Conclusion

The fatal accident frequency rate is declining over the reporting period, but there is an increasing trend in the area of serious injury. Cookers, recreational equipment and hot water systems were found to be most commonly involved in incidents resulting in serious injury. Trends for minor injuries show a decreasing rate over the reporting period.

Analysis of gas utilisation incidents shows that the majority of incidents occur in a non- workplace environment, with natural gas being the primary gas source. The most common types of equipment found in utilisation incidents are water heaters (hot water systems), followed by LPG (storage) cylinders and recreational equipment. Component failure and lack of maintenance were the common causes of most utilisation incidents indicating that more information or education in this area may be necessary to prevent such incidents.

Gas supply incidents show the inverse of utilisation with the majority occurring in a workplace environment. Gas workers accounted for just 5% of these incidents and workers from other occupations accounted for approximately 75% of these incidents. The majority of these incidents are the result of third party strikes or damage to the network by people not residing at the premises nor the owner of the network. Further analysis in this area and the causes of these incidents may help to reduce gas supply incidents in the workplace.

The majority of gas supply incidents were related to natural gas but this is more reflective of the area of distribution piping and the size of the consumer base compared to LPG. Analysis of the number of incidents against consumer numbers indicates that LPG accounts for four times more incidents per thousand consumers when compared to NG.