Notes and News

Volume 16 The Number 1 Bulletin September 1977

Published by the AssociatIOn

Ii'! thI S Journal arc; nBcessarily VIews for Petroleum and Explosives Administration of :he

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

Mr .

B.T. A. Collins,

Deputy County F · e lr Off icer Buckinghamshire . Flre B· adrl g e 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 experience 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 relaxation of public awareness.

Let us face this new ch allenge as r esolutely as in the past .

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 certi ficate of appointment and his warrant card that is sufficient to establish his right to prosecute," said the judge.

_ The judges s ent back two cases , 1nvo1ving Wal1send Slipway and En-gineering and Br ims and Co. to the magi strates with dir ections to cont inue the hearings .

SAFETY WITH HONOURS

As regular f I _ " 0 ns t 1tutof Trad1ng Standards Adm;n " t _ -L 1S rat10n EdUcation Policy will kno - - w, p r oposal s are 1n t he p1peline fo r a D" 1 _ - 1p oma 1n Pub11C Safet y . The COunc il of the e Institute has now gi Ven ; t 1 ... s approva i n pri nc ipl e t o this concept h " h "t " , w 1C 1 1S proposed to operate i n a rath dOff . er 1 e rent way f rom ex ami nations preVi ously under taken by the Institut e " Bec ause not al l of t he safety f unc t ions are carr ied out by ever y Tr ading Standar ds Depar tmen t , and bec aUse the matter wi ll have apPlicabili t y to s taffs in othe r departments , it has been agr eed that the Dipl oma sh all be in four parts, each of which will have some six 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 composite tanker " labelllng heme sc for s vehicles carrying dangerous substance . Tr ansport Secretary Rodgers gave this answer W- lliam 1 C rom - the 0 1n r) ons recently when John d n Oven 0 (Labo _ U the called for display on " - requir1ng leg1s1at10n ;ca1s " chem ... lorries carrY1ng t re of of a notice specifying the na u the contents. The move is t par of a -ng " de-rang1 W1 lations review by the HSE of all danger oUS relating to substances, r oad transport 0 e JC p10Sexcept for -ves 1 and nuclear materials .

by of

be compl eted _ The revi ew should the beginn1ng the end o f thiS year or 1978 . Currently, b th 0 for I legiSla ti ma which are on and th used t e v o r olu egu n l tary ate c sc he hemes I " a s m1c ' transport are fragmented .

_ pe troleum While s ome c ar goes tightly pro con duc t ro I - are ts , f or examp e t cove e no l led, othe r s ar r e d t a al l. Compul par t of an containment " will become sor y labell1ng ontro l l an to c over all P " t ructions t o k " g 1ns , mar 1n , t emergen cy staff , park i ng some pr ocedures and even , pOSS1 , f orm of compulsory routeing.