oil companies or supermarket operators? Are operatives using the correct equipment and following safety procedures? Are the safety procedures laid down adequate enough? Have all risks been assessed? This really does put routine maintenance and such repair work under the microscope. This is one of the reasons why the Association has completely reviewed its one day training course on the UK’s Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002, with the benefit of hindsight and more than 7 years of experience since these regulations have come into effect in the UK. Therefore see the short article about revisions to the course which is worth attending to not only refresh on the regulations themselves, but on the practical application of the supporting HSE guidance and the sequence of risk assessment and enforcement. An area I assure you that deserves closer scrutiny. Before leaving the subject of APEA training, work is concluding for the new one day course on vapour recovery which is in demand and overdue I suspect, so watch out on our website and in the next issue for release dates (excuse the pun!) We enter 2010 on the back of a buoyant conference last year at the Ricoh Arena as we now launch APEA 2010 and we hope to match if not exceed expectation for this year. A daunting task but one thing this Association can be proud of is its ability to deliver, a feat that has been successfully achieved for 52 years now, so please look at the advert for this year’s event and
Dear Mr Bourhill
Donations like yours allow Erskine to provide the kind of care that genuinely makes life better for our Veterans whatever their age; care that includes physiotherapy, speech & language therapy, podiatry and recreational outings and activities. Donations also pay for specialist medical equipment, such as pressure-relieving mattresses. It is only through the thoughtful generosity of people like you and the members of APEA that Erskine is able to make life so much better for the brave men and women for
Thank you! On behalf of everyone at Erskine, I would like to thank the members of the APEA for their very generous donation of £2361.77 (including gift aid), raised at your annual conference dinner in Coventry. We are absolutely delighted that your Association has decided to show its support for the former members of our country’s Armed Forces in such a kind way.
APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk
commit to what is a great networking opportunity within a professional and friendly atmosphere. I hope that readers like the idea of the new “Ask the Experts” section and encourage anyone to write in with a technical query that can be shared with the whole of the industry whether private or public sector. Certainly there seems to be a need for this as I do receive regular enquiries on all sorts of subjects so I am looking to seeing this as a regular feature. I look forward to reading this issue and keep those articles and news items coming – I will print them! I am off to clear my driveway of thick snow which means I am writing this report in January. Thank goodness it is only a few weeks away before I can start sowing seeds again in my modest greenhouse, which contains no gases whatsoever! Best Wishes Brian
whom we care. Every pound we receive plays a part in helping us to achieve this – and the contribution you have made will make a real difference to all those who depend on Erskine. Thank you once again for helping us to give this country’s ex-Service men and women the very special care they need and deserve. Yours sincerely Lesley Miller Head of Fundraising Erskine 7
EDITOR’S REPORT/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Welcome to the new decade of 2010 and a very happy and prosperous new year to our members. Although beginning the year cautiously there are definite signs that there is now the start of an economic recovery and that the decline has slowed sufficiently to see us through a tough time. Towards the end of December 2009 saw my attention drawn to another incident that injured two workers following a blast whilst they were working on an underground tank. This incident occurred on a gas (service) station in Moore County, North Carolina. Two men from Charlotte based Law Petroleum Tanks Lifts and Piping, were using a power grinder on an underground tank at the Exxon Short Stop at 4936 U.S Highway 1 in the Lakeview community shortly before 7pm on 15 December 2009, when petrol (gasoline) vapour ignited and exploded, authorities said. Slabs of concrete buckled and caved into a crater near gas pumps and rocks and other debris rained down on a state highway patrol cruiser, which was parked outside the station’s convenience store. The explosion fireball went at least 6 metres (20 feet) into the air, the two workers receiving minor burns whilst there were 10 other people inside the shop, who were unhurt though shocked. It does not matter what part of the world we are in, these type of incidents are occurring with an uncomfortable regularity. Is there too much pressure being applied to get remedial works done quickly by
