The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has stated that it would engage stakeholders in the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector with a view to fashioning out new guidelines on life threatening practices that are being taken for granted by operators in the industry.
In his presentation on safety in LPG operations at NIPCO’s Safety week held recently to mark the recent World Day for Safety & Health at Work, the Lagos Zonal Controller of DPR, Mr. Oluwole Akinyosoye lauded NIPCO for the high level of safety consciousness and excellent housekeeping being exhibited by the company.
“We are today talking to NIPCO, we are going to engage other players in the industry as well; we have stated engaging NNPC as well ,to ensure we don’t just load the products ,but ensure that those trucks are fit for purpose. If you load trucks that is not fit for purpose ,and there is an explosion in your facility ,God forbids , on the way to the plants ,or at the plants ,it will be on record that the truck loaded from your company ,that is why we are looking at the LPG guidelines once again,” he said .
Akinyosoye said the agency would soon issue directives to all operators on how to be up to speed with regards to loading and ancillary issues stressing “ you know better than us because you do it every day and we may be theoretical in ways we do things ,but we relate to all sectors of the industry ,and we know where the shoes are pinching , and those guidelines we are fashioning out.”
According to him ,the guidelines would spell out what need to be in place before truck loads ,ensuring that they have the right shut out valves and correctly installed as well trucks being fit for purpose .
He recalled the ugly incidence of January 15, 2018 when one of the bottling plants operator lost huge investments, the DPR Controller urged both the investors and customers alike to adhere strictly to safety rules to avert such incident in future .
He also commendable NIPCO for the investment they have put in place in terms of infrastructure for commercial gas in Nigeria.
Akinyosoye charged the staff to understand that whenever an investor is putting his money in any economy, his hope is to make descent profits and that can only happen if the workforce gives its best.
The Controller who launched NIPCO safety pamphlet designed to guide users of LPG as domestic cooking fuel in a safe manner as a corporate social responsibility initiative enjoins all stakeholders to keep safe at all times .
Earlier while declaring open the Safety Week events, NIPCO’s Managing Director, Mr. Sanjay Teotia said that good Health Safety and Environment (HSE) performance was an integral part of efficiency in the downstream sector of the nation’s oil industry.
He reiterated the commitment to sustain NIPCO’s safety culture, which has manifested in zero incidents and fatality in the entire 14 years of its operations, adding that the HSE policy of company is hinged on prevention of injury to employees, assets, and environment.
