CGA Offers Free Compressed Gas Safety Resources for the Cannabis Industry

BY LAURA BRUMSEY, CGA VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND ADMINISTRATION

Laura Brumsey is the Vice President of Operations and Administration for the Compressed Gas Association (CGA). She can be reached at 703788-2757 or lbrumsey@ cganet.com I n recent years, following the legalization of marijuana in a number of U.S. states, and the increasing popularity of CBD oil, demand for the compressed gas industry’s products has been on the rise in cannabis growing and processing facilities.

CBD oil producers have contacted staff at the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) with inquiries about how to safely install and use the gas systems needed in their facilities. While we can’t tell them how to use our products for their specific application, we are committed to communicating the safety considerations and risks associated with these products, and providing guidance on how to mitigate those risks.

This is in line with our scope, which our Board of Directors expanded in late 2018 to include providing “basic safety considerations for end use.” We continue to ramp up efforts to more widely communicate safety considerations and risks involved in using our products, and sharing strategies to mitigate those risks, so that users at all levels of experience and expertise can protect themselves, their customers, and their communities.

In 2020, the cannabis industry was identified as an area of focus for our growing end user safety communications. In discussions with cannabis association staff and operators, we had begun to hear a common theme emerge – that many weren’t sure where to find more information on gases, related equipment, and their safe use.

At the same time, our members had begun asking how we could help educate those in this emerging field on the potential hazards of the gases and equipment being used in cannabis operations – to help ensure that employees in these facilities could safely interact with our industry’s products and equipment.

CGA decided to help fill that gap.

Our staff engaged in conversations with representatives from the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) to better understand how our industry’s products are used in these operations and identify the areas where education was needed. We also worked with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to learn more about their standards activity on this topic and how they built relationships with cannabis facility operators to drive awareness and acceptance of safety messages.

As we delved into this industry, our committees identified four key areas that presented an immedi-

In discussions with cannabis association staff and operators, we had begun to hear a common theme emerge – that many weren’t sure where to find more information on gases, related equipment, and their safe use.

ate need for education and safe handling information: carbon dioxide, cryogenic and refrigerated liquids, flammable gases, and cylinders and equipment. For each topic, we published a product-specific webpage, or “Safety Resource Center,” with one or more safety posters available for download, along with additional information and resources.

All safety posters are available for free download from our public website. No login required.

Each safety poster is provided as a scalable PDF file, so you can print the size you need. The posters also have a space at the bottom where GAWDA members can add your company information to a “supplied by” box, before sharing this safety resource with your employees and customers. A QR code is also printed on the poster, giving viewers quick, easy access to additional safety information on the CGA website.

To serve the needs of users outside the cannabis industry, CGA is also working to produce generic versions of these safety posters.

As we researched cannabis growing and processing operations, we also heard

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Download CGA safety posters at www.cganet.com/resources/safety-posters/

from CGA members who expressed concern about whether cylinders might become contaminated by the oils produced in the CBD oil extraction process.

To find out, we worked with our committees, talked to people with practical experience in the field, and confirmed that contamination of cylinders could be an issue in certain situations. In response, we published CGA PS-64, CGA Position Statement on Handling Carbon Dioxide Cylinders Previously Used in Cannabis Extraction or With Food Products Containing Cannabis.

This publication, first released in 2020, provides individuals with guidance on how to safely handle cylinders that are returned from these facilities.

To learn more about all of our end user safety information and to access CGA’s free safety posters, including for cannabis operations, see: https://www.cganet.com/ resources/safety-information/.

Learn more about the CGA’s cannabis resources by watching the March 15 episode of GAWDA TV, which features an interview with Laura Brumsey.