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Diesel Spills - The Continuing Menace of Diesel Spills
MAG is seeking for all garages to accept its warning stickers which are designed to remind drivers to replace fuel caps properly, or perhaps a more generic sticker as MAG UK sticker is seen as advertisement and not a safety message.
A recent BBC TV news item illustrated how easy it is for drivers to over fill as a lorry driver spilt diesel out of his tank as he filled up. This was ironic as the news item was regarding the high price of diesel fuel faced by road hauliers.
This was highlighted through the Email Army with Peter Scott sending a complaint to OFCOM the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries.
The response was pretty weak as they considered; “this item was about diesel fuel prices and how they will affect large users of the fuel, especially those in the haulage trade. Clearly it was not a report about health and safety issues or an advertisement for best practice. Furthermore in our viewing of the piece it was clearly stated that the footage was shot in a haulage yard, not on public roads”
Despite extensive campaigning on the danger of diesel spills for motorcyclists, the situation doesn't seem to have been resolved. MAG UK has asked how hard is it for diesel tanks to be designed so that diesel cannot spill out of tanks or caps designed to prevent the problem, it's not rocket science.
MAG has produced thousands of Diesel Spill stickers which have been placed on pumps and trucks throughout the UK to remind drivers of the dangers of diesel spills, but we are still meeting resistance from forecourt staff, supermarket chains and oil companies to the use of the stickers.
MAG has also pointed out that Diesel Spills on the highway are not being mopped up correctly, road authorities are continuing to use of sand and stone chippings which create a further hazard instead of more appropriate materials and tactics. A sample product "Oil Sponge" can be viewed at http://www.phaseiii.com/Products/oil_sponge_remedial.html
Sag Aluminium, are Europe's largest tank manufacturer www.sag.at they produce tanks for Volvo, Man, Daf, Scania.
The anti spill flaps, that they do fit, is a simple round ally plate, with a filler nozzle sized hole covered by a spring loaded ally flap, mounted inside the filler neck with screws, general opinion is, if fitted as standard during production, cost would be in the region of 5-10euro.
From what we know truck drivers are also reluctant to use locking caps, simply because if someone wants to steal the diesel, they will simply puncture the tank!
Disparity in fuel price across Europe is also leading to bigger capacity tanks. We have anecdotal stories of drivers, this includes trucks and coaches, for example on their runs to Greece, with diesel being so much cheaper there they use a 2000 ltr tank plus trailer "belly" tanks. They can fill up in Greece and do a round trip to the UK and back.
However the main problem is possibly still the drivers, NOT that they are negligent, but it is a simple enough thing to forget to put the cap back on tight, or not to check it every time you stop. Drivers don't want to lose any fuel, since operators rigidly control fuel consumption.
Thus the diesel spill stickers are a good idea, or any other form of education but the top method would be the introduction of spill proof tanks.
For forecourts would be the use of proper products to wipe/soak spills up. Placing of stickers on pumps, as a safety message. Also for fore-court owners to check, that the entrance or exits to forecourts i.e. the highway, has no spills or has become contaminated by diesel or other fluids.
There will be an article in Forecourt Trader on these concerns which is circulated to every forecourt in the UK, as well as oil company and supermarket head offices and suppliers to the industry getting the message out.
My thanks to Frank Finch from the Motor Retailers Association (MRA) for setting this up.
There are various campaigns in the UK but none are joined up at present.
As forwarded by email the Killspills campaign have launched their London Rally for 10th September 2005 with sponsorship tie up with the BMF.
The latest campaign was launched recently by Northamptonshire’s Casualty Reduction Partnership.
Sponsored by RAC Legal Services which has given £5,000 for educational material all marked with the ‘Spills Kills!’ message aimed at raising drivers’ awareness of the problem.
In a survey of 10,000 local motorcyclists carried out by the Casualty Reduction Partnership, nearly all of the respondents listed diesel spills as a daily hazard and an area of real concern for them.
Further details are in the MAG News section of the MAG UK website.
If any conclusion can be reached by all of this, the weak link is simple human error and education of that error, that if you overfill your tank it will spill out. If that simple message can not be achieved then anti spill systems, warning lights, lockable fuel caps, prosecution by police officers or transport agencies must be implemented to prevent diesel spills.
Trevor Baird
Director Of Public Affairs MAG UK
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