Fire Hazards from Filling Portable Gas Cans in Pickup Trucks and Cars

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ahlers, Heinz ; Carlson R ; Flesch, Jerome P. ; Hagedorn RT ; Hatfield GK ; Mann E ; Rowe W ; Yallits R
• Description:
  In recent incidents reported to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), fires spontaneously ignited when workers or others attempted to fill portable gasoline containers (gas cans) in the backs of pickup trucks equipped with plastic bed liners or in cars with carpeted surfaces. Serious skin burns and other injuries resulted. Similar incidents in the last few years have resulted in warning bulletins from several private and government organizations. These fires result from the buildup of static electricity. The insulating effect of the bed liner or carpet prevents the static charge generated by gasoline flowing into the container or other sources from grounding. The discharge of this buildup to the grounded gasoline dispenser nozzle may cause a spark and ignite the gasoline. Both ungrounded metal (most hazardous) and plastic gas containers have been involved in these incidents. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Burns Construction Industry Electricity Fires Fuel Oils Occupational Health Petroleum Safety Skin
• Keywords:
  Combustible-gases Combustion-gases Construction-workers Electrical-charge Fire-hazards Fuels Gas-stations Gasoline-powered-equipment Hazard-labels Homeowners Ignition-point Ignition-sources Insulation-materials Motor-vehicles Refueling Warning-systems

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• ISSN:
  1047-322X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  242-243
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041066
• Citation:
  Appl Occup Environ Hyg 2002 Apr; 17(4):242-243
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4060ce959e7617dd0dc0aef402ffcb88de3cc1e197f6cc2d480245255056a4285923cb210cfac2d1392f3afd0541d9dcbb61b9c37150991c9e63af17d502d912
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193724/cdc_193724_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 234.60 KB ]