Government under fire over panic buying of petrol

Peter1010 · Post by **Peter1010** » 31 Mar 2012, 10:17

Aurora wrote:
BBC News - 30/03/12

The rules on fuel tanker drivers' hours have been temporarily relaxed to help the transport of supplies to filling stations.

Under EU rules, drivers are limited to nine hours on the road each day, but this has now been raised to 11 hours.

The new rules will apply until Thursday and have been introduced after requests from the fuel supply industry.

Article continues ...
This is all becoming rather silly.

Indeed, must get down to Greggs to check out those pasties...

Peter1010 · Post by **Peter1010** » 31 Mar 2012, 10:25

Wife when down to local petrol station/grocer to buy some bread. When she got to the front of the queue they asked if she wanted petrol with that. When she said no they couldn't believe it, First person that didnt want any fuel.

SleeperService · Post by **SleeperService** » 31 Mar 2012, 11:11

bicyclebloke wrote:Wife when down to local petrol station/grocer to buy some bread. When she got to the front of the queue they asked if she wanted petrol with that. When she said no they couldn't believe it, First person that didnt want any fuel.

Collected girlie from work this morning and passed the local petrol station at about 06:15, there was a tanker delivering. She's just phoned me they've closed it because it's run out

Still at least the spare parts for her motorbike are here, so that's my afternoon sorted and my tea

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 31 Mar 2012, 12:34

bicyclebloke wrote:Wife when down to local petrol station/grocer to buy some bread. When she got to the front of the queue they asked if she wanted petrol with that.

Nah, makes the bread taste funny.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 31 Mar 2012, 13:37

Aurora wrote:
bicyclebloke wrote:Wife when down to local petrol station/grocer to buy some bread. When she got to the front of the queue they asked if she wanted petrol with that.
Nah, makes the bread taste funny.

Not advisable to make toast with petrol soaked bread

.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 31 Mar 2012, 14:32

Aurora wrote:It gets better ....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog ... etrol-live

As for Francis Maude being responsible for some halfwit deciding to fill a can in her kitchen with a naked flame present.

I feel bad about that: she may have been daft but she is a fellow Yorkie

And no-one deserves 40% burns for daftness alone.

And, get a fire-blanket for the kitchen, if you haven't already got one.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 31 Mar 2012, 15:03

A 'halfwit'? I wonder how many people actually know that petrol vaporises quite easily to form an explosive cloud whereas diesel doesn't. I think it's a mistake that quite a large proportion of the population could have made.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 31 Mar 2012, 15:17

When I was 6 and we lived in the states I noticed fuel for cars was called "gas". Thinking it was actually a gas, like Amonia or Methane, I used to wonder why it didn't drift away out of the tank while you were filling-up.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 31 Mar 2012, 15:26

I do have a tremendous amount of sympathy for the lady in York and I sincerely hope she makes a full recovery. In retrospect, I didn't mean to sound so callous.

The point I was trying to make was that Francis Maude can hardly be held accountable for this inevitable accident.

As for a large proportion of the population not knowing about the volatility of petrol, I find that hard to believe. Every time you visit a petrol station, you're surrounded by warning signs.

Having said that, it doesn't seem to stop the mindless idiots who insist on using their mobile phones whilst filling up. I've even seen somebody smoking on a forecourt before now.

madibe · Post by **madibe** » 31 Mar 2012, 17:55

I've even seen somebody smoking on a forecourt before now.

Acapulco Gold sure is a bad-ass weed

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 31 Mar 2012, 18:37

Aurora wrote: As for a large proportion of the population not knowing about the volatility of petrol, I find that hard to believe. Every time you visit a petrol station, you're surrounded by warning signs.

Having said that, it doesn't seem to stop the mindless idiots who insist on using their mobile phones whilst filling up. I've even seen somebody smoking on a forecourt before now.

I think we need a bit of education for the halfwits and mindless idiots.
On mobile phone use at petrol stations we have:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4366337.stm

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filling_st ... l_ignition

and http://www.ukpia.com/industry_issues/he ... ourts.aspx

and http://www.designspark.com/content/will ... ol-station

to take just the first few that google produced.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 31 Mar 2012, 19:29

biffvernon wrote:
Aurora wrote: As for a large proportion of the population not knowing about the volatility of petrol, I find that hard to believe. Every time you visit a petrol station, you're surrounded by warning signs.

Having said that, it doesn't seem to stop the mindless idiots who insist on using their mobile phones whilst filling up. I've even seen somebody smoking on a forecourt before now.
I think we need a bit of education for the halfwits and mindless idiots.
On mobile phone use at petrol stations we have:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4366337.stm

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filling_st ... l_ignition

and http://www.ukpia.com/industry_issues/he ... ourts.aspx

and http://www.designspark.com/content/will ... ol-station

to take just the first few that google produced.

Point taken Biff, but this is one halfwit who thinks there is still a law in the UK against the use of a mobile phone on a petrol station forecourt.

If there isn't or the legislation has been changed, I stand corrected.

I appreciate that there are many 'urban myths' associated with the use of a mobile phone but the HSE still offers the following advice:

Generally mobile telephones are not designed and certified for use in explosive atmospheres. Their use can also create a serious distraction for people carrying out dispensing activities.

Radio transmissions from individual mobile telephones are generally too low to induce dangerous electric currents in nearby equipment and the risk of incendive sparking from the battery is low, however, they should not be used in the hazardous areas that exist when actually dispensing petrol. Neither should they be used in the hazardous areas around the fill and vent pipes during petrol deliveries.

Rather than applying a total prohibition on the use of mobile telephones on petrol forecourts which has resulted in some anomalies and frequent abuse to staff, the following controls are recommended:

Mobile telephones should not be used by customers or forecourt staff whilst actually dispensing petrol into fuel tanks or containers;

During petrol deliveries mobile telephones should not be used on those parts of the site that have been designated as hazardous areas by the site operator or the driver;

Mobile telephones should not be used during other petrol handling operations or during the maintenance of petrol equipment unless a specific assessment shows the risks are negligible;

There is no need to restrict the use of mobile telephones, with respect to the safe keeping of petrol, at other times or in other areas of the forecourt. This includes in the shop, in motor vehicles parked on the forecourt or in other non-hazardous areas.

Ambiguous or what?

See: http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/ ... m-faqs.htm

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 31 Mar 2012, 20:06

create a serious distraction for people carrying out dispensing activities

That's the important bit. Multitasking is not really clever.

Aurora · Post by **Aurora** » 31 Mar 2012, 20:09

biffvernon wrote:
create a serious distraction for people carrying out dispensing activities
That's the important bit. Multitasking is not really clever.

+1, but is it against the law to use a mobile phone on a forecourt or not?

I can't find any legal references.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 31 Mar 2012, 21:07