Page 40 - Climate Control News Magazine Feb 2021

Safety in HVACR
Flammables ignite safety debate:
Training,Ilicensing issues
NDUSTRY GROUPS ACROSS the “The need to regulate the use of flammable
globearecallingformoretrainingtoac- refrigerants has been recognised globally as THE RELEASE OF company the increased use of flammable important because the substances can ignite, THE FLAMMABLE refrigerants. causing injury or damage to property. There are a
REFRIGERANTS REVIEW
PROJECT LAST MONTH duce a flammable licensing regime of its own, ulate flammable refrigerants in Australia. Howev-
HAS IGNITED A SAFETY DEBATE ABOUT THE LEVEL OF TRAINING PROVIDED TO REFRIGERATION AND AIR CONDITIONING TECHNICIANS.
the European Union is reviewing mandatory training and certification for A2L refrigerants.
In Australia the review project provided an overview of the regulatory and quasi-regulatory instruments which control the use and handling of flammable refrigerants in the different juris- dictions around the country.
It identified gaps within the regulatory landscape.
er, the laws are fragmented and disjointed as there is no one framework that governs their use,” the report said. “Instead, flammable refrigerants are regulated by a range of laws that primarily relate to WHS / OHS, dangerous goods and electrical safety. While there is a significant amount of consistency in the applicable laws around the country, there are some variations between jurisdictions.
“As a result, the regulatory landscape is con- fusing. Not only is it potentially difficult to un- derstand and comply with, there are multiple regulators which is likely to make coordinated and effective enforcement of laws challenging,” the report said.
“Although the likelihood of ignition associated with flammable refrigerant may be low, the con- sequence when ignition occurs can be high. In- creasing knowledge of these risks and mitigation through reducing the likelihood of ignition can
While the United States is set to intro- wide range of laws and other instruments that reg-
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