UKPIA changes name to reflect move towards more sustainable fuels

15 AUGUST 2023

The downstream oil sector’s leading trade body today begins its new phase as Fuels Industry UK to demonstrate its evolving remit to champion low carbon fuels as well as traditional petroleum products.

Previously known as the United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA), the change reflects its members’ ambition to manufacture and supply the biofuels, low carbon hydrogen and other low carbon fuels needed to meet the UK’s ambitious net zero targets.

Fuels Industry UK CEO Elizabeth de Jong said:

“Our name change reflects that the sector is essential to UK Government achieving its net zero targets by manufacturing and supplying the low carbon fuels needed.

“Fuels Industry UK members are increasingly manufacturing and supplying low carbon fuels such as renewable diesel, biofuels and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which use non-petroleum feedstocks.”

Fuels Industry UK aims to shape an energy secure, low carbon fuels future for the UK that benefits everyone. Fuels Industry UK members are at the forefront of SAF delivery and are investing in future manufacturing capability in the UK. As principal users of hydrogen in the UK, the downstream sector can also be major first customers for low carbon hydrogen projects, to help fund their start-up and make them viable for other companies to use. In addition, Fuels Industry UK members have global expertise in Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) projects, which will be vital in the transition to net zero.

Notes to editors

• Fuels Industry UK represents eight manufacturing, supply and marketing companies that operate the six major oil refineries in the UK and source over 85% of the transport fuels used. Our nine associate members comprise a wide range of companies: from heating fuel supply and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports, renewable and sustainable fuel producers, to terminals and pipelines.

• The United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) was incorporated in 1978.
• Find out more about Fuels Industry UK here: www.fuelsindustryuk.org

Safety scheme minimises risks on petrol forecourts

By UKPIA 24 November 2022 3 min read

We must always be aware that forecourts are an inherently risky place to work. UKPIA talks about the Forecourt Contractor Safety Pass which ensures risks are minimised

We must always be aware that forecourts are an inherently risky place to work. While millions of drivers come and fill up safely every day, they are a site that contains a potentially deadly mix of explosive vapours, liquids and other hazardous materials.

Site operators are ultimately responsible for the safety of their forecourts and given those risks, UKPIA, its member companies and the Safety Pass Alliance (SPA) set up in 1999 the Forecourt Contractor Safety Pass to help ensure that risks are minimised.

The scheme has gone from strength to strength over the years and is now overseen by a joint safety group which has all the major trade associations. There are currently more than 26,000 in-date passports holders, it is acknowledged as good practice by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

It is helping to make forecourts safer places of work by ensuring that workers are trained to the specific standards required.

Elizabeth de Jong, UKPIA CEO, said: “By their nature, forecourts are hazardous environments, so it is vital that contractors are trained to the appropriate best practice standards. This course helps to minimise risks to the public, those working on site and the contractors themselves. As such we strongly advise that it is taken by all contractors before they start working on forecourts.”

Oil companies as well as supermarket petrol retailers require contract workers to successfully complete the two-day training course before they are allowed to work on their forecourts.

The course is designed to help workers safely navigate the wide variety of working environments found at petrol stations, from dealing with shops refrigerants to fixing electric vehicle charging points or petrol pumps. It focusses on practical issues such as identifying potential hazards, using safe working practices and learning how to develop a controlled programme of work.

It was designed to follow the format of ‘a safe day in your life in the petrol industry,’ detailing a typical contractor’s working day. For example, on arrival, take five minutes to look around and assess potential hazards; consider the activity to be undertaken; look at the forecourt layout; identify potential hazards prior to the job commencing and imagine worse case scenarios.

Contractors undergo ‘core training’ to ensure they grasp the basics of general good practice in health and safety that is common to all industries. The course is aimed at anyone who carries out work or manages work on a petrol forecourt, typically contractors carrying out construction or refurbishment, maintenance, or installations on a petrol forecourt but also anyone who oversees, manages, signs off on or requires the knowledge of the diverse safety risks specific to petrol forecourts.

On successfully passing course, contractors receive an official letter provided by the instructor. Training, accreditation and issuing of these passes are delivered by the SPA and its accredited training providers.

The course curriculum is guided by Petrol Retail National Safety Group (PRNSG), a UKPIA led committee, which applies the latest principles from the Energy Institute’s Blue Book, written for all those involved in working on petrol retail or commercial premises. This has helped to ensure the programme drives good practice through the contractor supply chain, increasing safety awareness and contributing to higher standards of safety.

Contact details for all approved training providers can be obtained from the SPA website: www.safetypassports.co.uk

A Tyne and Wear engineering company has been fined £20,000 after a worker fractured his pelvis and suffered internal injuries after falling through a petrol station forecourt canopy.

The employee of G Nicholson (Engineers) Limited was replacing guttering at the top of the canopy on the company’s petrol station in Blue House Lane, Washington, Tyne and Wear, on 5 December 2019.

As he was removing corrugated metal sheets to access sections of the guttering below, he was knocked off balance when a gust of wind caught the sheet, causing him to fall approximately 4 metres through a fragile section of the canopy on to concrete below.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that a risk assessment should have been carried out and had a method statement been produced, this would have identified the need for effective control measures to prevent employees falling from the edge of the canopy or through the exposed fragile roof surface.

G Nicholson (Engineers) Limited, of Blue House Lane, Washington Tyne and Wear pleaded guilty to breaching Section 4(1) of the Working at Height Regulations 2005 at Gateshead Magistrates’ Court on 12 October 2022 and was fined £20,000, with £7,825 costs and a victim surcharge of £190.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Scott Wynne said: “A worker suffered serious injuries which could have easily been avoided if the company had adopted appropriate control measures when carrying out this task.

“This incident highlights the importance of conducting a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, and using the findings of that assessment to ensure the work is properly planned, appropriately supervised and, ultimately, carried out in a safe manner.”

A carpentry and joinery company has been fined after a man working unsecured on the forks of a fork-lift truck fell 3.5 metres to the ground.

On 14 June 2021, the man was working for Staircraft Group Limited at their head office site at Bayton Road Industrial Estate, Exhall, Coventry.

The employee was working from an unsecured stillage on the forks of a fork-lift truck in order to clean office windows at height.  The stillage tipped and the employee fell 3.5 metres to the ground.  As a result of the incident, he sustained a broken leg and an injury to his elbow.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to identify that using a stillage to lift someone on the forks of a forklift truck, a method that they had used before, was unsafe.  There was a lack of training for employees on the dangers of working at height without the proper equipment and there were no systems of work or risk assessments in place.

At Redditch Magistrates’ Court Staircraft Group Limited, of Bayton Road Industrial Estate, Exhall, Coventry pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1974 and was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,477.93.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Rebecca Whiley said: “The employee’s injuries were very serious, and he could have easily been killed.

“This serious incident could so easily have been avoided by simply carrying out correct control measures and safe working practices.

“Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Notes to editors:

1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. www.hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ 
3. Guidance for companies on the safe working at height practices is available at: www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm
4. HSE news releases are available at: http://press.hse.gov.uk

Workplace fatality figures released for 2021/22

A hundred and twenty-three workers were killed in work-related accidents in Great Britain in the last year, according to figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The annual data release covers the period from April 2021 to March 2022, during which time most pandemic restrictions were lifted and the economy began returning to normal.

The industries with the highest deaths were construction (30), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (22), and manufacturing (22); though agriculture, forestry and fishing has the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers.

The three most common causes of fatal injuries continue to be falling from height (29), being struck by a moving vehicle (23), and being struck by a moving object (18).  

The 123 worker deaths in 2021/22 is lower than the previous year, though it is in line with pre-pandemic figures. There has been a long-term downward trend in the rate of fatal injuries to workers, though in the years prior to the coronavirus pandemic the rate was broadly flat.

A further 80 members of the public were killed following a work-related accident in 2021/22. This is an increase on the previous year but below the pre-pandemic level. This is likely to reflect the various COVID-19 restrictions in place.

The release of the annual figures coincides with the 50^th anniversary this month of the publication of the Robens report. The landmark report led to the Health and Safety at Work Act in 1974, which ultimately led to the HSE being set up the following year.

Since then, Great Britain has become one of the safest places in the world to work with the number of workplace deaths and injuries falling significantly.

SE’s Chief Executive Sarah Albon said: “While Great Britain is one of the safest countries in the world to work, today’s figures show we must continue to ensure safety remains a priority. Every loss of life is a tragedy, and we are committed to making workplaces safer and holding employers to account for their actions, as part of our mission to protect people and places.”

The figures relate to work-related accidents and do not include deaths arising from occupational diseases or diseases arising from certain occupational exposures (including COVID-19).

The HSE has also published the annual figures for Mesothelioma, which is a cancer that can be caused by past exposure to asbestos. The figures show that 2,544 people died from the disease in 2020. This is in line with the average of 2,523 deaths over the previous eight years. Current mesothelioma deaths reflect exposure to asbestos that mainly occurred before the 1980s and annual deaths are expected to decline during the next decade.

Click here to see the Health and Safety Executive’s report.

New law protects emergency and retail workers from violence

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill received Royal Assent and became an Act of Parliament on 28 April 2022. 

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Act equips the police with the powers and tools they need to combat crime and create safer communities, while overhauling sentencing laws to keep serious sexual and violent offenders behind bars for longer. 

New court orders will crack down on knife crime, making it easier to stop and search known knife offenders and prevent future tragedies. Alongside this a new legal duty will be placed on different parts of the public sector to work together to tackle serious violence. 

Also included in the measures are mandatory life sentences for those who kill an emergency worker in the course of their duty, known as Harper’s Law. Other measures include: 

• Extending the pardons and disregards scheme for abolished same-sex offences 
• A review of tackling crimes motivated by a victim’s sex or gender 
• Commissioning reviews into spiking and sex for rent 
• Giving the Food Standards Agency powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 
• Creating expedited public space protection orders 
• Creating a new offence of recording breastfeeding without consent 
• Including online hate offences in football banning orders 
• Extending the time limit for bringing domestic abuse prosecutions. 

Harper’s Law

Harper’s Law is named after PC Andrew Harper, who was killed in the line of duty in 2019, the law will introduce mandatory life sentences for anyone convicted of killing an emergency worker whilst committing a crime. 

It follows an unwavering campaign by Andrew’s family, including his widow Lissie, and the Police Federation, and comes after a number of meetings with the Justice Secretary and Home Secretary.

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A roofing contractor has been sentenced after an unpaid casual labourer fell through a skylight during the renovation of an old asbestos cement roof, at an industrial building in Exeter.

Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard that on 23 October 2018, the labourer, who wanted to gain industry experience having never previously worked on roofs, was instructed by Ian Davey (trading as Exe Fibreglass) to cut fibreglass for the roof of the building. Once the fibreglass was cut, the labourer went up onto the roof to observe the fitting by Mr Davey and another colleague. He stepped on a fragile skylight, which gave way causing him to fall five and a half metres to the floor below. He suffered multiple fractures to his hand and wrist, which required surgical wiring to repair, and also factures to his ribs.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the work had not been properly planned. There was a lack of training or experience in the supervision of others working at height. There were no preventative safety measures in place for the skylights such as netting, crawl boards or safety harnesses in use.

Ian Davey trading as Exe Fibreglass of Beacon Hill, Exmouth pleaded guilty to breaching Section 9(2) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. He was given a 12 month community order, which includes 80 hours of unpaid work, and has been ordered to pay costs of £3,000.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Peter Buscombe said: “This incident could so easily have been avoided by simply using correct control measures and following safe working practices.

“Falls from height remain one of the most common causes of work-related injury and fatality in this country and the risks associated with working at height are well known.”

Notes to Editors:
1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. We prevent work-related death, injury and ill health through regulatory actions that range from influencing behaviours across whole industry sectors through to targeted interventions on individual businesses. These activities are supported by globally recognised scientific expertise. www.hse.gov.uk
2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/
3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk

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INCIDENT ALERT
LOCATION: CEMENT PLANT ALERT STATUS: Normal
ACTIVITY: MAINTENANCE & HOUSEKEEPING DATE ISSUED: 06/01/2022 17:26:25
SUB ACTIVITY: N/A INCIDENT No: 03601
TITLE
Fatal 4 – Contractor gets alkaline dust in eyes and respiratory system
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
ACCIDENT / INCIDENT DETAILS
During a kiln shutdown, industrial cleaning contractors were vacuuming dust from inside the kiln dust room. Suddenly a large amount of
material poured into the room via the inlet chute, filling the air with a thick cloud of dust. All three contractors in the room managed to
make their way to the exit. While doing so, one of the contractors stumbled and fell, which led to alkaline dust entering his eyes and
respiratory system.
The cause of the inflow of material is thought to have been a blockage in the inlet chute that suddenly released itself while the contractors
were in the room. This potential hazard had been underestimated during the planning and risk assessment of the job. With hindsight, it is
recognized this assessment relied too heavily on the fact that this had never happened before rather than whether or not it could happen
ACCIDENT / INCIDENT IMAGES
Click image to enlarge
Spillage of dust
LEARNING POINTS / ACTIONS TAKEN
The corrective action following the incident is to install a slide valve into the chute which will be closed during entry into the room to
completely eliminate the possibility of dust blockages or build-up releasing and entering to room.
When planning a task and undertaking risk assessments consider what potentially could go wrong rather than relying on previous
experience of the task.

Safequarry.com

IN COURT

Breedon Trading Ltd has been fined for safety breaches after a fly rock projection event occurred during the use of explosives.

A blast at Cwt-y-Bugail Quarry in Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, North Wales, resulted in rocks being ejected outside of the danger zone, Llandudno Magistrates’ Court was told.

The HSE’s investigation into the incident, which occurred on 15 January 2020, found that flyrock from the blasting operation, had landed approximately 270m away, punctured the roof of an occupied work shed, and put a hole in the outside pane of the occupied manager’s office skylight window.

It was reasonably practicable for the company to ensure that the blasting did not give rise to danger by increasing the danger zone, clearing the increased danger zone, increasing the quality and quantity of stemming for the explosives in the blastholes, and by ensuring an adequate blasting specification was produced and authorised.

HSE found that there were poor stemming practices, the written specification was prepared after the firing of the blast, and an inadequate danger zone was in place. As a result there was a projection of flyrock outside of the danger zone that caused a quarry operative to run for cover and put other employees at risk when the roof of the shed they were working in was punctured.

Breedon Trading Ltd of Pinnacle House, Breedon Quarry, Breedon on the Hill, Derby pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by virtue of the Quarries Regulations 1999, regulation 25.

The company has been fined £300,000 and ordered to pay £2,534.80 in costs.

After the hearing, HSE’s Adrian Jurg, HM Specialist Inspector of Quarries, commented: “Blasting operations at quarries are inherently high risk, and these risks must be rigorously controlled by good explosives engineering practice and in accordance with legal requirements.

“It is unacceptable that employees, and potentially members of the public, be put at serious risk of being hit by rocks that could easily lead to death or serious injury.”