Coping With Health & Safety Audits

Lp gas handling specialists are often approached by businesses who have been the subject of an unfavourable health and safety audit. It is invariably the storage of the gas cylinders that creates an issue for the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). Here, Steve Robertson of handling, storage and security specialist, Ritchie, explains how the right partner can take the headache out of health and safety when provided with nothing more than the number and type of cylinders being stored.

Lp gas cylinders are used everywhere. I don’t have to tell you that, as a reader of LP Gas. They are found on building sites, on forklifts and in use by roofers, in outdoor heating and barbecues, for sale on garage forecourts, on caravan sites and everywhere from homes and farms to chemical and metal processing plants. In almost all of these applications, gas cylinders are the subject of a health and safety audit. I say almost all, because there are clearly homes and small hospitality organisations that escape the radar. Even so, there is a moral imperative to make sure the cylinders are stored safely, even in these instances. In some cases, the audit is conducted by the HSE, in others it could be the company that uses the cylinders or another organisation. No matter who conducts the audit, the same regulations apply, providing there are lp gas cylinders on site being used for storage. The key is to keep all cylinders in a safe, well-ventilated place, preferably in the open air, and away from occupied buildings, boundaries, sources of ignition and of heat.

Ten out of ten times this means keeping the cylinders in a cage, which is where Ritchie, or a company like us, comes in. If in any doubt, UKLPG can provide a set of regulations, Code of Practice 7, which covers the storage of full and empty lp gas cylinders. However, my experience tells me that, when a potential customer contacts a cage provider, either in advance of a survey or following a failed one, they normally don’t know what information they need to provide to comply with the code. The answer is simple, we, and other companies like us, need to know the number of cylinders you have and their capacity – it’s as easy as that.

Standard cylinder capacities are 15, 19 and 47kg, and Ritchie has different cages to suit these cylinder sizes. Also, our standard cage has removable shelving, which can accommodate all of these cylinder capacities, making it a flexible design. Walk in compounds are also available when a larger number of cylinders needs to be stored, and these are supplied flat pack for onsite assembly. Walk in compounds can be made to any size with or without roof panels.

The customer should always look for cages that are hot dip galvanised and, as a result, can maintain good protection from corrosion for many years. It also makes sense to look for equipment that is supplied fully assembled with hazard warning labels already applied. It may also be advantageous for the cages to be supplied with padlocks, which Ritchie’s are as a matter of course.

Another benefit can be a set of casters, which are best supplied as an optional extra. Ritchie offers an optional trolley conversion kit for our mini cage, which allows it to be semi-mobile. All of our cages have been checked using physical checks to ensure that they are robust and can be moved when full to maximum capacity. This is a minimum standard and is a question worth asking any supplier you talk to.

While the quantity and size is normally sufficient information to provide a solution for a small installation, there is the occasional exception. As a result, the company providing the cages needs to be able to offer advice on where to site them. This isn’t quite consultancy, it’s more about having the product range to provide a solution for the variety of potential requirements.

For instance, we have made cages that store up to 100 cylinders in long, thin areas to suit the environment. Equally, there could be a requirement for separate storage of full and empty cylinders, or the cages themselves might need to be bolted to the floor. It could also be about labelling – both to comply with the regulations on fire hazard warnings and to market the company storing the cylinders.

At Ritchie, we use a CAD model to plan out the storage area to scale and make sure there is access to the bottles. Things to consider include, for instance, ensuring the cage doors don’t block access to other areas when open. We also allow for separation of full and empty cylinders. This is where the design experience of the company providing the cages comes in.

Of course, while the right company can solve the problems that resulted in the survey being failed in the first instance, they also need to be able to reliably transport the resultant cages to the customer. Really, this means it needs its own fleet for distribution, which is why a typical blacksmith can’t do the job. Furthermore, consideration needs to be paid at the design stage to the costs of transportation.

For instance, the product that Ritchie manufactures for forecourt use is designed so it can be rotated on its side for transport. This results in a smaller footprint, which in turn saves space in the truck, thus reducing the shipping costs for the customer. In addition, we find that having larger customers, like Calor Gas for instance, means we have had to put in place a network and set of services that also benefits our smaller customers. For example, the fact that we stock most items and offer same week delivery means that relatively small orders can be fulfilled with the professionalism that our largest customer would expect.

In essence, there isn’t any reason to fear the HSE. After all, the regulations that it applies are there to make the use of a hazardous substance safe. Furthermore, they are simple to comply with and easily obtained.

Pictured Above: Calor Standard Cage

Contact Ritchie on 01307 462271
www.ritchie-uk.com

< Back