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safety & education

DOCUMENT A T ION:
DOCUMENT A T ION:

Does it Mak e a Diff erence?
Does it Mak
e a Diff
erence?

P ropane gas fires and explosions are of low fre- to delivery tickets, customer education records, gas/

quency but when they happen it can lead to a
safety checks, work orders, agreements, etc.
high severity occurrence.
Without going too deep in to all actions our

In today’s world we find many different types
policyholder’s the point of this message is to focus
of installers and service person's performing repairs, claims department takes to handle and defend our
removing and re-installing appliances, installing on a couple common concern voiced by our claims
piping systems, and performing leak checks. Some department. They are inconsistent documentation of
of these people are home owners/do it yourselfers leak checks and lack of documentation of the service
trying to save money, untrained professionals com- performed. In regards to leak checks these are some
pleting appliance installs, and trained personnel who of the common mistakes:
take a short cuts. Many of their inappropriate actions 1. Leak check was not performed when required.
contribute to gas leaks and fires. This leaves the pro-
pane marketer in a precarious situation as claimants • Container valve shut off
will try to pass blame on the propane supplier since • System Out of Gas
the gas involved in the explosion. • Gas leak/odor complaint

How do you as a propane marketer protect • Any interruption of service
your organization from allegations that your company
is liable for the fire/explosion? It may come down to 2. Pressure Test/Leak check pressures are not within
documentation. the local/state codes for proper testing for leaks.
There are many steps our claims adjusters • Refer to NFPA 54 Annex C leak check methods or
will take to determine how to handle a fire/explosion state required leak check methods.
claim. One of the first actions is to get an experienced 3. Leak check documentation shows a leak
company on the scene as soon as possible to investi- • Ensure the final leak check documentation iden-
gate the accident. They will also interview all persons tifies no leaks in the system. Verify the start and
involved to get an understanding of the actions taken end pressure is the same, which demonstrates
before the accident and all appropriate documenta- there are no gas leaks in the piping system.
tion for the customer that will include, but not limited

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