Gasoline Transport Public Accidents: Towards Improved Safety Standards

By

Baba El-Yakubu

byjibril@gmail.com

 

Nigerians are aware that gasoline fires and explosions accidents can lead to serious danger not only to the general public and the Environment, but also to them personally. Whenever there is gasoline leakage from pipeline or spillage from capsized tanker, gullible children and passersby, converge at what they see as a beehive where they could enjoy the benefit of the valuable liquid. Gasoline is attractive to impoverished citizens who see it as an easy means of making money. Unfortunately, it is hazardous and contact with it may leads to health hazards, fires and explosions. These destroy infrastructure, alarm the public and bring an unsavory reputation to the professional involved in the oil and gas industry. The institutions that are responsible for safeguarding the public are either very weak or do not exist. Also there are new economic and social realities that make it necessary to improve or develop new national hazardous material transport safety standards. Otherwise, minor accidents could escalate into major disasters.

 

Nigeria has recorded several such disasters. Some are accidents that resulted from infrastructural decays and failures. They could be minimized by routine repair and maintenance; which unfortunately are not done as required. Saboteurs, who may be interested in causing havoc or stealing the gasoline, triggered other disasters. In addition, the matter is aggravated by the lackadaisical attitude of law and safety enforcements agencies. Take for example the Abule- Egba, a Lagos suburb accident in December 2006. More than 200 people were killed due to gasoline pipeline explosion. It followed the usual pattern of such disasters – initiation, propagation and mass destruction. The initiation was bursting of a pipeline by miscreants who scooped out the fuel to sell. Then an unknown source ignited a fire. People in the immediate area had their clothes and bodies saturated with gasoline vapor. They became flammable and ready for fire to burn them into chars. The fire gutted the whole area. Supply of more fuel from the burnt pipe led to explosion that propelled more fire to other areas. This burnt many houses. Many residents were either killed or suffered varying degrees of burns. According to residents, thieves were able to steal more than 150,000 liters. No law or safety enforcement agents were there to stop them. Perhaps, they allowed the fire to judge.

 

Again, last march; fire was the arbiter at Gadoko Local government Area of Kaduna State when the residents attempted to steal gasoline. It followed the usual sequence of events. A driver of a gasoline tanker lost control. The vehicle capsized and oil spilled. Instead of calling the police, the residents preferred to steal as much gasoline as they could. Two hours after, somehow, fire ignited and engulfed the place. More than 90 people were burnt to chars. Some were passersby, but met their sudden deaths because they were in the 'line of fire'. Perhaps they were unaware that gasoline vapor could reach far way from its source. Moreover, wherever there is such a vapor; it is only a matter of a slight ignition to initiate a fire. The state former Deputy Governor, Mr. Patrick Dangkomi went to the place to commiserate with residents. He observed that "it seems we don't learn from the past that is why events have been repeating themselves in this country"

 

Learning from the past is not enough. It is clear that Nigeria needs improved standards and more effective enforcement agents. There is a need to emphasize the differences between the safety issues in the workplace and in the public space. Basic safety standards and procedures require at least four components. It must develop a system of establishing and communicating what is considered a normal or acceptable practice. This for examples limits access to the pipelines and makes it mandatory for gasoline-bearing tankers to park at certain distance away from people. Any deviation from acceptable limit must be monitored and recorded for corrective actions. The agent responsible for implementation should be knowledgeable about the immediate and long-term consequences of a safety violation. Another important requirement of safety is the public attitude towards risk acceptability. Something may be a safety hazard and the public may agree that its probability of occurrence is high; but some people may underestimate the severity of its consequences. Everybody knows that gasoline is flammable. Perhaps due to poverty and crowd hysteria, many are not cautious about possible fires or explosions.

 

Fire, explosion and release of toxic materials are main outcomes of gasoline accidents. If not properly controlled, they lead to major disasters. This means that for sustainable safety program, the public should be aware about the some fundamental issues associated with gasoline and its ignition. For example, gasoline is highly volatile. Handful amount in a liquid form could be converted into gaseous form depending on how hot is the place. The gas may be expanded to occupy a whole room or a large area. If the gas combines with air, the mixture can be easily ignited. Many objects – hair, clothes, shoes, clouds – may rub against others to serve as sources of ignition. There is no substitute to public enlightenment for prevention of gasoline fire accidents. The entire gasoline supply chain must be studied and hazard points properly identified. What are the likely places where saboteurs could rupture a pipeline? Could it be guarded or fenced? Maybe leaflet could be distributed to educate the people about the danger of safety violations. Sustainable strategy for preventing gasoline accidents requires systematic analysis of likely hazards, setting nominal targets and expectations, monitoring and taking corrective actions. The public must be enlightened about the basic recipe for a gasoline fire disaster.

 

In addition, the legislative framework for improving the safety standard needs to be put into practice or new ones developed. Tanker capacity, speed and working conditions may not be in accordance with safety practice. The drivers of oil tankers, unlike others; should be aware about the potential danger of what they transport. There should be regulation regarding the driver’s age, experiences, knowledge, remunerations, etc. Some of the pipelines are old. Some are exposed to conditions that may deteriorate their strength and capacity to withstand high pressures. There are standards for pipeline materials, thickness, etc, but they come to public notice more in breaches rather than implementations. The government should ban all hawking of petroleum products. It is a national embarrassment to see school-age children selling gasoline and handling it like ordinary drinking water. Clearly, they are unaware about the health, safety and environmental hazards involved. A law should be promulgated to force companies to pay compensation whenever their tanker is responsible for avoidable losses of life and properties.

 

For example, in the US, Hazardous Material Transportation Act (HMTA) was enacted in 1972 to regulate movement of hazard material such as gasoline. Due to new developments, HMTA was amended in 1994 to be more effective in preventing accidents and material losses. In response to 1984 Bhopal chemical disaster in India, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a detailed study for preventing and controlling accidents. EPA published what it called Risk Management Plan (RMP). This was recognized as an excellent regulation that would reduce the frequency and severity of accidents. Its main features are necessary hazard assessment and prevention and emergency response programs. The companies dealing with hazardous materials such as gasoline must document safety and health program and share the information with the appropriate local communities. This goes a long way in minimizing accidents.

 

Many gasoline fires and explosions that lead to public accidents are avoidable. The major initiation points – pipeline rupture and tanker driver’s loss of control – are well known. These could be minimized if the government takes deliberate steps to address their causes. One way is to improve local refining capacity. For example, since February last year, Warri and Kaduna refineries have been shutdown due to destruction of their crude oil supply pipeline. They processed about 28 and 25% of local gasoline demand respectively. This means more importation, more road and pipeline transport of gasoline and other refined products. The propensity for accidents increases. New safety regulations and loss prevention laws should be promulgated. In addition, effective public awareness campaign is necessary for a successful enforcement. Safety needs a continuous circle of setting target, personnel training for implementation and public education for cautious interaction with gasoline. In this new era of servant leadership there is nothing more desirable for Nigerians than protection from avoidable accidents.