Acting Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), Mr John Alexis Pwamang, has directed Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) pump attendants to not refill defective gas cylinders customers bring because of its contribution to the incidence of domestic gas fires.
He made this known during a training of LPG pump attendants in Accra, where he also admonished attendants to counsel customers.
“Pump attendants must counsel customers who present defective cylinders for refilling, to understand the dangers associated with using substandard gas cylinders.”
He then advised LPG pump attendants to mark any defective gas cylinders with red indelible ink to serve as a warning to both the owner and other pump attendants of the danger associated with refilling that particular cylinder.
As part of a broader process to inject professionalism into the sector and to reduce accidents connected with gas usage, the EPA has initiated a process of licensing all LPG pump attendants.
The training forms part of the general requirements for the licensing regime which would ensure that people who are not trained cannot operate as LPG pump attendants when the regulations come into force.
Mr Pwamang said that LPG attendants must go through Environmental Safety and Best Practices Training (ESBPT), a syllabus divided into phases, which involves theoretical classroom and practical field training, leading to the award of an initial certificate of participation, after which the attendants would be monitored for adherence to best practices.
He said the attendants would again go through another theoretical classroom and practical field training at the end of which he or she would be licensed to operate as a Certified Professional LPG pump attendant.
He said the training would also target Owners, Dealers, and Station Supervisors to ensure that “we adhere to international best practices in our operations in the country.”
Mr Pwamang explained that the certification emanated from the background that the series of gas explosions and gas-related fire outbreaks in the country, which had resulted in the loss of lives and property was attributed to lack of understanding and failure to observe simple safety protocols.
He said investigations into these incidents revealed several causes, the most critical and common one being that most of the workers along the supply chain did not have the requisite knowledge and skills required to work.
“It is as a result of these revelations that the regulatory institutions decided to organize a training programme to train and certify all the operators to ensure that LPG risk is reduced to the minimum in the country.”
Mr Pwamang said all actors including regulators, investors, dealers, attendants, and consumers needed to work together to reduce the hazards associated with the usage of LPG.
“We have LPG around us in our homes, cars, workplaces, and restaurants among others. We, therefore, need to understand its proper usage.
“As a major player in charge of environmental protection, we have identified education as a missing link, therefore we want to build the capacity of station attendants who play a critical interface in the whole operations of selling LPG to end-users.”
He then called on the LPG Marketing Companies Association and other stakeholders to ensure their attendants participated in the training as well as dealers and owners to help protect their investments.
