicated, labelled cylinder storage compartment. The compartment must be ventilated to outside atmosphere and sealed from the inside of their vehicle.
In all circumstances, cylinders, whether inside or outside the vehicle, must be adequately restrained in an upright position, preferably in custom made racks or restraints to eliminate or minimise risk to the greater practicable extent.
They added that people must remove pressure regulators and other attachments (torches) from the cylinder valve outlet when in storage.
Furthermore, they indicated that people should never leave any gas cylinders in enclosed vehicles for long periods.
