Are You Tracking Your Gas Cylinders

Over the last year there have been a number of fatal incidents involving LPG gas cylinders in Australia, if you are in the business of supplying gas, can you track all your gas cylinders?

Currently in Australia, are you aware of any liability if any, held on the gas supplier to know exactly where their gas cylinders are located.  A range of gas cylinder providers tend to allow customers to return a cylinder from one provider and swap their cylinders for a gas cylinder from a completely different supplier. LPG 9kg BBQ cylinders are an example of this.  Customers can purchase a new cylinder from a service station or exchange an old cylinder for a new one.  The old cylinder does not necessarily need to be branded the same as the current gas supplier.

Most gas suppliers in Australia, at least have some idea of where a cylinder may have been sold from, but where it ends up is anyone's guess.  Every gas cylinder has a safety requirement in Australia to be inspected every 10 years.  If a gas cylinder provider cannot locate these cylinders how effectively can they manage this requirement?

With legislation constantly changing and a potential government review into the safety of gas cylinders underway, now is the time to ensure your systems can effectively track your gas cylinders.  However, a universal approach to gas cylinder tracking may be required where the manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that a cylinder can be tracked regardless of which vendor sells or distributes the cylinder or where the cylinder may be located.

A universal and systematic approach to cylinder tracking would also ensure compliance against any federal or state legislative requirements and hopefully reduce the future incident rates that may occur from 'lost', inappropriately stored and transported cylinders.

If you would like to more information on gas cylinder tracking systems then contact us now.