Joe GallopThe National Outdoor Events Association (NOEA) has backed NCASS’s campaign to enhance the safety, measurement, and implementation of gas provisions at major events.
The initiative includes a call to action at industry and government level to increase education around the subject.
As part of the campaign, NCASS has produced guidance for both caterers and event directors. Much of the advice is around closer scrutiny of gas provisions through nominal risk assessments, from storage to quality checks.
The association has also raised awareness of the importance of using accredited suppliers to mitigate the obvious dangers of provisions that do not pass basic safety standards.
NCASS said the increased focus on the issue is a result of the growing number of outdoor events and street food trading activity which bring multiple mobile traders together, alongside large numbers of the public. Local authorities and communities are also increasingly encouraging food festivals, markets, and public events to support local economies.
NCASS managing director Nick Summers (pictured) said, “This is really serious. We’ve already seen examples of cylinder explosions in gazebos and where whole trailers have been destroyed by gas leaks. The culmination of these issues means it is only a matter of time before we see a more serious incident arise that could endanger public safety and even result in the loss of life.”
NCASS is also launching a gas engineer partner project, linking members with affiliated gas engineers who have verified that they understand and implement the correct setups, giving members access to safe and legal gas installation work and safety checks. The association is providing members with relevant LPG safety information in it its safety management system and in the form of safety checklists that are not available in other compliance systems.
NOEA CEO Susan Tanner said, “This is a campaign that will be well respected by our members. NCASS are quite clear that this is an issue that can be tackled with education and awareness and we know that NOEA members act when there is any compromise on safety.
“However, there is a continued underlying trend of some events and suppliers trying to get away with the bare minimum or looking to make financial savings and compromises that risk the public. This has to stop, and we’re totally behind NCASS’s campaign to call business owners to account.”