Lpg leak probe finds ‘systemic failure’
AUCKLAND: An electrician had to be ‘‘coached through’’ identifying and isolating a gas leak on a Cook Strait ferry, according to an investigation which discovered a trail of systemic training and emergency planning failures.
The workplace safety regulator WorkSafe found that ‘‘there appears to be a systemic failure’’ from the major power company Genesis Energy in transporting the highly flammable lpg.
It identified poor training and emergency planning, and said Genesis was using workers who were not properly trained or supervised to fill the lpg tanks.
Genesis said it did a comprehensive safety review, had made improvements and was able to transport lpg safely at all times.
The leak was smelled by crew on a night sailing of the ferry Aratere on January 24, last year.
The deck’s 16 detectors, which are less sensitive than the human nose, were not set off and crew could not find the source.
But once they got the transportable container off at Picton, they heard ‘‘a hissing sound . . . emanating from behind a metal plate locked into place covering the valves’’ on a 25,000litre container, WorkSafe’s report said.
Though the leak itself turned out to be minor, the impact was not: the port was evacuated, ferry services put off, and there was disruption to the town.
Investigators found the valve was faulty — a coating had eroded so the valve did not sit tightly when shut. All the tanks were meant to be checked for leaks after filling — but the workers were not supervised much, if at all, the report said.
They worked with a company subcontracted by Genesis.
The gas comes from Taranaki wells, and the filling station is in New Plymouth.
The report said the filling station itself was not being run properly, and Genesis’ emergency response plan was ‘‘out of date’’ and untested.
Furthermore, the lpg tanks parked for filling were near a diesel generator, a potential ignition source.
‘‘Potentially the failures have occurred as a result of Genesis being relatively inexperienced in this field, having only recently taken over lpg retail distribution from Nova Energy in 2017,’’ WorkSafe’s investigator said.
It took almost four hours from when the leak was pinpointed in Picton until it was shut down just before 10am.
At 7am Genesis told Fire and Emergency New Zealand it would send a technician from Christchurch.
But Fenz said the five hours it would take to drive was ‘‘not acceptable’’, and they would fly the technician up if need be.
Instead, Genesis called in an electrician from Blenheim.
‘‘The Blenheim electrician had been trained for working in hazardous areas, but had no direct training on how to operate a transportable container, and was ‘coached through’ identifying and isolating the leak.’’
This was one of four breaches of safety regulations.
However, WorkSafe said the risk was ‘‘relatively minor’’, no harm occurred to any worker, and Genesis cooperated.
WorkSafe also made recommendations to KiwiRail, to make sure its crews are properly trained with lpg, and check gas detectors and gas drainage systems.
It issued five improvement notices and five verbal directions to Genesis Energy focused on compliance certification, lpg storage, response planning and hazardous substances training.
‘‘These matters were promptly complied with,’’ WorkSafe said.