Safety resources for the propane industry

With the array of safety resources available to you, there are no excuses for cutting corners. Photo: iStock.com/gorodenkoff

Who is responsible for company safety? Is it the safety manager, the CEO or business owner, the employee or the consumer?

I believe it is everyone’s responsibility. More specifically, each of us should hold ourselves accountable for our own personal safety. It is a difficult thing to hold yourself accountable, especially in a society where “it is not my fault” or “no one told me” seems to be a quicker resolution than accepting the responsibility yourself.

We want someone to instruct us or tell us what to do, whether through training or the internet, yet we don’t have the patience to research a topic or take the time to educate ourselves. We want the answer now, and when we get it we move on before taking the time to consider the risks associated with any given action. In the process, we put our safety at risk. We need to remind ourselves to take a precious minute and consider the safety risks associated with each one of our actions.

In the propane industry, we have a lot of resources available to remind us not only about the safety risks but also about the training and educational programs that can mitigate those risks. However, we always seem to go back to the “no one told me” and “it is not my fault” attitude.

So, what can you do about it? Start by creating a safety network, which likely begins with your family and your workplace. Your family, I assure you, wants you to be safe in your workplace so that you come home to it every day. Your workplace wants you to be safe to ensure that you perform your job and serve your customers every day, which allows the business to prosper and allows you to provide for your family. Outside of your family and workplace, you also have the propane industry, which is also your propane family.

When it comes to safety, the resources provided by the industry seem endless. Whether you utilize local, city or state government agencies or national safety organizations; industry trade associations (state or national); or propane education and research councils (state or national), there are a lot of opportunities for you to build a safety network.

Trade associations, such as the National Propane Gas Association or your local association, produce a number of resources available to you at any time, such as webpages, email notifications, blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. They also have a number of publications and committees. Any of these resources give you the ability to expand your safety network.

The Propane Education & Research Council also provides you access to an enormous amount of training, education and safety materials. They too have webpages, email notifications, blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds, along with research documents, publications and committees that will allow you to build your safety network.

So, who’s responsible for safety? The answer is you. Ask yourself if you are willing to create a safety network. There are no excuses because, as a part of the propane family, you have a safety network available to you.

Randy Warner is the vice president of safety at Ferrellgas and can be reached at randywarner@ferrellgas.com.

NOTE: The opinions and viewpoints expressed herein are solely the author’s and should in no way be interpreted as those of LP Gas magazine or any of its staff members.