The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has urged stakeholders in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry to embrace safety at all times, to prevent accidents at their stations.
In an interview with the executive director of the EPA, Mr. Henry Kwabena Kokofu stated, “Players in the Gas industry must ensure that the marketplace, and more importantly the customer, is not compromised by unsafe practices. Ghana cannot afford any disaster.”
The EPA boss continued, “We all have personal and collective responsibilities to ensure a safe environment in the chain distribution of LPG; from the producers at the refineries, right through to the end-user”.
As part of a broader process to introduce professionalism to the sector, Mr. Kokofu said the EPA had instituted training of stakeholders to reduce accidents with LPG usage and develop a process of licensing 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 regulation comes into force.
LPG Attendants will be made to go through a three-day training programme “Environmental Safety and Best Practices Training (ESBPT)”.
The ESBPT syllabus will be divided into two phases. Phase one will be a theoretical 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.
The Attendants Mr. Kokofu said in the phase two, attendants will go through another theoretical class and practical field training at the end of which they would be licensed to operate as a Certified Professional LPG Pump Attendants.
The EPA Executive Directed noted that the action to train operators, conforms with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) guidelines which encouraged actions promoting safety practices, preventive and preparedness measures.
He said the UNEP supported the guidelines for good safety practices in the LPG Industry. The EPA boss stated, “therefore the EPA is being proactive in taking the necessary measures to ensure that professionals manage the product”.
According to Mr. Kokofu, guidelines for good safety practice in the LPG Industry has been developed by the World LPG Association (WLPGA) to provide global tool for ensuring standards in the industry.
Executive Director of Solution Solve Limited, Mr. Samuel Otu Larbi, Solution Solve Limited lead consultant for the training stressed the importance of a sound regulatory framework for the LPG industry. He expressed the need for full understanding of the product, distribution chain and ensuring safety in operations.
Good safety practices Mr. Otu Labi emphasized must be adhered to in storing, handling and distributing bulk LPG as wells filling and handling cylinders which are key to ensuring safety in the industry.
He said LPG referred to a group of hydrocarbon-based gases derived from crude oil refining or natural gas fractionation. Propane and butane, and mixtures of the two, are its key constituents. He expressed that LPG could be liquefied under moderate pressure or low temperature, which facilitates its transportation and distribution.
Explaining further, he stressed that although, as a fossil fuel, LPG releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during combustion, however it burns more completely than solid solid fuels making it more efficient and cleaner. LPG like all forms of energy was potentially hazardous if mishandled or misused.
The EPA Acting Director of Field Operations Mr. William Kwaku Hayfron-Acquah also stated “as a major player in charge of environmental protection, the agency had 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”.
EPA he said was collaborating with other technical partners such as the Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana LPG Operators Association (GLPGOA), Department of Factories Inspectorate, among others to achieve the goals of the initiative
LPG Marketing Companies Association and other stakeholders were called upon by Mr. Hayfron-Acquah to ensure their attendants participated in the training as well as dealers and owners to help protect their investments.
