The recent gas explosions in Lagos that saw the loss of seven lives is unfortunate, which perhaps with adherence to certain safety measures could have been prevented. Two people died, burnt beyond recognition, while eight others also suffered burns in a gas plant, Second Coming Nigeria Limited, after a gas leakage caused an explosion on CMD Road at Magodo, Ikosi Isheri Local Development Area of Lagos around 7:30 a.m. on Monday last week.
According to reports, there was a leakage in the gas plant and the explosion was triggered by the exhaust pipe of a speeding vehicle while officials of the Lagos State Fire Service were assisting to fix the problem. Those affected were company staff as well as some people that were there on business. Three gas reservoir tanks, a 33,000-litre gas truck, the administrative block of the plant, generators, gas cylinders and other equipment were destroyed in the inferno. Another five people then died in another gas explosion in Ajara Vetho, Badagry Local Government Area.
Such incidents also make Nigerians to wonder what went wrong this time around. Needless to say, cooking gas is such a dangerous thing to handle that there are all kinds of safety rules. Provided the rules are followed, such disasters shouldn’t occur and their regular occurrence in this kind suggests that the personnel, the equipment and the regulatory supervision or even all three are lacking.
The Department of Petroleum Resources’ (DPR) rules for licensing a new gas plant include: Certification from Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) that the gas tank meets specifications and is safe for the proposed purpose; Final fire safety certification issued by Federal or State Fire Department; mechanical leak tester, gas detector, warning notices, Personnel Protective Wears for the Plant Operators, gas tank and pipeline pressure test reports and certification, among others. These facilities should be pressure tested by a DPR accredited company and witnessed by Director’s assigned officer, the DPR said.
A gas plant may have met the requirements for siting the plant such as installation and construction of piping, instruments and the inspection must be carried out by an accredited DPR Company, the materials used for the construction of the filling shed must be non-inflammable material and the filling shed must be open-sided for good ventilation. Still, there could be a problem where some gas plants are located in the midst of residential areas. Sometimes the plants may have been built in city outskirts but with time houses encroach upon them and the gas plant may find itself in a densely populated residential area, sometimes with schools and shops as neighbours. A leakage and explosion in such a plant would be catastrophic.
However it is advisable, to be on the safe side, that in the future gas plants should be sited away from residential areas and government should not allow houses to encroach upon them.
Therefore, the important thing is for the authorities concerned to keep updating the rules and doing regular inspections to address risk factors. There should be constant training of staff as well. In addition, gas explosions or accidents do not only occur at gas plants or by tankers; they also happen in homes, mostly due to negligence. People should be very careful how they use cooking gas, including switching it off when not in use, examining the tube to see if they are leaking due to nibbling rats or due to normal wear and tear due to gas flow pressure.
Cooking gas is more convenient to use than either petrol or firewood, and more and more people are switching to gas especially now that there are small gas cylinders called camp gas. Many houses in densely populated urban areas are using them, so the call for caution and fear for safety is real. Since this trend is likely to continue going forward, we urge the authorities to intensify safety measures, training and inspection because gas explosions are usually calamitous.
