Tips about safety management of gas cylinders

Common gas cylinders include oxygen cylinders, acetylene cylinders, argon cylinders, carbon dioxide cylinders, etc. In recent years, due to rough design and manufacturing, improper filling and use, and long-term uninspected reasons, a series of leakage damage and explosion accidents have occurred, causing great harm to people's lives and property safety. This article combines the characteristics of gas cylinder operation and use, and puts forward management suggestions from three aspects: cylinder selection, filling and use, and regular inspection, to ensure the safe use of gas cylinders in gas-using units.

1. Purchasing of Gas cylinders
Proper selection of gas cylinders is the key to preventing the circulation of unqualified gas cylinders by users, and it is also the primary condition for ensuring the safe use of gas cylinders. The following aspects should be strictly followed:
First, select enterprises with complete design and manufacturing qualifications and good reputation. Because such enterprises are not only experienced in the design and manufacture of gas cylinders, but also have high requirements for process quality, have strong market reputation, and can strictly abide by and implement various laws and regulations.
Second, units with good design and manufacturing quality have strong performance due to their high market reputation and are recognized by the society. From them, units with excellent performance can be selected as purchase targets.
Third, currently, qualified design and manufacturing enterprises have quality certificates and certificates for gas cylinders. The quality certificates include material descriptions, strength calculations, pressure specifications, inspection and test items, time and heat treatment records, etc. of gas cylinders.
Fourth, professional and technical personnel of the user unit shall conduct quality inspections on the markings, structure, and appearance of gas cylinders. The inspections include material use, welding, inspection, and the safety of accessories.

2 Filling and use of gas cylinders
Selecting a filling unit that complies with the requirements of national laws and regulations and standardizing the use of gas cylinders is a very important task in the safety management of gas-using units. The following aspects should be strictly followed:
First, investigate the work process of each filling unit in the surrounding area, give priority to units that meet the requirements of the "Gas Cylinder Safety Supervision Regulations", have accurate and clear processes, sound rules and regulations, and have a safety work guarantee system, and sign a safety technical agreement or safety responsibility statement with them to specify their respective safety responsibilities.
Second, strictly abide by and implement the requirements for the use of gas cylinders in Chapter 12 of the thermal and mechanical parts of the "Electric Power Safety Work Regulations" in electric welding and gas welding.
Third, the gas cylinders of the unit should be permanently marked, and it is strictly forbidden to confuse them with gas cylinders circulating in the society. The enterprise should have a dedicated person to manage gas cylinders in a unified manner, and should establish a general entry and exit account and issuance, storage, and recycling rules and regulations. Each sub-workshop unit should also establish an entry and exit account and operating instructions, and establish standardized management rules and regulations.

3.Supervision, inspection and safety management of gas cylinders
Periodic supervision, inspection and safety management of gas cylinders is an important guarantee for safe production. Gas cylinders are generally required to undergo a comprehensive inspection (including water pressure test) every three years. The following aspects should be done:
First, permanently mark gas cylinders, keep detailed statistics on the inspection date of each gas cylinder, make a supervision and inspection plan, and have a dedicated person be responsible for reporting the statistics to the local qualified supervision and inspection department for inspection;
Second, strengthen the quality inspection of gas cylinder accessories. It is best to replace all gas cylinder accessories during each inspection. Scrapped gas cylinders must be properly handled and must not be mixed with qualified cylinders;
Third, personnel engaged in periodic inspection of gas cylinders shall take qualification examinations in accordance with the "Qualification Examination Rules for Boiler Pressure Vessels, Pressure Pipelines and Special Equipment Personnel" and obtain a qualification certificate for periodic inspection of gas cylinders;
Fourth, personnel responsible for the safety management of gas cylinders must be qualified by the technical supervision department or the superior department;
Fifth, carry out periodic safety inspections of gas cylinders, formulate corresponding assessment management methods, strictly assess human responsibility issues, and serve as a warning to others and learn from them;
Sixth, vigorously publicize the content requirements of the new "Gas Cylinder Safety Supervision Regulations", analyze the lessons of previous accidents, and combine their own work to eliminate safety hazards.