E-Books:Guidelines for Gas cylinders safety

Many people across a wide range of industries, including manufacturing/maintenance, medical, hospitality, science and education use gases from compressed gas cylinders. The pressure at which gases are contained in gas cylinders can be extremely high. Continual advances in cylinder technology will enable pressures to be increased even further. To maintain and continue to improve the current safety record for the use of these cylinders, increased knowledge and understanding of the DO’s and DON’Ts is essential.For new users of gas cylinders, it is essential that they receive adequate training and guidance prior to use.These guidelines distill the experience and knowledge of various experts in an effort to provide guidance for safer handling of gas cylinders. They focus on a number of known issues and on situations where the same or similar incidents have reoccurred. Every possible issue or occurrence can neither be anticipated nor covered.

Scope of these guidelines

These guidelines cover compressed and liquefiable gas cylinders as shown on the ‘Gas cylinder colour identification‘on pages 8-9. Please note that the identification of the gas contents of any cylinder is given by the label on the cylinder and is qualified by the colour(s) of the cylinder, and the cylinder valve outlet.These guidelines touch on toxic gases (e.g. Ammonia which is used as a refrigerant) but do not cover these gases in detail as these are considered generally the domain of special gases.

Table of Contents

04           Introduction.

05           Know your gases.

11           About your cylinders and valves.

16           Ordering, transport and handling of cylinders.

23           Storing your cylinders safely.

25           Care of cylinders.

27           Working with gas cylinders.

31           Keeping your equipment safe.

32           If something goes wrong.

35           Keeping your environment safe.

38           Glossary.