industrynews
NATIONAL trade body the British Compressed Gases Association (BCGA) is raising awareness of the procedures involved in handling returned gas cylinders.
The move comes in light of a reported surge in metal theft, featured recently in the UK media.
Doug Thornton, chief executive of the British Compressed Gases Association, (BCGA) is calling for vigilance to ensure gas cylinders are correctly processed and returned. He said: “Gas suppliers invest a great deal of resource into development and, once in service, into maintaining cylinders so they can safely be used over many years.
“The market for industrial gases in the UK is significant and consequently there are many thousands of gas cylinders in circulation.
“In the vast majority of cases, most customers will return the cylinder back to their gas supplier. However, some do not. Unfortunately, a number are stolen: some for the gases they contain, but more frequently for the scrap value of the metal.
“This is a disturbing trend as the thieves will have little concern over the safety of themselves or the people to whom they sell stolen cylinders and will not care
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Surge in metal theft sparks warning on the handling of gas cylinders
about releasing gases into the environment.
“It is important, therefore, that people are aware of their responsibilities in handling and processing gas cylinders correctly, and that action is taken by the authorities to tackle the issues where they are not processed correctly.
“No-one has the right to declare gas cylinders
to be scrap or to cut them up without the express permission of their rightful owners, namely the gas companies.
“Where gas cylinders end up at a scrap metal yard or waste management facility, the operators should be aware that most have not been abandoned by the gas supplier and that they have a duty to take reasonable steps to obtain the permission of the owner before destroying a cylinder.”
BCGA has a range of information for the waste management industry to support the safe handling of gas cylinders on site. This includes ‘Leaflet L2, The Safe Handling of Gas Cylinders At Waste Facilities’ available for free download from the BCGA website, which features
The BCGA has made the appeal following media reports in April regarding a reported rise in metal theft figures.
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a flowchart detailing safe disposal methods, as well as useful contacts for further advice and assistance. It also outlines the processes to be followed to establish legitimate ownership and to ensure that a cylinder is in a safe condition for processing and disposal.
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Robin Edwards, of Onis Consulting, is the former police lead in metal theft and an industry expert in addressing the issue. He said: “Dorset recently reported a 300% increase in metal theft and Network Rail has also published figures that show an 80% increase in delays as a result of metal theft.
No-one has the right to declare gas cylinders to be scrap or to cut them up without the express permission of their rightful owners, namely the gas companies.
“Unfortunately, the price of copper is inflated and has risen close to pre- 2013 levels and if you throw a lack of enforcement into to the mix it’s not difficult to see where this is heading.”
More details can be found on the BCGA website -
www.bcga.co.uk - in the Gas Topics area.
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