Businesses have been warned of the hazards of working with acetylene this week, and the importance of managing the risks associated with such a flammable gas.
The advice from Norwich Union came as the London Fire Brigade (LFB) continued its campaign for more stringent controls over businesses using acetylene cylinders. According to the LFB, a fire involving acetylene cylinders causes major disruption in the capital on average once a month.
Acetylene is commonly used in the motor, engineering and maintenance industries as the fuel gas in oxy-fuel sets for cutting, burning and welding.
Phil Grace, casualty risk manager at Norwich Union, said, $quot;Acetylene is inherently dangerous, and can cause asphyxiation, but the greatest risks are those of fire and explosion. Application of heat or mechanical shock to acetylene cylinders will cause spontaneous internal heating of the flammable gas. The decomposition of acetylene could cause the cylinder to become unstable and even explode.$quot;
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