News Safety regime in place. "That's more than can be said for some companies that come before this court. Peter Bruce Ltd is a family-owned business which was established in 1936. Mr Arthur has told the press that he still suffers from vivid nightmares about the accident. He will have to continue treatment for around two years. Peter Bruce Ltd has kept him on full pay while he has been off work. Days after the accident his head had swelled to around 28 inches and the pain was "absolutely unbearable" he says. It took him days to regain enough confidence to walk down the hospital corridors. His appearance has improved in the ten months since the accident he claims, but he feels there is still a long way to go.
UK, February 17 2005. Chevrontexaco sells 140 service stations Texaco Limited, a U.K. subsidiary of ChevronTexaco Corp., and Somerfield plc, the fifth-largest food retailer in the United Kingdom, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to negotiate the sale of approximately 140 Texaco-owned service stations in the United Kingdom to Somerfield. The proposed agreement is part of San Ramon, Calif.-based ChevronTexaco Global Downstream's strategic direction to improve returns by focusing on areas of strength and enhancing and managing its Chevron, Texaco and Caltex brands. As part of this strategy, Texaco Limited is reducing capital invested in certain retail assets. Following the proposed sale, Texaco will maintain a marketing presence in the United Kingdom as a branded wholesaler, supplying fuel to 1,100 Texaco-branded third-party service stations, one of the largest branded fuel networks in the United Kingdom. Under the proposed agreement, Texaco would continue to supply the approximately 140 Somerfield-owned service stations with fuel and the forecourts would still be branded Texaco. The convenience stores would operate under the Somerfield brand. "This proposed agreement will allow us to concentrate our resources and capital on enhancing 18
the performance of our refining and distribution network," said Shariq Yosufzai, president of ChevronTexaco Global Marketing. "Our customers will still receive the same high quality fuel products they have come to expect from filling up at a Texaco-branded site and will also benefit from Somerfield's excellent fresh food and retail expertise.”
UK, Nailing the Petrol Pong! One major UK oil company appeared to be having problems in identifying the source of strong petrol fumes at a number of their recently constructed UK operated sites. Inspections' being carried out revealed there appeared to be no common denominator. At one site in London things got so bad a prohibition notice was issued and the site that was relatively new was closed for a while. Engineers believe that the vapour build up can be explained and tests are underway to identify the source as each site is inspected.
New tank manufacturing standards from OFTEC Right at the heart of any oil heating or cooking installation is an oil storage tank. Today, UK installers have a choice of over 500 different tanks to choose from, available in a range of different capacities, shapes and sizes. So whatever and wherever the installation, there is sure to be a tank to suit! When stored safely and securely, oil is an environmentally responsible fuel choice. Indeed, recent research undertaken in Germany has proven that oil heating is ultimately less polluting than either 'natural' gas or LPG. The introduction of oil tank manufacturing and installations standards by OFTEC, together with greater regulatory awareness amongst consumers and installers, has raised standards at oil storage installations across the country. However, at a time of ever-increasing environmental awareness, it is clearly important that the industry does not stand still.
OFTEC claims to have taken something of a lead, by recently launching revised manufacturing standards for oil storage tanks. The OFS T100 Standard covers all rotationally moulded plastic tanks, whilst the OFS T200 Standard covers metal tanks. Both standards took effect this week and consequently, all OFCERT Licensed products supplied in Great Britain (including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) will henceforth comply with the revised standards. But just what difference will the new standards make to installers? Well firstly, OFS T100 requires that all plastic bunded tanks will now be supplied complete with an overfill prevention device, in common with tanks supplied in most European Union countries. Curiously, such devices are not a requirement for Single Skin Tanks, which carry with them an inherently greater risk of pollution. OFS T100 requires that such devices where fitted are compliant with Europe Standard EN 13616, which permits the fitting of devices which 'form all or part of a system, which when connected to the road tanker vehicle or supply system, and/or to upstream compatible and compliant devices, is designed to automatically prevent the liquid level in the storage tank exceeding the stated maximum filling capacity.' In practice, that means many plastic bunded tanks will now be supplied with a modern, failsafe, electronic overfill prevention probe. The failsafe, electronic approach has proven popular at hundreds of thousands of installations across Europe and is already being used by a number of UK based distributors. Unlike, mechanical valves, failsafe, electronic prevention systems incorporate BITE technology derived from the aerospace industry and are 100% failsafe and cannot be readily bypassed. Higher cost, old fashioned, overfill prevention valves will however remain acceptable, for OFCERT Licensing purposes. However, it's worth remembering that at some installations, it would be unwise to rely solely on such non-failsafe technology and additional, failsafe precautions will be required. Secondly, all OFCERT Licensed plastic tanks (both bunded and single skin) will also now be equipped with a gauge
