The Bulletin – September 1977

B U L L

Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

Registered Office 10, STATION ROAD WITTON BIRMINGHAM 6. Telephone: 021·328 0034

Works STATION DRIVE, THORNHILL ROAD, STREETLY, SUTTON COLDFIELD WEST MIDLANDS B74 3EN ' Telephone : 021·3536288 (3 Lines) '

Contents

Talking Po .int

Talking Point 1

Chairman's Address 2 Notes and News ........ . . . ........ 3

Incident Involving Petroleum Spirit Tanker Westoning Bedfordshire 6 Anatomy of Petrol Leakages 8 Planning and the Petroleum Cfficer ............... . .......... 12 Legal Proceedings 19

Putting out the Fire 23 Branch Reports . ....... . .......... 25 Technical Corner . . .. . .... . ...... . 28

The Health and Safety Executive has notified Local Authorities of its inteLtion to appoint Petroleum Liaison Officers within the area offices of H.M. Factory Inspectorate. It will be the duty of these officers to liaise with Local Authority Petroleum Officers and to give advice on the technical and legal aspects of the transport of Petroleum Spirit, and its storage.

The intention of this liaison is to strengthen the links between the Executive and Local Authorities, and is a welcome addition to the more informal liaison which already exists in many areas. Any move towards a standardisation of advice and enforcement must be advantageous, both to the officers concerned , and to those members of the publiC who seek guidance on Petroleum matters

HON J.W FRID

HONORARY EDITOR ' J n REWE

Chairman's Address

I am honoured to have been elected your Chairman and look forward to a year of greater stability and advancement after the trauma of reorganisation and the many vibrations that are still to be felt from this. The firm foundations of this Association which were built by past officers have stood firm through the recent difficult times but this is not the moment in which to relax and rest on earlier attainments.

The Association is still faced with the problem of the past in respect of the apathy around us. At a time of expansion in the Petroleum Industry, with its vastly increased tankage and acceptance by the public as a "very safe" material to have on Our streets and in town centres, maintenance of the high safety factor aChieved formerly will be difficult to sustain.

Allied to this, although well meant and coming from the opposite end of the spectrum the Association must resist the overkill situation that will ineVitably arise from the vast amount of safety publicity being currently Circulated from all sources. The firm but realistic approach adopted by petroleum officers has resulted in an acceptance, albeit grudgingly, of requirements and recommendations in the knowledge that these were based on sound understandings and e xp erience of the situations posed The safety explosion ( if you will excuse the term) will inevitably bring its own false prophets in its wake and a relax ation of public awareness.

Let us face this n ew c h allenge as r es o lutely as in the past

B.T

A Collins, Mr . F · e Of f icer Deputy County lr B· ad e Bu ckinghamshire Flre rl g

SAFETY ACT RULING REVERSED

from the 'Daily Telegraph' 17th March 1977

A Court ruling that factory inspectors had no power to prosecute for alleged breaches of the recently introduced legislation on health and safety at work was set aside in a High Court test case recently.

Magistrates sitting at Wallsend-onTyne last June decided that inspectors had no legal powers under the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974.

The magistrates said there was no evidence that the three-man Health and Safety Executive , which administers the Act, had been validly appointed by the Prime Minister (then Mr. Harold Wilson) in this capacity as Minister for the Civil Service, and that in turn the appOintment of the inspectors was therefore invalid.

Allowing appeals by two inspectors against the magistrates' decision, Mr. Justice Eve1eigh, sitting with Lord Widgery, Lord Chief Justice, and Mr. Justice Wien, said in the Queen's Bench Divisional Court that absence of a written document shOwing ministerial consent to the appointment of the executive did not invalidate the appointment

"In my view, once an inspector produces his cert i ficate of appointment and his warrant card that is sufficient to establish his right to prosecute," said the judge.

_ The judges s e nt back two cases , 1nvo1ving Wal1send Slipway and En gineering and Br ims and Co. to the mag i strates with di r ections to con t inue the hearings

SAFETY WITH HONOURS

As regular f I _ " 0 n s t 1t ut e o f Trad1ng Stand ard s Adm;n " t _ -L 1 S ra t10 n EdU c ation Poli cy wil l k no w, p r opos a l s ar e 1 n t he p1peline fo r a D" 1 _ 1p om a 1 n Pub 11 C S afe t y Th e COunc il of the I nstit ut e ha s n o w g i Ven ; t 1 ... s appro v a i n pr i n c ip l e t o this conce p t h " h "t " , w 1 C 1 1S proposed to operate i n a rath dOff er 1 e ren t wa y f ro m e x am i nations pr eV i ously unde r taken by the Institu t e " Be c ause not a l l of t he safet y f u nc t io n s are car r ied out b y eve r y T r ading Sta n da r ds Depa r tme n t , a n d be c aUse th e matter wi ll h ave a pP licabil i t y to s ta ff s in oth e r depar tme nt s , it has b ee n ag r ee d that the Dip l o ma s h all be

in four parts, each of which will have some si x papers. The four parts will cover, respectively, petroleum, explosives, household goods and diseases of animals, and papers within each will cover legal technoligical and practical aspects of enforcement. On satisfactory completion of the examination for each part, a Certificate will be awarded, which will stand in its own right as a qualification. Any officer obtaining three of the four Certificates will be awarded a Diploma in Public Safety, and officers obtaining all four Certificates will be granted an Honours Diploma.

NEW LINE ON HAZARDOUS CARGO MARKS

Motor Transport March 1977

A Consultative document is to be produced which will set out proposals by the Health and Safety Executive to give statutory effect to the present " heme for composite tanker labelllng sc s vehicles carrying dangerous substance

W- lliam T r ansport Secretary 1 C rom ons the 0 Rodgers gave this answer 1n r) d n (Labo U recently when John Oven 0 _ the " requir1ng called for leg1s1at10n ;ca1s " chem display on lorries carrY1ng t re of of a notice specif y ing the na u the contents.

-ng " de -r ang1 t of a W1

The move is par latio ns review by the HSE of all dange r oUS relating to r oad transport 0 -ves and e JC p10S 1 substances, except fo r nuclea r mater ials by be c omp l eted _

The rev i ew should the beginn1ng the e n d o f thiS y e ar or 19 78 . of

I legiSl a ti on b th fo r ma Cu rren tl y, 0 which are and th e v olu n ta ry sc h e mes I ' tra n sport " a s used t o r e gu l ate c h e m1c are fragmen ted .

_ p e tr o leum Whil e s ome c a r g o es tigh tly I are t pro duc ts , f or examp e t cove r e d a e n o con t ro l led, oth e r s ar a l l.

" wil l be c ome Compu l so r y labell 1ng o ntr o l l an to c pa r t of an ove r al l P " t ructions t o k " g 1 ns c ontainment , ma r 1n , t em erge n cy staff , p ark i n g so me p r o c ed ur es a nd e v en , pO SS 1 , f o r m of co mp uls ory routeing.

There will also be provision for controlling multi-loads.

The composite label, unless some unforeseen complication arises, could be law by the end of this year.

It includes the Hazchem code, which informs the emergency services but conveys little to the general public; the standard United Nations number; the diamond warning sign; and details of the cargo source.

The consultative document will also explain provisions for enforcing any new regulations. Presumably responsibility for enforcement will be split, since the intention is that the labels will be carried at all times on the road, in factory yards, and even while travelling to and from testing stations.

It remains to be seen how the scheme for reshaping the control of dangerous cargoes fits in to any overall European plans.

FLOOD OF PETROL FOR HOURS

"

From the Daily Telegraph, Thursday February 17th, 1977.

More than 50,000 gallons of petrol swamped fields and ditches in Canvey Island, Essex, as a tanker pumped fuel into a depot where a valve had been left open, Southend magistrates were told recently.

Earlier London and Coastal Oil Wharves of Holehaven, Canvey Island, leaded guilty to two summonses for to take precautions to prevent the escape of petroleum spirit and failing to immediately notify the fire brigade of a petrol spillage on their premises. They were fined a total of £700 with £40 costs.

Essex county council consumer t t · officer Mr Norman Parish pro ec l.on said that on the 2 nd January thl.s year a tanker was discharging fuel into the company's depot.

After three and a half hours the staff discove r ed the pump was full of petrol and the opera l.on was immediately stopped . It was d · d that a valve had b een left l.scovere 11 the fuel to flow through open a oWl.ng an unc apped pipe pump

Mr. Parish said the company had been warned by the fire authorities in 1974 that there was a danger of spillage if they did not cap off a pipe into the pump house through which the petrol had escaped.

Mr. Roger Buckley, defending said the escape was due to human error by two superintendents who had failed to realise the valve was open. He said the company were alive to the need for safety.

A group of Canvey Island residents have organised a protest over the spillage which they said has caused alarm in the area.

The group's Press officer Mr. George Whatley, said: "If something had sparked off all this petrol while it was lying around the island we could have celebrated the New Year with the biggest peace time holecaust Britain has ever known.

"This incident only serves to emphasise the fears of people living on Canvey that we could suffer a catastrophe far greater than Flixborough. "

The secretary of this group, Councillor Mr. Phil Haslem said: "We are unimpressed by the company's protestations about safety. They were warned in 1974 to block off this pipe and did not do so.

"This indicates to us their complete lack of interest in the safety of the people of Canvey Island. "

GROW YOUR OWN PETROL from 'WEEKEND' Magazine

prize-winner Melvin Calvin believes the answer to the world energy problem could be a petrol-tree plantation in the Sahara.

He claims all our needs could be met by the euphorbia lathyrus -a shrub with a sap closely resembling petrol and that a plantation the size of Arizona could supply all the petrol used in the United States .

Unfortunately for Britain, the shr ub grows best in countries that are already rich in oil It thrives in hot, dry soil but wouldn't grow here.

The petrol had f lowed out o f the hou se and was lying in the ditches and on the land nearby. br i gade was not told for about the incid ent.

The fi re nine hour s

Calvin, a scientist from Berkeley, Cali fornia, sa ys petrol made that way would b e slightly more expensive but the supply would n e v e r run out .

Droplets of crude oil fell on the Hamble and area recently after a fire at Fawley oil refinery.

A cloud of the droplets was carried on the wind to the greater River Hamble area, blemishing cars, paintwork , clothes and crops.

The droPlets were caused by a fire in a pipe still, a unit which processes crude oil at Fawley.

Fawley's own fire unit dealt with the blaze in a matter of minutes, said a spokesman for Esso Petroleum. "But the result was a cloud of crude oil droplets carried across the Hamble area," he explained.

Residents complained to the police about the problems the oil was causing. At Netley police station, it was reported that people had phoned to say it was "raining oil". One resident, Mr. Christopher Hutley, of Hounds Corner Hamble said: "Someone came to my house' from Hamble direction this morning and said he drove through what appeared to be a shower of oil.

This was accompanied by a very strong smell of oil. There was oil in my garden, and in the puddles around the house".

Another resident complained that his rhubarb had been ruined by the "1 d oth 01 , an ers reported a film of 0"1 f" h d 1 on 1S pon s.

a The cloud is believed to have blown s far as Botley and some drivers on the M27 reported oily smears on their windscreens.

Esso Petroleum sent out a technical team to deal with the problem and advised people to wash their with detergents

A spokesman at Bitterne police station said the complaints they had received were concentrated in the Hamble, Bursledon , Lowford , and Hungerford are a s

Experts from the Esso Oil Refinery later toured the Hamble and Bursledon "fall out area" with a pledge to pay for any damage caused by the oil storm.

As a steady stream of complaints continued to come in, Esso admitted responsibility for the oil cloud and stated that it would compensate residents for any damage.

"We caused the problem so we must put it right", commented a spokesman.

A team of experts from the refinery set up an incident room at the Solent Motel, Bursldon, to investigate complaints of damage to homes, cars, boats, lines full of washing and crops

The spokesman stated that names and addresses were being noted and it was hoped to send a representative to look at the damage as soon as possible.

"We have set up eight garages who " will carry out car cleaning and are trY1ng to get contractors to do other cleaning"".

By mid-morning 24 hours after the oil cloud, about 250 calls from residents had been received by Esso.

Particularly Pauline Kimish of hard hit was Mrs. Long Lane, the process of whose home was in repainted. Her one year she had planned to sell, in oil.

old car which was alsO covered

" " the Among residents surveYlng damage was Mrs. Maraget WesS on of H property Hungerford, Bursledon. er "sh pond in was effected including her fl which she keeps Japanese carp. "I off and fort"We drained the 01 unately the fish seemed to have come through it unscathed ," she said. use of the An inquiry into the ca fire has been started by Esso , whh o h tion w l C had pledged to pay compe ns a " f was expected to be i n t h e r eg 10n 0 £50 , 000

SPIRIT TANKER WESTONING, BEDFORDSHIRE

t day 11th September 1976, On Sa ur , eived at Bedfordshire Fire a call was reC t 1 Kempston, at 0715 hours, Service Con "Something has blown the caller High Street the whole up in Wes h t" The officer in charge st re et is a 19 t plian ce despatched to the f th e flrs ap o en still t wo mlle s incident, saw wh a l arge pall of smoke and from Weston 1n g ' from the centr e of the flames r1s1n g t an asslstance message for village and sen f ' appliances and me n. additiona l lre 1 he was confronted with a On arr1 va , " f" 1" tuation of a petroleum serl0US lre S

spirit tanker which had overturned blocking the road and burning fiercely. He described what he saw as a "fire ball". Houses and shops on both sides of the village s tree t were also involved in fire . Persons were reported as being missing from some of these premises and a search procedure for casualties was immediately put into hand by firemen wearing breathing apparatus. At 0749 hours the Cbief Fire Officer arrived and took command. Extinction was ach ieve d by the use of high expans i on foam onto the tanker and six water jets on the premises involved. A water carrier wa s sent on to supplement water supplies

The "fire surrounded" message was sent at 0826 hours.

Petroleum spirit vapour had entered utility service ducts and the surface water draining system. This was ignited and minor explosions lifted a number of inspection covers in the locality.

Public utility services were quickly on the scene and assisted in locating the run of drains and cable ducts which Fire Service personnel, assisted by a petroleum officer from the County Consumer Protection Department, continuously monitored for any petroleum spirit vapours with combustible gas detectors, until the initial danger was passed. Further checks were carried out for a period of 36 hours. Over 100 persons were temporarily evacuated from their homes in view of this risk.

The unsafe condition of the firedamaged buildings made the search for casualties most hazardous and it was not until 1022 hours when the "stop message" was sent that it could be safely assumed that all persons who were known to be in the vicinity at the time of the incident were accounted for.

In the circumstances it was fortunate that the driver escaped from the vehicle was not incapacitated and was able to details of the tanker's loan 1mmediately to Police and Fir S Th e erV1ce. o e tanker was loaded with 22,000 litres f petroleum spirit carried in 7 compartments. Due to weight restrictions on the tanker, three of these compartments were only partially loaded and one was empty. When the tanker overturned the rear compartment was fractured, allowing the petroleum spirit to leak on to the roadway. Within seconds the vapour was ignited The resultant fierce fire heated up the empty and partially loaded compartments, causing an explosion within a few minutes. The whole of the load was

consumed in the fire, which destroyed 80% of the aluminium shell of the carrying tank. Ten properties, including the three main shops of the village were involved; six were severely damaged by fire and 21 persons made homeless.

A rest centre was set up in the village school and the homeless, and persons temporarily evacuated, found shelter until alternative arrangements could be made. Apart from the driver of the tanker, who was slightly injured, no other casualties resulted. A fire appliance on route to the fire overturned and two firemen received injuries which necessitated hospital treatment and a subsequent period off duty.

The last fire appliance left the scene of the incident at 11-15 hours on Sunday the 12th September.

It is apparent that the vehicle turned on to its right (off) side and slid approximately 20 metres in that position. Heavy scoring of the shell of the end section of the carrying tank resulted from contact with the road surface The end compartment (No.7) was f;actured and allowed eum spirit to be released. ThiS 1S confirmed by a witness's account of the front petrol being sprayed on to of a house. Another witnesS whO waS travelling in his car towards the tanker, reported that the tanker ThiS stopped before flames were seen. is confirmed by the fact that th: iS driver had time to climb out of d ignite· cab before the vapour waS ble Having established that the prob a origin of the fire was the tankerd' assume then the supposed cause 1S to be:-

rts of Heating of component pa n be twee the tanker caused by frict1 0n ·t· g overturned tanker and roadway ig n1 1n petroleum spirit vapour

ANATOMY OF PETROLEUM LEAKAGES

By P. Robinson, Senior Fire Prevention Officer Buckinghamshire Fire Brigade.

Whilst it can be said that in the main the Petroleum Officer's job is straightforward for 95% of the enforcement task for which he may be responsible, there is no doubt that on occasions the resources, facilities and the patience of the operatives concerned, can be more than taxed by t he periodic requirement ,to deal with situations which usually start with an innocuous report of "a smell of petrol".

Two such occurrences have recently occupied Buckinghamshire Fire Authority who are the enforcing authority for the County, within weeks of each other. A detailed account of one of these incidents is recorded here, since this type of incident does give rise to an important question at the end, which Association Members may care to try and answer in subsequent editions of The Bulletin ,

,

I ncident No l -

Du r ing a routine visit to Greenhams Builde r s, Mine r al Lane, Chesham on 10th Febru ary , 1977, an interceptor in the dr a in ag e o f a p e tro l eum installation was fou n d b y an Insp e c t in g Officer , to be c o n taminated with a heav y non-s pe c i fied oi l , t h e inte r c ep t or was adja ce nt to a river out fal l On 14th F e bruary , 1977, a c all wa s r e c ei v ed f r om Chiltern District Council, t o t he eff e ct t ha t the y h a d rece i v e d a c all f r om Mess r s Green h ams Lim i ted c om p l aining of a st r ong smell f e t rol n e ar th e rive r at the rea r of pre mises and thei r office. Thi S co mp l aint was ln v est 1 gate d by a n t1 n g Of fice r who r e c o r ded r eadi n gs In s p e c o f 2 % on an MSA Mode l t he pr e vious l y me n t10 n ed r 1 v er o u tfall a t the of f ice of th e build i ng f irm an d 1 n . A furt h er vi s it o n t he foll ow l n g d a y · h Supervisory Off1cer r e veale d t h e W1 t a e o f P etrol e u m s p1r l t c o n t 1 nu 1n g pre s e nc . i n th i s a r ea b y b oth s mell, e xplo si mete r c o n fi r mat ion . a was s et up on 1 6th Febru a ry b etw e en mee t1n g · B· a de Th ames water Au th ori t y, F1 r e r 1 g , · t . t Cou n cil a n d Co u n ty Councll D1 S r1 C Hi ghwa y s r e pres e ntat 1ves S lnc e th e re wer e 1 pet roleum i n sta l lations i n t he s evera n e ar vicinity and s ur fa c e dr a in s lea d i n g to the river outfall we r e k n o wn to b e ext e n d ed over a wide a r ea Th e o n- site investigation s by memb e rs o f th e a bov e , led to the discovery that the dr a in s which eventually connect e d to th e river outfall, did not in fact connect to the

suspect oil filled interceptor but , in fact, ran parallel to it and had connecting spurs to Elf Service Station a warehouse and a tyre depot in to serving Greenhams. At this stage, a bulk delivery of petroleum spirit was by Messrs. Greenham, and this was stopped by the Petroleum Officer and a 24 hour nitrogen pressure test required to be carried out on Messrs . Greenhams s i ngle tan k a n d suction line.

In the meantime, further investigations we re car r ied out into th e connecting drain s pu rs and interceptors at Elf Service St a tio n a nd Fitches Ga r age a lso in the nea r vi ci nity , all p ro ving satisfactory until a manhole cov e r o ver a dr a in which passed under the sales k i osk office of El f Service Station was lifted and a rich (o ve r 100% LEL) pe tro leum vapou r reading ob ta ined o n the e x plosimeter. As a prel i mi nary investory measure, t he Group Manag er fo r Elf Oil (G. B . ) Ltd . , was adv is ed to ha v e i mm e di at e tests c ar ried out o n t h e suction lin es be t we en h is pumps an d tan k s an d to t ak e pum p 3 out o f a ct i o n s i n ce thi s was showing sig n s of l eakage wi thin the c a sing

The sub s e quent s ite i n volve men t fo r the Li c e n s in g Au thor i ty , i s s et out f r om he r e o n in chron o log i ca l o rder, s inc e t hi s giv es a b et t e r pic ture of the e xten t t o which the variou s I ns pe c tor s who be c am e in v o l v e d in th i s o ng o i n g p r oblem , f o u nd t h ei r ti me monopoli sed

Elf Service Station, Chesham Leakage into River Chess

Thursday, 17th February, 1977

0900 Tank for Messrs. Greenhams Limited was put on 24 hour nitrogen pressure test.

0930 Explosimeter readings taken in office of Elf Service Station and at the river outfall significant but low readings taken.

1145 Explosimeter readings again taken at office and river outflow.

1200 Discussion and enquiries pursued with Elf Service Station employees revealed losses of up to 40 gallons of petroleum spirit reported in three tanks. Manhole covers to six tanks lifted and petrol vapours pronounced in tanks 1,2 and 3.

Friday, 18th February, 1977

0900 Tank and suction line at Messrs Greenham, Mineral Lane, Chesham found satisfactory after 24 hour nitrogen test.

1100 Pump Maintenance Engineer arrived on site to check suction lines at Elf Service Station. Safety measures taken, forecourt roped off, no smoking notices placed, extinguishers sited to be accessible.

Suction pipes to pump 3 were tested first, since this had shown in the pump Signs of leakage. Engineer commented that bolts connecting suction lines to pump, were only finger tight. Leakage also noted between suction lines.

Tank 2 suction line tested and satisfactory.

Tanks 4 and 1 suctl" I" " on lnes pre- surlsed and failed wet t " d " 'ests applle pressurlsed to 10 lbs " " fa "l d A P.S.l and agaln 1 e rea and Re " g10nal Managers of Elf Servlce Station d " " " a vlsed of flndlngs and that site t "" 0 stay closed untl1 remedla"l action taken to replace suspect suctlon lines "

Saturday, 19th February, 19 7 7

Explosimet e r r eadin g s taken 0845 hou r s, 1430 hou r s 15 00 h ' ours Offices 0 f E . Greenham c hecke d w"th " " " " 1 ex p los lme te rno slgnl f l can t reading n o t d e "

Su nd a y, 20 th Feb r uary, 1 977

0 9 00 Prec aut ionar y explo s im t " " e e r readl n g s t ak en ln terC e ptors a t Fit che s Garag e checked with explo s i me t er _ n il reading.

Monday, 21st February, 1977

0850 Inspector on site interceptor at rear of Standard Tyre Depot inspected no significant reading. Thames Water Authority visit site and confirm that high octane petroleum spirit found in sample of water taken from river and analysed, also bitumen, probably from tank. Partial use of site to be permitted using tanks 1 and 4 for sale of petroleum spirit. Tanks 2 and 3 isolated to public.

Tuesday, 22nd February, 1977

0900 Inspector on site. Pumps 1 and 4 in use since 0700 hours. Thames Water Authority representative on site places dye in manhole of waterway in Elf kiosk/office. Dye subsequently enters river outflow. Water Authority suspect tank 4 since this had reacted peculiarly when water placed in manhole earlier in that water had bubbled as level dropped in manhole pit. Thames Water Authority wish tank 4 emptied through pumps then nitrogen pressure test to 10 lbs p.s.i applied.

Matter discussed between Inspecting Officers and Elf Oil (G.B.) Ltd., Chief Engineer.

Wednesday, 23rd February, 1977 and Chief 0900 Inspecting Officer" ttendan ce Engineer, Elf Oil, 1n a on site. petroleum 1000 Site closed for sale of spirit.

T dding ton , W. Dunkerley & Co , e to effect Middlesex, in attendance h"ch had " lineS w 1 repairs to suctl on "neers SO . uS eng1 failed since prev10 that they h siteS committed on ot er "ority to were not able to give pr1 Elf problem.

19 7 7

Wednesday , 23rd Feb r ua ry , take n i n Ex plosim e te r readi n gs . e manhol e , "th off1 C manh o le in line W1 D e pl ac e d i n 20 % on 1 00% s c al e. Yl e in off ice . man ho manh o le , see n l n Authority wate r s hort l y af te r. ge fro m " " " h s Gar a el lm l nate F1tc e h y have once t e s u s pect l i s t S l ction between ascertained no connewith current drain s on Fitches le akage proble m

1700 Tanker and uplift pump in attendance to remove 4600 gallons of petroleum from Tank No. 4. Nitrogen being introduced as tank emptied, through vent pipe of tank.

2245 Explosimeter readings taken in manhole in office of Elf Station 100% on 100% scale.

2315 Site left safe note 4200 gallons already uplifted from Tank 4.

Thursday, 24th February, 1977

0850 Work commenced on pressurising Tank 4 with nitrogen 1100 Staff report loss of 110 gallons N B 1445 1630

on Tank 6 showing on hydro gauges on reading taken on day previous, leakage of petrol and water noted in'to manhole of Tank 6 from surrounding area. Rodding of all drains instituted.

Pressurisation of Tank 4 ceased as leakage of nitrogen pronounced on gland connection.

After problem with gland connection to Tank 4, distortion of offset fill pipe during correction of leakage by contractors, leads to situation whe r e nitrogen pressure test just n o t p r acticable now without replacing of f set f i ll line now too badly dam a ge d to b e left in-situ. P e t r oleum tan ker in attendance wi th u plift pump to r ecover 1600 ga l lo n s of s pir it from Tanks 5 and 6 and 20 0 0 g al lons from Tank 2. Nitrogen bei n g introduced to tanks th r o u gh vent pipes Contracto r wishes t o cut away f ore c ourt t o replace di s to r ted offse t f i ll to Tank 4. P r oblem now i s hoW to r e n de r e mpt y tank safe whi l st c o ncr e t e r af t lifted above offse t f il l l i ne. Se ni o r Fi re Prev entio n Of ficer on s i te a dv ise s loc al fi r m s p e c ial i sing in d eg a ss ing o f tank s shou ld b e c alled in by c o ntractor so t h at Tan k 4 may be rendered s afe eno ugh fo r e x cav a ti on work in clo s e proximity b ea rin g in mi nd l e akage o f p e tr o l e um to have occurred an d th e u n de s lr a b i li ty o f f i ll in g tank wi th water in vi ew of t he k n own wat e r poll ut io n proble m a lr eady.

h Fe bru a r y, 197 7 Frid a y , 25t

0 9 00 P r e ssurisati o n o f Tank s 5 a n d 6 with nitrog e n in progr es s , leaks to e lbO W of inl e t of o ffset fi l l d · covered pr ess u r i sat io n c a p s l S , discontinued s inc e th e r e will be n e ed for excavation ro u nd manhole to effect seal on off s et fi l l s

1000 Site meeting between Senior Fire Prevention Officer, Contractor and Chief Engineer for Elf Oil (G.B) Ltd., to discuss situation and ongoing safety measures on and around site.

1800 Tanks 1 and 2 on test with nitrogen at 10 lb. p.s.i

Saturday, 26th February, 1977

1015 Fire Prevention Officer on site specialist firm degassing Tank 4 with air remover.

Suction line to Tank 1 on test and proved satisfactory after tightening glands.

Excavation of offset fill to Tank 4 commenced under supervision specialist firm remain in attendancE with air remover to maintain safe state of tank during uplifting of concrete surround. Concurrently work in progress on uplifting suction line to Tank 4, which proved to have significant leakage potential in riser and at elbow joint. This revealed on examination to' be resuit of extremely poor workmanship in that threads on the male coupling pipe had been eroded before fitting so that only three threads actually made seal and these were loose on removal (see diagram).

1800 Fire Prevention Officer back on site to check Tanks 1 and 2 on test from previous day at 10 lb. p.s i Test result satisfactory

Sunday, 27th February, 1977

0930 Explosimeter readings taken on si te.

1300 Furthe r e x plosimeter readings tak en Pressurisation o f Tanks 4,5 and 6 now with lines and off set fills repai r ed in progress

1 7 3 0 Tanks 4 ,5 and 6 all at 10 Ib p.s . i checked and se a led.

Monday, 28t h Fe br ua r y , 1977

0900 On si t e e xplo simete r r eadin gs tak en.

1 715 On s it e

1730 Tank s 4, 5 a n d 6 t aken of f 2 4 ho ur Ni tro ge n Test

Tank 4 Sa ti s fac t o r y

Tank 5 S a ti s fac to r y

Ta nk 6 2 . 3 l b . drop con t ractor bel i ev e s vent p ipe l et t ing by Elf Ch i ef En ginee r a sk s f or f ur the r t e s t o n Tank 6

1815 Strong smell of petroleum spirit again in manhole in office e x plosimeter readings show rich mixture 100 % on 100 % scale LEL

Tanker begins to uplift 4500 gallons of petrol from Tank 3 to discharge into Tank 1 and 2.

1930 Left si te

Tuesday, 1st March, 1977

0900 On site explosimeter readings taken. Decision taken to test Tank 3 and Tank 6 for second time.

1540 Tank 3 suction line on test to 10 Ib p.s.i satisfactory

1715 Tanks 3 and 6 on test Interceptor cleared out and river area by outflow pipe being cleared out.

Wednesday, 2nd March, 1977

0850 On site -e x plosimeter readings taken.

1715 On site Tanks 6 and 3 found satisfactory at completion of 24 hour Nitrogen pressure tests

Thursday, 3rd March, 1977

0850 Explosimeter r e adings taken.

0930 Site meeting Divisional Fire Prevention Officer, Chief Engineer Elf Oil (G B.) Ltd., and Area Manager Elf Oil (G.B.) Ltd., to discuss reopening site for sale of petroleum.

I t was agreed that site could reopen subject to regular clearing of interceptors at frequent intervals. Since it was now felt that petroleum spirit in sub soil on this site would seep into intercepto r s through walls when level of content within lowered: in addition it was strongly recommended that c ontra c to r s overhaul all drainage on this si t e.

Frida y, 4th Ma r ch , 1977

0900 On s i t e -e x plo s imete r r eadings s t ill signi f i cant in o f fice manh ole 60 % on 100% s c ale Reading s a t r iv e r ou t fl ow n il.

Sta ti o n ope ne d for s ale o f p e troleu m 19 day s after problem fir st d rawn to atte nt ion of Lic e nsing

The secon d i ncident a t a g a rage in Bletchley in t h e North of Bu ckinghamshire, proved to be no l ess troub l esome to the Inspecting Officers of the Brigade a l though it is not intended to deal extens i vely

with the ongoing problems with this particular incident e x cept to state that subsiding clay at the infill site on which the Filling Station has been built, distorted and punctured no less than five of the 6 suction lines to tanks on the Station leading to a leakage of not less than 100 gallons of petroleum into the sub-strata. At one time, gulley emptiers of the District Council were being employed to uplift petroleum spirit seeping rapidly into an electric cable duct manhole from which the supply was piped to the mains electrical panel for the garage buildings. After extensive site works during which, of course, the Filling Station was closed to the public, the Station was allowed to reopen.

In each of the above cases, there was known to have been extensive leakage of petroleum spirit into the soil under the Filling Station forecourt and in the second incident some strong evidence to ·rit would suggest that the petroleum Spl ' l ' d 1 trough wi thout remaln ln a so 1 c ay lateral movement.

t get voluntary Attempts in each case 0 , concerned to agreement of the companles t excavate extensively in order to , 't me t Wl recovery of the leaked splrl , I t hough less than an enthusiastic success : a , asslstance in the second case , wlth some ' h fire 'I nd Wlt a from the District Co uncl a d t o t was ma e crew standing by , an at temp le v el " 11 at a lower pierce a retalnlng wa wha t in the clay infill site to r eleas e tremel y l a rg e was supposed to be an e x ly d troleum, o n of water an pe f co n crete to be faced with several fe e t 0 d behind the brick wall when pie rc e . , ' that e x te nt ar e My questlon lS , 0 W , 't spons1ble fo r the Licensing Authorl Y re have the spirit below the site once the Yt hat , t to ensu r e taken all posslble s eps d th e site the leakage has been cor r ec t ed an d of license again safe f o r the sto r age spi r it ? Is i t, as some of my t Br anch Meetlng have suggest e d a t a r e c en at Slough , enou gh t hat the s ou r ce of d d nd co rr e cte , leakage h a s been d i scov e r e a a t no little e x pe n s e to the Lic e n see, hav e we a much stronger mo r a l re spons 1 1 to ensu re t ha t every att em pt i s mad e to rec o v e r t h e lost spirit before it comes f h vy rainfall, u p s o mewh ere els e a ter ea ces ? If po ssibl y with serious consequen th is l a tter is the answer on what legal , ent power s could we base our requlrem , for the to sink boreho l es untl1 the rogue spirit is locat e d?

I am sure some of you will have some to the questions and if you feel strongly enough , perhaps you will wr ite to the Edito r f o r inclusion in the next edi tion

PLANNING AND THE PETROLEU M

OFFICER

I was invited to repeat today a talk which I last gave some five years ago to the Northern School of your Association. If I had done just that you would have been left wondering where I had been for the past five years. At one time I used to give the talk once or twice a year . Even 'then I notice that the script required up-dating on every occasion. You can imagine the changes that are necessary after five years The basic principles, of course , remain the same. It is the methods that alter so considerably.

I have always believed that a petroleum officer plans installations to secure t h ose objectives. Firstly he aims to prevent ignition of the heavy inflammable vap our whi ch is given off by petroleum s p irit and mixture. Secondly because h e can neve r rely on there being no ignit i on he must t ake measures to limit th e extent of any fi r e and to minimize the r is k to p ersons. The th i rd objective is 1 e l y associated with the first two and c os ' t h is is t he preve n tion of outflow. It is o u se p ro v id i ng a safe area in pursuance n f the two aims if liquid petroleum o . " t and mixture is allowed to flow out S p1 r1 f t h e area th e mo me n t a n y thong goes wrong. h ave been man y fi res where failure e nt o u tflow h as been not only the to pre v f l"g n it ion bu t also of the serious c a u se 0 d am a ge s u ffere d

I t i s wor thwhi le e x ami n i n g the three . i n some depth . o b j ec t1 ves

P RE VEN TION OF IGNITION

" fir s tly to prevention o f

Turn1ng " t h re a re one or t wo fac t s wh ich ignit10n e tabl ish in our ID1nd s. These a r e we should eS d are no doub t wel l kn ow n t o tary an · elemen. re of such import an c e that but they a you . 1 be done 'if we reiter a t e them no harm w11

. t the inflammable liquid

It 1S no b t only the vapour Wh1Ch 1 S that burns u. " the liqUld. The v a pour wlll glven off .t i s mixed with air in the burn only 1 1 f t 'onS In respect 0 any right propor 1 iiquid the range of " i s known as the exp lO S,l ve 11m3, ts of th at

A Paper given by W.C.H. Dale Esq F.Inst Pet to S.E. Branch on 12th November 1975. Mr. Dale is an Honorary Member of the Association and Principal Clerk in charge of Petroleum Branch of London Fire Brigade.

liquid; (a most misleading term and one which the Americans more rightly call the limits of flammability). If a vapour concentration is below the explosive range it will be too weak or lean to burn; above the explosive range it will be too rich to burn. The explosive (or flammable) range is normally expressed as a percentage of vapour present with air by volume. Upper and lower limits of the range are always given. For petrols the range extends from about 1% of the lower end to about 8% at the upper end, for acetylene it is much wider from about 2.5% to 80%.

The fact that we 'have an explosive concentration does not mean that we automatically have combustion. For ignition to occur, the vapour at any point in an explosive concentration must be to its auto-ignition temperature; this temperature for petrol is about 3000C. The extent to which vapour is warmed by any given heat source is of course a function of the temperature of that source and time. In Simple language this means that a source having a above 300oC. will ignite petrol vapour much more readily than one barely above 3000C. In fact if the source is very barely above 3000C., ignition may not Occur at all because convection currents may preclude vapour remaining sufficiently long in contact with the source for the vapour to be warmed above its auto-ignition temperature Having said that, I must make it clear that 3000C was a nice round figure of the usual order which I selected for illustration purposes. Some petroleums have auto ignition temperatures as low as 250oC .

Exami n ation of t he facts we h a ve so fa r dis c usse d outl ine certai n p aths which we ma y fo l low in pu r suan ce of ou r fi r st obj e c ti v e Th e first ob vious step is t o e n s ur e t hat we n e v er ge t an exp lo s i ve conc e nt rati on o f vap o u r. Ob viously it i s u nd es i rab le to ai m at t o o r i ch a mix tur e, i f fo r no o t her re a s on th a n t ha t abov e 0. 7 5% concentra t ion with a ir pet rol v apour is toxic . Theoretically fro m a fir e ri s k as p e c t we should aim wh e r e v e r p'o ss ible to k e ep a ny

concentration of petrol vapour with air below 1 %. In practice to give a wider margin for error and to avoid gassing everyone a much lower concentration is sought.

Ventilation

This brings us to the question of ventilation. It is essential if we are to avoid the build up of an explosive concentration of petrol vapour and air that we should have good ventilation. The simplest and most effective way of ensuring good ventilation is to arrange for all storages of petroleum spirit and petroleum mixture to be in the open air.

There will, however, be occasions where considerable quantities of petroleum spirit or mixture are being evaporated and mechanical ventilation is required. In designing the mechanical ventilation system it·lS worth remembering a few simple facts. The amount of vapour which one volume of liquid will produce at normal temperature and pressure is equal to 22,400 multiplied by the specific gravity of the liquid and divid d b 't e y 1 S molecular weight. We can obtain the specific gravity from a reference book. To obtain the molecular weight we merely add up the atomic weights of the elements of the liquid.

Let us consider pentane which has a formula C5H12. The atomic weight of carbon is 12 and hydrogen 1. Therefore the molecular weight of pentane is (12 x 5) + (1 x 12) or 72. Its specific gravity is given as 0.63. Thus it follows that the vOlume of pentane liquid will give 22,400 x 0.63 772 or approximately 200 volumes of vapour at NTP. We know that 1 gallon occupies 4 / 25 cubic feet and can then say that 1 gallon of the liquid will produce 4/25 x 200 / 1 or 32 cubic feet of vapour By introducing a given qunatity of air to mix with this vapour we can have what concentration we fancy. Let us c onsider a plant in which! pint of our liquid is evapo ra ting per minute , in a st ovi ng en c losure. This means that 2 cubic fee t of v apour is being r eleased per minut e. If we int r oduce 198 cub ic feet of f r esh air per minute we will produce a 1% concentra t io n provided we ensure good mi x i ng. Obviously this concentration is too high fro m a toxicity po i nt of view. Although below the nor mal lowe st e xplosive l imit it is still too high from a fire risk of view it should be reduced by at least a half and what is more the fresh air input should be mo nitored.

Considerable further improvement

would be required before people could work in this atmosphere. In fact one would aim to have those persons standing in the fresh air stream with contaminated air moving away from them; this is what happens with a spraying cabinet. _.

One final little point on ventilation before we move on. Do not fight nature unnecessarily. The vapours of all petroleum spirits are heavier than air and hence fall to the ground. In designing, extraction systems therefore arrange to pull from low level and place fresh air inlets at high level. Let gravity help you. On the other hand if you are dealing with hot vapour or vapour which is lighter than air then the opposite applies and you would arrange to extract from high level.

Exclusion of ignition sources

The next step in our fight to prevent ignition is to avoid the. . . . ' ource presence of any 19n1tlon s oncentratlon an area whre an explOSlve c . t But flrs of vapour is likely to occur. h' h we have ln we must state the area w lC r the realms mind and here we really ente Office l · t· The Home of practlcal po lCS. as being Code defines the danger area in the within 8 feet of a can store 1 f t of petro open air and within 14 ee l' statl. ons measuring pumps on fll l.ng 11 the overa In certain locations where t risk is high by virtue of the 'derablamounxposure e e stored and there is consl. t' g depot, d' trl.bU l.n for example, at a bulk l.S 20 or 50 the distances are to the depot. feet; depending on the Sl.ze of

Ignition sources

b ' ng . ces as el.

Accepting these dl.stan 'd what are reasonable we must cons 1 er some There are l1kely ignition sources. and flame, obvious ones such as fl.re These lighted Cigarettes as so our obviously should be excluded d u will know selected danger area, an yo k s provl.Sl. on that the Home Off i ce Code ma e for this .

1 0 i;;'c l ude However Th e Code s a s ' " n respect of a slml.lar p r ohibitl.On l. electric light electrica l apparatus , ' .' t inflammable o r appllance l ik ely to l.gnl. e kd 'likel'" vapours Inclusion of the indicates that discretion is called for. It is in the field of the exer cise of this discretion that the most outstanding chang es have taken place in recent years.

The last time I gave this talk every country in t he world had its own local rules To some extent they still do but at least considerable strides are being made towards internation al ag r eeme nt

The base document, if I may call it that, is Publication No. 79 bf the International Electrotechnical Commission. The Publication comes in various parts each dealing with a particular concept or method of protecting electrical equipment. Member countries of the Commission are gradually re-writing their local standards to accord with this international standard. The British Standards Institute is heavily engaged on this task at the present time. This is evidenced by the emergence of a continuing number of parts of British Standard 4683. Also there are in existence a number of drafts to replace the various parts of British Standard Code of Practice 1003. All this is making life very difficult at the present time but in the long term the ends of simplicity may well be served.

Danger

Once upon a time we split danger areas into 'Divisions'. To accord with international practice, which incidentally is British inspired we should in future refer to Zones.

Zone 0 area

It i s necessary that we should define r Zones and we run into a minor ou ' f 't difficulty. Defin1.t1.ons 0 necess1. y ut in black and white terms whereas come 0 , , , tice one is always deal1.ng w1.th 1.n W ac , shades of grey. Thus the varY1.ng " h ' 'tions must be appl1.ed W1.t a def1.n1. d ' t 11' f common sense an 1.n e 1.gence . degree 0 , , f this reason that I l1.ke the It 1.S or ach which the Institu te of Petroleum appro, They firstly def ine a is adopt1.ng.atmosphere as being an atmosphere dangerouS y sign i ficant quantity of taining an con s or vapour in a concentration

The use of the word capable , my opinion blurs the edges ble' 1n 'capa I the old days Zone 0 was nicelY· nb ing an area or enclo sed space f ' ed as e de 1.n ' h any flammable or explosive 'thin wh1.C W1 e whether gas, vapour or subs tanc " 1.'d is continuously pre sent 'le ll.qu volatl. tion within the upper and , nc e ntra 1.n co . of flammability. In the liml. ts , lower re were Smart Alecs who sa 1d, re s ul t the, this defini tion s trictly , interpretatlng tro l tank was not Zone 'd a pe that ins1. e otly the atmosphere was e freque o becauS· the upper explosive . h nd above too r1C a Id not, however, b e l ""t They WOU 1m2 that there was not a able to argue h t k They dangerOus a t mosphere in t e an "

would thus have to concede that Zone 0, when defined as an area in which a dangerous atmosphere is continuously present, includes the inside of a petrol tank.

Zone 1

Following on from this definition one would define Zone I as an area in which a dangerous atmosphere is likely to occur under normal operating conditions. You are all familar with the Home Office Model Code so there is no need for me to illustrate the type of area in mind.

Zone 2

Beyond the Zone 1 area lies the Zone 2 area and this would be defined as an area in which a dangerous atmosphere is likely to occur under abnormal operating conditions.

Safe areas

All areas which are not classified as dangerous areas are termed 'safe areas' Certiflcation

System

Having decided by use of the definitions the zone of a particular area we are faced with the problem of what electrical apparatus to allOW in the zone. Sensibly we will whenever possible avoid the use of electrical apparatus in any dangerous area but there will be many occasions when it will not be possible to apply simple s traightforward common sense rule. To help us in our task we have the British Approvals SerVice for Electrical Apparatus in Flammable Atmospheres (BASEEFA) which is now part of the Health and Safety Executive. They have a trade mark which may go only on such apparatus as they have certified. This consists of the letters 'Ex' in a crown. Under the terms of the Treaty of Rome we will in due course have to accept t h e certification of other Common Market countries but for the time being until Gove rnme nt directs otherwise I would sugges t that for general ap plicatio n you accept in dangerous atmospheres only suitable electrical equipment cer tif i ed by BASEEFA. In the case of specialized equipment you may exceptionally be prepared to admit the certification of another country but I sugges t that you should do this only if the country is a member of the International Electro t echnical CommiSSion and there is clear indication that the apparatus complies with the appropriate Part of the lEe Publication No. 79

Grouping of apparatus

For the purpose of certification, electric apparatus is classified into two basic groups i.e., Group 1 and Group 11. Group 1 apparatus is for coal mining and Group 11 apparatus for industries other than coal mining. You will mainly be concerned with Group 11 apparatus. Apparatus in Group 11 is sub-divided into three sub-groups: Group llA, lIB and llC according to the characteristics of the gases and vapours which the apparatus is suitable. The h1ghest standard is llC and accordingly used for type llA or lIB vapours. Slm1larly lIB apparatus may be used in llA atmospheres. However lIB apparatus may not be used in llC atmospheres nor may llA be used in either lIB or lIC

For petrol vapours llA 1S the appropriate classificat1·on.

Temperature classification

We earlier the importance auto-1gn1t10n temperature. Obviously would be madness to install in a atmosphere any electrical equ1pment which had surfaces hotter than the au t o-ignition temperature of the vapou r exposed to that vapour.

So we require a marking Code as follows:-

Tl not exceeding 450 0 C

T2 do. 300 0 C

T3 do. 200 0 C

T4 do 135 0 e

T5 do. 1000e

T6 do 8 5 0 C

The temperature classificat i on fo r certified equipment is based on an ambient temperature of .40 0 e . In hot locations whe r e this ambient is exceede d the surface te mperatu r e of the apparatu s may be higher than th e sge cified limi t Thus in an ambient of 70 C , T3 appara t us may a chieve 200 + 30 or 2 30 0 e . T3 is SUitable for mo st p et r o l v ap o urs and the ma r king on t h e a pp a r atu s would appea r as T3 (200 0 C) Rathe r annoy ingl y i t is p e r mitt ed for appa ra t us to be ma r ked wi th t h e ac tual te mper at u r e ac h i e v ed i n whi c h case you might se e 2 l0 0 C ( T2) ( Wh y do pe ople a lw a y s insis t on int r o d u cing t hes e u n necess ar y co mp li ca t i o n s ? )

F l am ep ro of e n closure con cept ' d '

We can now c o ns ide r the va r ious conc e pt s and the first mu s t b e f a mila r to you all . This is the fl ame p r oo f concept Flameproo f eq Uipme n t is in n o

sense vapour tight but is so designed that it can withstand an explosion within its housing and yet not transfer to the external atmosphere sufficient heat to ignite an explosive concentration. Safety is dependent both on suitable over-current protection and the maintenance of flame path dimensions. The international symbol for flameproofing is the small letter 'd'.

Increased safety concept 'e'

The concept of increased safety is comparatively new to this country and can be applied only to electrical apparatus which does not spark or arc or exceed vapour ignition temperature. Special emphasiS is placed on quality of construction and materials , connections which cannot work loose, clearance distances and creepage distances between conducting parts as well as on limiting termparature which in some cases is achieved by thermal overload devices. In other wordS if you can quarantee no sparks or hot spots then you can have no ignition. In this connection I should mention in passing. that the safety of increased safety motors 1S very dependent on the correct use and. selection of an appropriate sta r t e r , 1f you are not expert in this field o f electrics you should obtain expert adv 1 ce . The international symbol for increased safety is the little letter ' e' .

Intrinsic safety concept ' i ' t f intrinsiC

In my opinion the concep 0 safety has been debased recently. The basic idea· t · 11 that it is po ssi b le 1S s 1 0 limit 1n certain parts of a c1rcu1t to s the current and voltage that sho u ld a fault occu r and a spark resu l t , th e energy of the spark will be so l oW a s to be incapable of igniting pet r oleum spiri t v a pou r. No lon g er, howe ve r, is t he r e a sin g l e cl as s We now h a v e tw o The internation a l symbo l f or i n t r i n s iC safety is l it tle 'i ' . I f a li t tl e ' a' 1S a dded t o this i t means t ha t the in t eg r it y th of the appa ra tu s w i ll b e ma1 nta 1 n e d W1 up to two faul ts If little 'b ' is a dded onl y one fa u l t a t a time is c ons i d ere d. Thus 'ia ' is a h ighe r st and a rd t han 'ib'

Once upo n a t im e we had o n ly intr i n s ically sa f e ci rcui ts a n d equi pme nt bu t now we have intr i ns ic a l l y sa f e sys t em s a s we ll. This has bee n brough t ab out by the d e v e l op me nt of spe c ia l ized typ e s of el e ctri c al b arrie r s, su c h as Ze n e r d io de bar r i e r s Thr o u gh th ese ba rri e r s for e x am p le a n intrinSical l y s a f e p u lseI' in side a pump can b e coupled t o a computer i n a s afe l o c ati o n mil es a way . Th e si mp l e tric k of putting br a ck e t s a round t he' i a' o r

'ib' symbols is used to indicate apparatus which may be associated with certified intrinsically safe equipment. This ·associated apparatus must always be in a safe area.

When considering intrinsically safe apparatus always look at the BASEEFA certificate number. If you see the capital letter 'B' at the end there are special conditions to be observed and these you should obtain from the certification documents. If the letter'S' is at the end whether or not ot follows the letter 'B', you are considering associated equipment which must be in a safe area.

Type'S' equipment

There is equipment which is safe for use in dangerous atmospheres but which meets none of the foregoing concepts wholly although possibly incorporating bits of them all. Equipment of this type, such as fully encapsulated motors, for example, are certified specially and for this reason carry the international symbol little 's'. You may need to look at certification documents to determine the Zone for which a particular piece of Type's ' equipment is suitable.

Type ' N' equipment

Th e only other concept at present ce r tifie d by BASEEFA is Type 'N'. This follows loosely the increased safety idea of no spark or hot spot accessible to vapour, but the means of achieving this are different and certainly t o a significantly debased standard IEC publication 79 makes no provision for Type N equipment

pressu ri zed e qu i p ment conce p t 'p'

lE C Publication 79 2 does however alloW pressu r ized equipment , At t h e presen t t i me t h e r e is n o Britis h Stand ard and this type of equipment i s not ce r tified by B ASEEFA. I t fa l ls to ea ch en fo r cement a uth or i ty to a p p ly th e p rovisions of British s tand ar d Code o f Pra cti ce 1 003 : Part 2 . The b a s i c i dea is th at i f a h igher pr essure than hat o f ext er n a l a t mospher e is maintai n ed t 'f' f 'thin th e hous l n g 0 a n y p le c e 0 W2 tric al e quipment th e n f l ow of ai r c an ele c 1 b e out of the e qu i p me n t a n d v apou r on Y t e n ter. Ob viou s l y th e p r e ss uri z in g c an no st be d r awn from a safe loc a tion a nd ' r mu.

a 1, to s a f e devi c es mu s t be fit t ed to fal l gise t he equipme nt should th e r e b e de ene r " . Th . o f the pr e s sur l zlng alr. ere l S f a ilu re S io n o f t his co n c ept known a s the an e x t en . '1 t d hou s in g meth o d b u t I wl ll n o t ve ntl a e wit h it. Th e n ew symb ol for bor e y o u . pr essu ri ze d equlp me nt i s littl e ' p '.

Other concepts

There are other concepts in IEC Publication No. 79, such as sand filling, but as these are not used in this country and as no comparable British Standard exists, we can skip the details.

Allocation of equipment to Zones

In Zone 0 one would permit only intrinsically safe ia (not ib) equipment. Pressurized apparatus might be permitted where the enforcing authority is satisfied with the arrangements. Type's' equipment would only be suitable if the certification documents so indicated.

In Zone 1 any Zone 0 apparatus would be acceptable and additionally flameproof apparatus and intrinsically safe ib equipment may be allowed. Increased safety equipment is suitable only if it is in a position where flammable liquid will not drip onto it if there is a pipeline or other fault.

In Zone 2 all the equipment mentioned above may be installed or alternatively Type N equiment may be used.

Safe areas call only for standard equipment.

Special Petrol Pump Standard

Before finally leaving this very important question of electrical equipment in flammable atmospheres I should mention that BASEEFA have a certification standard SFA 3002 for petroleum spirit measuring pumps. The purpose of this Standard is to provide a means of certification for pumps which while not complying precisely with the Home Office Model Code are nevertheless safe for use on filling station forecourts,

British Standards

If you wish to examine in greater d e tail this whole question of electrical equipment in flammable atmospheres you can do no better than read the various BASEEFA p ublications and the various Parts of Standard 4683. You should also keep an eye on the revisions to British Standard Code of Pra c tice 1003 as they appea r i n the form B.8 5345.

Therm i te reac t i o n and stati c

In co nsi d e r i n g possi b le igniti o n sou rce s , th is c a n i nc lude su ch e xo ti c a s s t a t ic and ther mi t e r ea c ti o n But one h as to st op s o mewhe r e s o I do n o t p ropo s e t o d ea l with the se a spe c ts to da y Neverthele s s i f que sti on s a r i se in dis c ussi o n I wi l l be happy t o an s we r the m

Limiting exposure

In our fight to prevent ignition there is one other very obvious thing we can do and that is to iimit exposure. This we can achieve by keeping all vessels securely closed and whenever possible requiring transfer of liquid only under seal.

Perhaps you will permit me very briefly to summarize the three basic steps which are taken to prevent ignition as follows:-

(a) Limit exposure

(b) Ventilate

(c) Exclude ignition sources

There is, of course, a certain amount of interplay in these steps. For example if you have no exposure and excellent ventilation then you can taken it more easil on exclusion of ignition sources. If you y have a lot of exposure then you have got to be very strict in both excluding ignition sources as well as in ensuring very good ventilation.

Limiting the effect of fire

We can now turn to measures to limit the extent of a fire and to miniminse the risk to persons. Naturally our first concern will be with persons and the way in which we can help them best is to ensure that they always have easy and safe means of escape from a storage area and from any buildings to which the storage area presents an e x posure threat Too often I have seen small enclosures for tank wagons with no effective means of escape for the tank wagon driver and I have always wondered what he would do if there was trouble.

To l i mit the spread o f fire we must establish fire breaks Distance itself, of course, provides an effective fire break if there is no combustible material in the inte rv ening space .

Where an adequate safety di s t ance cannot be pro v ided between th e risk and a building, fire break s can be established by requiring construction to a specified standard of fire-resistance for the wa lls or parti t ion s of the bu ilding exposed to the risk Such walls and partitions should be imperforate a s far as possible but if openings are provided they must be suitably protected. Normally the only op e nings one encount e rs are o p e n ings and Window openings. Srriafi'pe r sorinel doorway openings can be fitted with fire-resisting and self closing doors ; la r ge v ehi c le acc ess d o orway can be fit te d with fire -resisti n g s h utters each held open on ly b e a l in k a rr anged to o fu se at a tempera t u re of a b o ut 170 F a n d

windows can be glazed with fire-resisting glass in a fire-resisting frame fixed shut or otherwise protected by fire-resisting baffles of they need to be open for ventilation purposes.

It is important that we should ensure in a storage area that the amount of potential fuel to feed a fire is kept to a minimum. This means avoiding any clutter of combustibles in the area and also taking care to see that buildings in the area such as kiosks, which are not required to be fire-resisting are of incombustible construction. We should remember that fire-resisting walls or partitions should not be covered with highly combustible lining material which will enable fire to flash rapidly across its surface. If we permit this a small fire at one end of the storage area may spread also instantly to involve the whole area and this is most undesirable. The point is most important, I feel, in respect of canopies and to ceilings. It may not always be poss1ble to insist on full incombustibility and you may be prepared to waive this to the extent of permitting materials which have a surface spread of flame, i.e ., Class 2 1n British Standard No. 476 Part 7. These materials normally burn slowly, but they do , of course, burn

I should stress that a material which is combustible or has a low surface spread of flame is not necessa ri ly fire-resisting Compressed asbestic cement sheeting is incombustible for e x ample but apply a flame to it and it shatters and so cannot · p r event the spread of fire. Glass does e x actly the same. Conversely some combu s tible materials such as wood in sufficient thickness , do have a standa rd of fi r e- r esistan ce. I f you are interested in this aspect, I can do no better than recommend the va r ious parts of British Stand ar d No . 4 7 6 for y ou to study.

There is a misconception whic h arises on the part of this British Standard which dea ls with f i re resistance and I would like to att empt to rectify it. Unfortunately fire-resistance i n the standard is expressed i n te r ms of time. However this time is not the time that a partition , f o r examp le , will stand u p in p r actice; it i s the time that is resists the test . Al l fire resist i ng st r u c tu r es shou l d b e designed to r esist complet e b ur n out The int e nsit y o f f ire in a st r u c tu r e i s determined b y its fir e l oad de n si ty. This notion o f fi r e loan d en si ty i s related dire c t l y t o t he te s t , for Thus one c an say that · i f th e fi r e load de n s i ty in a st r u ctur e does e x c eed a gi ven amou n t a nd t he fire r es i s tanc e is a given

time then that structure will resist complete burn out. If for any reason the fire load density is increased this no longer remains true. I would in passing like to point out that this makes a nonsense of saying that because on an escape route you have half-hour partitions this will give half-an-hour for people to get out and for the fire brigade to arrive. It is unlikely to be true in every case and reveals a complete misunderstanding of the fire grading of buildings.

Fire

We can summarize the steps that need to be taken to limit the effects of fire under the three heads of:

(a) secure means of escape (b) exclude unnecessary combustibles (c) confine the fire

I have touched on all these aspects except to say that confining the fire would also include fire-fighting. Obviously one very good way of confining a fire is to extinguish it. This brings us to the question of fire extinguishers. The subject is quite well covered in the various Home Office Model Codes and there are only a few pOints that I would make. Firstly to be effective fire extinguishers must b e readily available; they are of no use locked away in the manager's office. Secondly do not put all your eggs in one basket; arrange extinguishers at fire points ensuring always that the fire points are sufficiently remote from each othe r In arranging the fire points there are two things to remember. Do not mix foam and dry powder extinguishers i n a single l ocation because some powders are incompatible with foam Moreover mbe r that mos t foam extinguishers r eme must be kept warm at least to the extent that they are never exposed for an y length of time to te mpe ra tures below OOF Be low this te mpe r atu re the 4 . I ff' sher permanetly oses e 1c 1 enc y ext1ngu1 ., t unt1'l s uch t1m e as 1t has b een at leas re-charged.

PREVENTION OF OUTFLOW

The final objective which we have ' d 's the que s tion of prevention to con S l er 1 1 I n the ca s e of can stores th1 s of outf ow. h · ved very S 1mpl y by prov1d1ng can b e ac 1e a retaining well to the store.

'11 be nec essary for the reta1n1ng 1 t W1 th t t 1 well to be capable of e 0 a t f the store only 1n tho se cases con ten S 0 where the whole cont e nts of th e store is contained in a single vessel or where the cont a inin g vessels are liable to shatter and deposit their contents immediately

when or soon after a fire occurs. In other cases of lesser standard in reasonable and for most storages a six inch high retaining well should suffice. This in fact is the recommendation of the Home Office Code

It is equally important that we should prevent outflow from filling stations and this is usually done by arranging the falls of the forecourtso that there is no drainage out to the public way or into buildings from the vehicle charging area and storage areas. In the charging and storage areas trapped gullies should be provided and these should be connected to the sewers only via a petroleum interceptor. Arrangements should me made for the periodic cleaning of the petroleum interceptor.

At times because of the slope of the land it may not be possible to dish the forecourts as I have just indicated and in such cases it may be necessary to provide secret channels across the accesways of the forecourt to prevent outflow to the road. The grilles of secret channels are, however, apt to get blocked and I would suggest that you always adopt a simple dodge to ensure that they are kept clean. This consists of having them installed about 2-3 feet inside the bound . ary wall w1th a fall of 2ft or so back from the boundary In this way the proprieto of the filling station has the choice Of r either keeping the channels clean or discouraging custom by reason of the puddles which form at this entrance in wet weather. This I have found to be much more effective than endeavourin to persuade him of the danger of out;l ow.

There is just one more aspect of outfl o w with which I will deal and that is th e question of outflow into th e sewers If petroleum sp1rit or mixture gets into the sewe r s there is not only pa t· r lcular dange r to men working in the s b ewers ut also dang er to the general public at la r ge. As you may know there h b ave een some magn1flcent sewe r explo ' . S10ns 1n the States because of insuffl ' . t Clen safeguards being adopted to prevent such outflow. May I th , ere fore , suggest as a golden rule that you r . h equlre t e of any area likely to sPllled petroleum spirit or to be passed through petroleum lntercepting c hambe rs.

On the question 01' the type of gullies to be used, if you look at the matter, you will appreciate that the petrol will be retained primarily in first chamber of the petroleu m lnterceptor, which acts as a petrol/ water separator . This petrol will , of

course, vaporise. It is true that the chamber will be vented but unless you taken appropriate steps it is apparent that vapour will usually have an easier path to atmosphere along the drain runs. If you allow this ventilation path by permitting trapless gullies you taken the chance of having your drain run blown up when someone carelessly discards a lighted match into the gulley. Therefore the rule should be that all gullies connected to a petroleum interceptor must be of trapped type. You will face much the same sort of difficulty with back inlet gullies when the back inlet discharges just over the surface of liquid in the trapped tion of the gully. I f petrol gets lnto the gully vapour will spread up the back inlet. Thus in general back inlet

gullies of this type should be avoided.

There is a lot more that could be said in regard to our three main objectives. At the Northern School 1 in fact went to from this point to discuss particular types of installations. There is not time for that today nor is it appropriate However I have found that if one is not ' carefHl practice tends to develop on the lines of precedent and a desire to be consistent rather than to meet necessity. For this reason I think it is useful to stop every now and again and examine one's cod'es of practice with a view to deciding to what extent they meet the three basic objectives I have outlined today . I would suggest that any code which fully satisfies all these objectives is prima facie a reasonable standard.

Legal Proceedings

BEDFORDSHIRE

Conveyance

At Luton Magistrate's Court on 3rd February, 1977, Hans Georg Tameggar, licensee of a petrol filling station, pleaded guilty to two charges, and David Michael Brent a tanker wagon driver pleaded guilty to two other charges.

The charges arose following a routine deliver y inspection by Petroleum Officers , during which it was noted that the delivery vehicle was unattended , and no certificate had been made out under regulation 16 of the c onveyance regulations

The licensee was fined £ 125 with £15 costs, and the driver was also fined £1 25 with £15 costs .

ESSEX

Licence Conditions & Ma r king of Container

On 1 8 th Januar y 197 7 at Witham Co u r t Dere k Doe a Direct or of A. S Cabl e Lt d , . , S t ation Garage, Hatfield Peve rel, wa s p r os e cuted o n th e f ol low i ng counts :

1. for c ontraven ing conditio ns o f th e Genera l Con di ti on s at tached t o t h e petro leum lic ence in t hat h e fai l e d t o t ake a l l due prec a u ti o ns t o pr,even t a person u nder th e ag e o f 15 ye a r s from hav i ng acces s t o p e troleum-sp i r i t.

Contrary to Section 2 of the Petroleum (Con s olidation ) Act 1928 a nd

to Section 33(3) of the Health and Safety at Work Etc. Act 1974 t in 2. that he sold petroleum-splr1 at attached a container to which there was n S 0 it" "P tro1eum- p1r a label showing the wordS e d and "Highly Inflammable" an d the name an address of the vendor.

f the Petro l Contrary to Section 5 0 t Section eum (Consolidation) Act 1928 and t 33(3) of the He alth and Safety a Etc. Act 1974

0lty and waS f i ned Mr. Doe·pleaded gU1 £ 0th £10 co s ts . 25 on each char ge, W1 when an 11 year old These chargeS arose 0th a can to girl was s e nt to the garage a sked fo r buy pa r raffin but inadv e rtendt a mi no r esulte 1 petrol . The mlstak e r caused no explos i on whi c h , f or tunatelY, s e r ious i nju ry .

Un licen ce d

t s ou t hm ins ter

On 4 t h Ma r c h 1977 a d s tr ies al In u Co ur t So v ere ig n Che mlC 0 F u rness 0 d Barr oW l n ' Ll mlt ed o f P a rk Roa , f or failing to Cu mb r i a , were p r ose c u ted f · r the ke e p ing of li cen s e a s t ore 0 0 S r equlr e d by p etroleum mlxtures a (Consolidation) Se ct ion 1 of the petroleum he Health and Act 1928 and Section 33 of t Safety at Work Etc Act 1974

They we r e £25 costs

fined £100 and asked to pay

The above company were prosecuted at Rochford Magistrates' Court on 16th February 1977 on two charges resulting from a spillage at their bulk storage terminal.

The first charge was for contravening a condition attached to the licence granted to them by the Essex County Council in that they failed to take due precautions to prevent an escape of petroleum-spirit and secondly that they contravened another condition of the licence by failing to immediately notify the Chief Fire Officer of a spillage.

The facts briefly were that on 3rd January a tanker was discharging oil into the bulk storage when, due to a valve being left open and a subsidiary pipe not being blanked off, a spillage of approximately 200 tons occurred. This flooded a pump house and spilled over into drainage ditches surrounding 12 large storage tanks.

The spillage was discovered at approximately 3.30 a m but it was not until daylight that the extent of the Spillage was appreciated. Subsequently it wa s not u n til 12.30 hours that it was r eported to the Fire Brigade.

The c ompany pleaded guilty and were represented by Counsel . The Magistrates im p osed a fine of £300 for failing to take precautions and £400 for failing to immediately notify and they awarded pr osecut i on costs of £40

(An a c count o f t his incident appears u nde r "Notes and News" )

G L.C

At To tt en h am Mag i str a tes Cour t on Ma y 5t h , 1 977 , th e Pet r oleum Bran c h of Lon don Fire B r iga d e l a id seven c h a r ges a gai n s t Man sfiel d P e tro le um Company Li mi t ed o f Wi ga n fo r co n tr ave n tion of Reg. 11 of th e Conv e yanc e Regula ti o n s 1957.

The draw off pip es wer e n ot protec t e d a s required

The lighting wirin g was not h e avily insulated and prot e cted in pl a ces (four separate charges).

The r ear two compartment s wer e found to be l eak i ng (two charges).

The incident, which occurr ed in Nove mber, 1976, resulted in a los s of

110 gallons of petrol leaking from the vehicle on its journey from Grays in Essex to Edmonton. The case was proved and the company were fined the maximum fine of £400 on each offence making a total of £2,800.00 with £105.25 costs.

The company appealed against sentence, and the appeal was heard at the Appeal Court, Streatford, on 5th July, 1977.

The judge allowed the fines to be reduced on the four infringements relating to the wiring of the tankwagon; these were reduced to £100 on each count.

The unprotected draw off tap was also reduced to £100 fine. The leaking compartments (two) had the fines kept at the maximum of £400 each and costs of £100 were awarded in addition to thOse awarded by the magistrates court.

The total fines after appeal were £1,300 with £205.50 costs.

KENT Conveyance No fire extinguisher

At Dartford Magistrates Court on 15th September 1976, George Hawthorn the driver of a petrol tank wagon pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to carry a fire extinguisher on the vehicle. He was fined £50 00. A similar charge laid against the owners of the vehicle, Nash Heating Oil Supplies Limited, of 8 Ma , nor R0ad, Romford, Essex was withdrawn after hearing that the company was in voluntary liquidation

Mr. B.R Nash, a director of the company did not appear and the case against him allegi n g that the offence was attributab l e to his neglect S t· ec lon 37 Health and Safety at Wo r k etc. Act 19 74 was proved in his absence. The justices imposed a fine of £150.00 with £10 0 0 costs

Dis u s e d Petrol Tanks

At Ma r g ate Ma gis tr ates Cou r t on 3rd No v emb er 1 9 76, Mr J. To l ley Was f in e d £8 0 0 0 with £2 5 .0 0 c osts for fa i l in g to render sa fe th r ee d i sused p et rol tanks at Fort Ro a d, Ma r g ate

The d efend a nt ha d pr e vio usl y b ee n before the Court on 18th Ma rch wh e n he had been fin e d £5.00 and g i ve n t hre e month s to comply wi th a not i ce s erve d u n der Se ct i on 73 of the Public Health Act 1961.

N.S. Parish v London & Coastal Oil Wharves Limited

The charge on this occasion related to a period of 40 days from the expiry of the three months which he had been given and the fine of £2.00 per day is the maximum under Section 290(6) of the Public Health Act 1936

Tolley appealed against conviction and sentence and the matter has heard at Canterbury Crown Court on 26th January 1977. The appeal was dismissed in the absence of the appellant but he was given leave to apply to the Court to have the appeal reinstated.

Conveyance Mixtures

At Sevenoaks Magistrates Court on 16th November 1976, Sovereign Chemical Industries Limited of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, pleaded guilty to four charges concerning conveyance of petroleum mixtures in cans. A total of two thousand 5 litre cans of petroleum-based adhesive was being carried.

The charges were:-

(a) No fire extinguisher (Regulation 6 of the 1957 Regulations).

(b) No fire resisting screen (Paragraph l(c) o f 1st Schedul e of 1957 Regulations).

(c) Not instructing driver as t o the Regulations (Regulat i on 6 of 1 9 71 Regul a ttons).

(d) No flame no t ice (Regulation 4 of 1971 Regulations).

These offences were detected durin g routine checks for overloading o f vehicles under the Road Traffic Acts.

The fi rm wa s fined £50 . 00 and th eir driver £25.00 in respect o f over loadin g offences and the pe t roleum offenc e s b ro ught fines of £ 30 00 on (d) a n d £50 00 on ea c h of the othe r s . Co sts of £15.00 we r e award e d.

Delivery Spillage

Following a spillage of pet r ol duri ng the cou r se of a d e live r y , Stati o n Garage (Wateringbu r y) L t d ., an d Michea l Anthony Ca y se r app ear ed bef o re the We st MaIling Ma gis tr at e s on 23r d No ve mbe r 1976.

Th e spill a g e was f ro m the a i r s ep a r ator v ent o f a p um p on the f o recourt o f a f i lling s t ation ; It r es ulted fr om a n o verf ill in g o f an u n d e rgr o un d st or ag e t a nk f ro m a p etro l t ank wagon Ov erfilling appear e d to be due to an attempt to assess in advance th e amo u nt of p etrol which the t ank would hold, bearing in mind the an ti c i pated sales In addition, the defendan t Cay s er, who is a directo r of the company , cla i med to have made a mistake in reading the dip s tick of the underg r ound tank

The charges against the company were as follows:,

(a) Failure to observe p recaut i ons (Regulation 2 of 1957 Regulations).

(b) Failure to keep copy of certificate (Regulation 16(10) 1957 Regulations).

and against the Director

(a) Failure (Regulation 2 of (b) Failure

to observe precautions 1957 Regulations). to complete two copies of certificate (Regulation Regulations) 16(7) of 19 5 7 (c) Failure to secure that overflowed (Regulation 16(6) of Regulations)

no petrol 1957

Each defendant pleaded guilty to (b ) to the O ther charges and not guilty

The Court found all cases proved £75 .00 on the las t and imposed fines of h of the others. charge and £25.00 on eac ' Costs of £10.00 were imposed. b n lodged Notice of appeal has ee lation t f the Reg u by the Company in respec 0 'respect 2 offence and against sentence 1n of the Regulation 16(10) offence.

t hes • Conveyance Carryin g ",a c

t s Court on At Sevenoaks Magi s tra e Let ts the 3rd December 1 9 76, James Anthony d gu ilty k on p lea s e dri v e r of a Pace tan wa g the

, matc h es on to a charge of car r y1ng vehicle whilst conveying petrol. and ordered t? He was fined £50.0 0 . ts +-he pOln pay £ 15 00 costs. Amo n g o n e wh ic h were ra i sed in mi t igation wasH th at dese r ves f urth er pu bli c i ty . th e practice a t depots wa s tO l and ret urn matches at the g ate on arr1va them to the d r ive r a s he le f t

Convey a n c e -Le ak

, ____

--:- at es Court on At Se veno ak s Mag l s t r 1 Oil s L im ited , 17 th De c embe r 1 976 , Fu he d d Rl ver e a , . of Wh i t e Har t P ara e, . t two charges Ken t p l e aded gUll t y 0 is t ration t nk wagon reg c o ncer nin g t he l T a mark CKX 655F

the road wi th

The vehicle was seen on ' th draw off t apS and a a leak on one of e b 1 to c a t c h can hang i ng beneath the the firm t he leak ing petrol In addltl0 n l , Spirit f the Petro eum had n o t got a copy 0 195 7 t o ( Conveyance by Road) Regulations d r ive r as to enable them to instr uct th elr its requirements

, d a f i ne of £ 100 0 0

The Magis t r a tes lmp o se £20 00 , the le all: and on the c harge c o ncer nlng t ' n 26 Costs of on the char g e unde r Reg u l a ,10 • £20.00 we r e aw ard e d.

Storage in defective tanks

At Maidstone Magistrates Court on 12th January 1977, Young and Partners (Motors) Limited., of Linton Road, Maidstone pleaded guilty to six charges and Peter Brian Young a director of the firm pleaded guilty to three charges. The charges arose from the discovery on an inspection that two 1000 gallons underground storage tanks which had previously been pressure tested and found not to hold the pressure .

The charges against the firm were as follows:-

(a) Keeping 1110 gallons in excess of licence.

(b) Keeping 510 gallons in defective tank.

(c) Keeping 885 gallons in defective tank

(d) No cap on fill pipe.

(e) Petrol in manhole chamber.

(f) Tank not marked by number.

Information (a ) to (e) were laid under Section 1(3) of the Petroleum ( Consolidation) Act as contraventions o f Cond it ions of Licence whilst (f) was und e r Regu lation 16(2) of the 1957 Re gul at i o n s

The summo n ses against the director all ege d th at (a) was committed with his c o ns e nt a nd (b) and (c) were attributable t o his n eglect Section 37 of the Health and S a fe ty at Work etc . Act 1974 was u se d to bri ng the dire ct or before the Court

The Magist r a t es sa i d t hat th e y viewed th e ma t te r ve ry se r io u sl y and imposed fines of £40 00 o n ea c h offence against the Co mpany and £25.00 o n e ach offen c e a g ai n st the dir e ct o r .

De livery spilla ge

Following a spilla g e during t h e cours e of a delivery o f petro l t o a

filling station, a tank wagon driver and his mate appeared before the Tunbridge Wells Magistrates on 19th January 1977.

The mate had been on top of the vehicle and had opended the footvalve before the driver had coupled the hose to the underground tank. When the driver attempted to remove the screwcap from the draw-off pipe, a spillage occured, it being alleged that there was a fault on the faucet valve which had not been opened.

In view of the fact that both men had contributed to the non-observance of the companys operating code, Informations were laid against each one alleging breach of Regulation 2 of the 1957 Regulations.

The case against the mate was dismissed, but the driver pleaded gUilty and was fined £50 00.

Conveyance Key carried

Crouch Oil Limited of Scudders . Farm, Fawkham, Kent appeared before the Maidstone Magistrates on the 3rd February 1977 and pleaded guilty to two charges concerning their tank wagon registration ma rk NFC 764P.

The charges follo wed an inspection of the vehicle during the course of a delivery of petrol at a garage. It was found that a manlid was open and the driver was carrying a key to the manlid It had been opened to speed the delivery through an unusually long length of hOse

The driver was normally employed on delive r ies of fuel oil and derv and .had not been furnished with a copy of the Pet r oleum Regulat i ons

Fines of £ 25 00 unde r Regulation 26 and £ 50 00 unde r Regulation 12(2) ( in r e s p e ct of the key ) we r e impose d with £ 10.00 costs A fu r ther charg e und e r Re gu l a tio n 12(2 ) i n r espect of the ope n manli d wa s wi thd r a wn

ONE NEW STANDARD DOES IT

f B S I News March 1977 rom

A single British Standard for portable fire extinguishers, based on performance requirements, will eventually replace seven separate standards in BSI's catalogue. J. Mills, chairman of the drafting committee, gives the history of the standard.

So many types of sophisticated fire fighting apparatus are available today that it is surprising to reflect that it is little more than 50 years ago that the first British Standard for portable fire extinguishers was published, in 1922. This was BS 138 for extinguishers of the water type (soda-acid) which was the predominant type at the time.

Water type (soda-acid) extinguishers contain a solution in water of sodium carbonate together with a bottle of acid. When the extinguisher is operated, the acid mixes with the solution generating carbon-dioxide gas. The gas forces the solution through a nozzle which the Operator aims at the fire.

This type of extinguisher is still in use Widely today and it is effective on wood, paper, textile and similar carbonaceous fires.

This specification was followed in 1937 by a standard for extinguishers of the foam type (chemical) which are similar to the water type (soda-acid) but more suitable for liquid fires. At the same time a standard was introduced for extinguishers of the halogenated hYdrocarbon type, which are capable of dealing not only with liquid fires but with fires in electri c al equipment, becaUse the extinguishing medium is non-conductive. The halogenated hydrocarbon is expelled either by a hand pump, o r by pressure sto r ed internally in the extinguisher or in a small cylinder.

Interest in fi r e fighting and fi r e preVention was considerably stimilated during the Second World War. After the war a standa rd was published for water type exti n gu i she r s in which the water is expelled by gas stored in a sm a ll cylinder. Thi s was followed by a spe ci f ication for extinguishers of the foam t ype in whi ch the foam is expelled

similarly.

Subsequent standards covered ., .' shers (which carbon-d10x1de ext1ngu1 . . f 1 for fires 1n are part1cularly use u is electrical equipment because the. gas non-conducting and leaves no res1due when the fire is out) and the dry extingu1S J_ng extinguishers Wh1Ch use an medium of dry powder expelled by a gafs. developed or Powder extinguishers were 1 equipment liquid fires in electr1ca and for burning metal.

In all seven standards were They were published over the years. largely constructional standards . However, reflecting proven exper1ence. . t t ds to restr1c this type of standard en . ns and new the introduction of new des1g _. W rk on rev1s 1n g extinguishing med1a. 0 since b in progress these standards has een . N 70 th ork 1n CE 1970 in conjunct10n W1 w . h wi th the Portable fire extingu1s ers, .' h . th neW Br1t1s intention of al1gn1ng e Standard with international work. delayS have Unfortunately, ser10US k in 1 t on of wor meant that the comp el _ is t- gU1shers CEN on portable fire ex 1n d-ng d correspon 1 not yet in sight, an d t starte work in ISO has not ye _ _ tion for Accordingly BS 5423 being ishers 1 portable fire ext1ng u _ the d to reV1S e published in or er le at the same existing standards wh1 ossibl e uch as P t1me embodY1ng as m 0 Work will of the work of CEN / WG 7. _ the hope t nally ln continue interna 10 The earlier of reaching agreement at a later ithdrawn standards will be w has expired. date when their usefulnesS

Identification hed leaves open BS 5423 as publ 1S _ extinguishers of flre the identificat10n D aft for Deve t of r which is the subJec SI NeWS March 19 76 ) lo pme nt DD 48 (see B t proposes that 1 me '! The Draft for De ve op • painted wi th hou1d be an extinguisher s identify the a pa r ticula r colour to _ h it contains d WhlC extinguishing me lu m favours Europe However p r actlce 1n _ red and U1S hers painting all ext1ng h view as wel l there i s support for t 1S try It is as opposition in this coun hoped it will be possible to reach

international agreement on the of colours and incorporate the result into BS 5423. In the absence of such agreement, DD 48 is to be withdrawn and a recommendation inserted in BS 5423 that all extinguishers should be predominantiy red, with an additional colour code marking to identify the extinguishing medium, BS 5423 as published also leaves open the written classification of DD 48 which suggests how extinguishers should be marked to indicate the types of fire for which the extinguisher is most suited to BS 5423 to cover colour coding and the written classification is in preparation.

As far as possible BS 5423 is based on performance requirements. It includes requirements for minimum performance in extinguishing a test fire of either type A or B classification of BS 4547 Classification of fire.

Type A fires involve solid materials, and are usually of an organic nature in which combustion takes the place with . the formation ofgiowing · embers, a typical example being a wood fire.

Type B involves liquids or liquefiable solids, for instance petrol or cooking fat. Two series of standard test fires, both in geometrical progression of size, cover the ranges of performance likely to be expected from portable fire extinguishers. Because a high test performance can sometimes be achieved by a rapid discharge, minimum discharge times are specified in order that the inexperienced operator should not be caught unprepared by too rapid a discharge.

Helping the user

Careful consideration has been given to other ways of improving the ease with which an inexperienced operator can use an extinguisher. Extinguishers which have to be inverted to operate are now excluded and this removes one possible cause of confusion In addition it should not be necessary to repeat any of the movements, necessary to operate an extinguisher. The provision of means for interrupting the discharge is now specified in order to assist the operator, a feature which was frowned on in the past. The hand pump type of extinguisher has been omitted. All types covered by BS 5423 contain a source of energy to expel the extinguishing medium.

Further standardization of the method of operating portable fire extinguishers is under international consideration and may be introduced in BS 5423 when agreement is reached.

CP 402 Fire fighting installations and equipment Part 3 Portable fire extinguishers for building and plant, is being revised and in due course will be published as BS 5306 Code of practice for fire extinguish1ng installations and equipment Part 3 Portable fire extinguishers. The revision will take account of BS 5423 and give recommendations for the siting and distribution of extinguishers, the suitability of various types for use on fires of different substances, the intervals between routine inspections details of the maintenance to be carried out at stated intervals and recommended intervals between periodic testing by discharge.

BRANCH REPORTS

EASTERN

Minutes of the Meeting of the Eastern Branch held at the Cambridgeshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service, Divisional Headquarters, Parkside, Cambridge, on Wednesday, 15th December 1976.

Introduction

The Meeting was opened by Mr. B.O. Lowe, Bedfordshire County Council in th ' e absence of Mr. J.W. Frid, who was unable to attend. Mr. Lowe thanked the 13 members and 1 guest for attending in the prevailing bad weather.

Apologies

Apologies were received from 5 members.

Minutes

The minutes of the July meeting of the Branch (previously circulated), were confirmed.

Matters Arising

The matter of the question of whether Branch members need to be members of the National Association was raised. Also the difficulty within some fire authorities was mentioned, whereby the authority would wish to become a member but Would wish to nominate varioUS officers to attend meetings. The Honorary Secretary felt that this latter problem could be overcome by the authority becoming an associate member. The Chairman asked that the former matter be put down as a qUestion for the agenda of the Association A.G.M. This was agreed.

Correspondence

The letters sent to the Health and Safety Executive and the Metrication Board as a result of the members' concern over the question of metric deliveries of pet r oleum spirit to garages equiped only with dipsticks graduated in quantities were circulated, together with repl i e s . General co n cern was felt am o n g st membe r s that the matt er wa s s t i ll not resolved. It was mentioned that con version c ha rt s iss ued by at least one petrol co mpany were inac c urate

Any other business

Copies of Branch Rules Vlere circulated to those present, and a branch fee of fifty pence was charged to those not present at the inaugural meeting of the branch. L.J. Brooks (Cambridgeshire) asked if in future correspondence to members within one authority could not be sent in one envelope to the office address, in order to save on postage charges. This was agreed.

Discussion

The Chairman raised the question of disused tanks, and the growing numbers which are now becoming disused for temnorary periods, pending a change in the economic climate. He asked members what steps their authorities insisted upon to. make these tanks safe. A lively ensued, which various methods of maktng safe temporarily were put forward frOM filling with water, to sealing the tan};: off. It was suggested that until a had been made safe by some means , the site should continue to be licensed by the local authority.

, t· and After lunch a very interes informative talk was given by Mr. F.E. McCarthy, Senior Sales Engineer , EmcO Wheaton U.K. Limited , on the fittings for vehicles engaged in the conveyance of petroleum spirit.

This was accompanied by a film on fire engulfment tests on carrying tanks for petroleum spirit, and by a display of the various fittings manufactured by Emco Wheaton.

Mr McCarthy was warmly thanked on behalf of the Branch by Mr. L.J Brooks

SOUTH EASTERN

Minutes of the Annual Gene r al Meeting o f the Bran c h held at Slough Town Hall , Bath Road , Slough, Berkshire at 10.00 am on 9th March 1977

Prior to the A G.M the Branch endorsed the secretary's action in preparing and subm itting notices of motion to the Association A .G.M via the Hon General Secretary in accordance with instru ction s given on 24th Nove mbe r 1976

With Mr. H.T.E. Jackson in the chair and 20 members, 4 Associate Members and 15 Guests present the A.G.M. cO L'r!lenced at 11.00 am approximately

a) The minutes of the previous A.G.M had been published in the Bulletin and were received.

b) There were 7 apologies for absence with 2 received subsequent to the meeting.

c) In his remarks the Chairman expressed the Branch's thanks to all concerned in making the meeting possible and, in particular, to Slough Corporation, for their kindness in permitting the use of their Council Chamber. He went on to point out the success of the past year's activities and stressed that the membersh i p at large could be of great assistance by indicating their needs and wishes. As he had held the chair for a period in excess of what was normally permitted he felt it was time to stand down especially "as the Branch has weathered the transition of change in Local Authorities.

d) The secretary in his report pointed out that subject to payment of s ub sc rip tio n s by those concerned the B ran ch ha d levelled out at a manageable me mb e r sh ip i n al l grades of appro x 150 ' He ap ologised f o r t he fact that a gr ea ter number of me etings had not been held. He o ffe r ed his thanks to the outgo ing comm it tee fo r their support an d he l p durin g hi s f in al y ear in the p os t.

e) The t r e a s ur e r hatl sent his ap olog i e s and the secretary subm i tted th e balance sh e e t which the tr easure r had pr e pared. The f i nal figure in hand would b e increa sed sligh tl y b y the balanc e o f cash he l d by the sec r e ta r y. Acceptanc e of the balanc e sh ee t was proposed by Mr. Taunt o n an d sec on ded by Mr. Furni s s. The meeting accep te d t he accounts ,

f) Both the Chairman and s ecretary had indicated that they d i d not wi s h to be considered for re-election bu t the Treasurer had indicated a wi llingnes s t o continue. By nomination from the fl o or and by the Tr easu r er's acceptance the following were e lected :-

Chairman Secretary Treasurer

P. Robinson K.H Jevon s D. J Ridd e t t

g) The practice of keeping the committee small was continued and the following were elected:-

D. Taunton W. Rigby M. E. Smith

Surrey C.C. re-elected East Sussex C.C re-elected G.L.C

At this point Mr. P. Robinson proposed a vote of thanks to the outgoing Chairman, officers and committees emphasising the departure of Messrs Jackson, Smith and Sirey and stressing the work done in keeping the Branch functioning h) Under any other business the following topics were discussed:-

1. Major leakages action to be taken after the event- possible prevention powers once the source has been found and the fault rectified. The discussion devolved over a wide spectrum and a plea was put for cause celebre to be written up and published in the Bulletin.

2 The question of G.R.P. storage tanks had been raised at the meeting on 24th November 1976 and the discussion was extended. Again a plea for publication was made together with any information available about the behaviour of G.R.P petroleum interceptors.

3. A question regarding the treatment of sub-standard sites led to a lengthy discussion on this topic and future policy.

4. The approach to Local Authorities regarding the handing over of r esponsibility for cases formerly licenced by the Home Office led to a lively discussion about the position an Authority found itself in following the upholding of an appeal. Although the advantage of regular inspection by local officers was stressed some felt that the absence of guidelines and la ck of support from the H . &. S . E . was a feat ur e that neede d rectification . One insta nc e were a c ondition applied by the fo r mer Home Of fice Inspecto r ate to f i r e being ex ti n guished du ring t a n k e r diScha r ge local of ficer s note d th a t th is c on d ition seldom c o mp l i ed wi th b u t c ould t ake n o a c t i o n. I t was felt t ha t an air i ng of t he pr o bl em in the Bulleti n mi ght h elp mat t er s .

Buckinghamshire C.C Be r kshire C.C Hampshire C.C

At the request of the inc oming Cha ir man and Secretary the out go ing holders of those posts continued to function for the remainde r of the meeting

The A G.M Cl os ed at 1 2.30 p. m approxi mately

At about 2.00 p m the meeting re-assembled under the chairmanship of Mr. Robinson to hear an iilustrated t a lk on Road Tank Wagon Con s truction and Inspection by Mr. C . L. Davids , one of the G.L.C Se nior Pet rol eum Inspectors.

Mr. Davids is an M.A.P.E.A and F. Inst. Fire E. and is well known for his lectures at the Association's schools in the South East over the years. His talk provoked a reaction from those assembled and a lively discussion fOllowed.

SOUTH EASTERN

Minutes of Branch meeting held on 24th November 1976 which commenced at 10.30 a.m.

The first part of the meeting dealt with normal business and discussion and was held in the Council Chamber at Slough Town Hall through the courtesy of Slough Corporation. After an interval for luncheon a visit was made to the Langley Terminal of Total Oil Great Britain Limited.

Mr. Jackson took the chair and welcomed 22 Members , Associate Members and Guests to the business meeting. 19 of the 22 visited Langley. 10 Apologies.

The Chairman welcomed guests and thanked Slough Corporation through Messrs King and Jevons for their kindness and hOSPitality and for making the prior arrangements for the visit in the afternoon. In his remarks Mr. Jackson reminded those present of the increase in Subscription and the new arrangements for tax allowance. He also sounded the meeting as to its views on a further meeting before the Branch A.G.M. and received confirmation that such a meeting to take the form of a general discussion should be held.

On the discussion that followed the matter of a Branch subscription was mooted but dismissed.

The secretar y reported t h at his COpy relating to the visit to Dresser and to the Branch A.G M. had appa r ently gone astray but that a revised note had b e en sent to the new ed i tor of the Bulle ti n together with copy r elating to the v i sit to Emco Wheaton U.K Limited's fac tory

This latte r visit had bee n badl y attended but t h e great e st numbe r of let t e r s o f apolog y f or an y o n e func t ion h a d b ee n r e c ei v ed a n d th e co mpan y is n o w doi n g a g reat de al to de mo n st rat e its lates t e q u ipme nt to t he Assoc ia tion.

Ari Si n g f rom the l o s s of copy the s ecre ta ry h ad b een i n touch wit h t he ne w edi t or who double s as Branch Se cr e tary for the newly-formed Ea s tern Branch. He ha s asked for as much copy a s Po ss ible in the near future

While on the subject of the Bulletin the secretary passed on the good news in relation to its reduction in costs. Information that the next issue is due in mid-February has been received.

All members in all grades whose address is in either Essex or Hertfordshire have been transferred to Eastern Branch leaving a total to South-Eastern of 144 of which capitation is claimed for 138

In response to a letter from a membe.r a simplified manual dealing with explosives the secretary had been in touch with J.C.J. and gave details of their handbook as well as the latest Guide now published by H.M.S.O. for the H.&.S.E. The secretary repeated his notice of quitting the appointment in 1977.

The treasurer reported that the Branch has sufficient funds to allow for a further meeting prior to the A.G.M. if postage costs and other charges remain as before.

Finance is always a good debating pOint and raised a number of issues as a result of which the secretary b f e the next 1S 1nstructed to lay e or the " t be put at Branch meeting a mot10n 0 the Association A.G.M which will enable following:-

teres t in the a) to enhance the l.n ssarily " " " ". 1 not nece Assocl.atl.on l.ndl.vl.dua s," l."nterest b t wl.th an in local gov e rnmen t , u "a t l."on th Asso Cl. in the disciplines of e ate r part t ake a gre should be enabled to in it.

.t tion fee b) to enable the capl. a roll t o Bran c hps for each person on a be inc r eased t o £1 50p

" to hoW mo n e y c an Suggestl.ons as J"or o n e d the ma be rai se d we r e ma " " dve rt l.s l. n g meet i ng f avou r l.S a

ion follo wed

The discussion ses s on th e fo ll owi ng t op iC S:-" l o n f a fal. ur e a ) as a r esul t 0 tor it was a g .r p pe t ro l interce p d ch eck for moo t e d th at a water s hould le ak ag e by filling wl.th tructure if the s b e carrl.ed out even A request for i s b acked with concre t e this respect feed- b ack of experiences l.n and o n the po ss ible damage to PI· v c t d to P rotect P as 1 C bend s and the nee vents was made and the Bulletin wa s though to be the best vehi c le to this end.

b) Both g.r.p. storage tank experiments have been terminated and the results were discussed. It was suggested that the manufacturers might : wish to comment on those results through the Bulletin particularly on the flexing and behaviour of the tanks once installed. The oil industry too might like to comment on the future of such tanks. In the light of the available the meeting was unimpressed.

c) Concern was expressed at the practice by certain suppliers of petroleum spirit in combining the certificate required by Regulation 16 of the 1957 Conveyance by Road Regulations in their delivery note. Provided the terms of the Regulation are met there

TECHNICAL CORNER

Presented by PHOENIX WHERE ' S THE ATTRACTION?

I f p ar ticles of paint are given a hi g h el ectri c al charge relative to earth, t he y will b e att r acted to earthed objects Th is prin c i ple is u sed in electrostatic s pr a yi ng The article to be coated is earth ed and th e consequent attraction of paint to the article not only reduces ov e r s p ra y bu t aids wr ap round to such an e x te n t th at more than one side may b e a t a time -a very useful a ch1 eve ment i f one wants to paint both sides of a wi r e fence from one side on l y.

Th e r e. a r e dan gers , howe v e r , and the ma Jor o n e 1 S o f a n in cendi ve spa r k ign i ting an explo s iv e c o nc e ntra tion of paint vap o ur and a ir. Ad e qu a t e v e n t i la t ion shou l d be prov1ded t o se cur e t hat an e x p l osive conc e ntration w ill no t occ ur but t hi s is not enough. St e ps must also be taken to pr e vent incendive s park di s ch a r ges .

spout of the s pray gun wh ic h i s electrical charge to th e pa1nt will have a high pot e nt ial r elat 1 ve to earth. Thus a spark will o c cu r whenever th . e Spray gun s pout 1S brought S Ufficiently clos e to a n earth e d ob je c t Whether the spark is incendive or not w i ll depend on the resistance o f the circuit. In fact by the introduction of a li mitin g reSistance or similar con tri vance in th e high voltage lead to the

appears no objection but a warning that' some hauliers are carrying petroleum spirit without the knowledge that the named solvent falls within the law was given.

d) General discussion on difficulties in imposing a standard of fire alarm wound up the forum and the morning session closed with a briefing by Mr. Jevons as to local places of refreshment and our thanks were again extended for his route map.

The afternoon session was a most interesting tour of the Total terminal and our thanks have been expressed to the manager for the great trouble he and his colleagues took to make us welcome and instructed.

spray gun spout it is possible to ensure that the spark will never be incendive. In other words, it is possible to make the high voltage circuit intrinsically safe. Control circuits can also be similarly treated and the other electrical equipment associated with the electrostatic spray gun can either be housed in suitable flameproof or pressurised enclosures or otherwise be placed in "safe" locations. there is another snag. Charged particles of paint may be deposited on unearthed objects or on objects which have had an insulating layer formed on them by previous spray deposits. These objects may acquire a high voltage as successive charged particles of paint impinge on them. When the voltage is high enough air insulation will break down and the consequent discharge to a nearby earthed object may result in the formation of an incendive spark.

The answer is to enSure that all objects, inc luding the operator, are not only effectively earthed but are kept sc r upulously clean . This r aises an in teres ting di lemma Should the intrinsic saf e ty of equipment b e allowed to r es t o n an ope r at i on a l requi r eme n t? Afte r all, o pe r a t ional re q ui r eme nts a r e the most difficult t o enf orce. Mo r eo ver, i nt rin s ic ally sa f e eqU i p men t i s c e r t i fi ed fo r use in a Divi s ion 0 dange r are a a n d a Di vis ion 0 area i s an a r ea wh e r e a n explO S i ve con centration i s alway s pre s ent, lac k ing only it s incendive spark