HYDERABAD: As a consumer, you might have been cautioned several times to not use your mobile phone at fuel stations. While the precautionary advice is aimed to reduce the risk of fire accidents, it appears the service persons themselves in the city, who give such instructions, are least bothered about the rules.
Sitting beside fuel dispensers, it is not a strange sight to see an attendant watching videos or taking calls when there are no customers. And, in some instances, some even end up taking ‘emergency calls’ while dispensing fuel.
On one such occasion, a servicewoman at Indian Oil fuel station in Sanath Nagar was found taking calls while flouting the precautionary rules. When asked if she it was okay for her to take calls in front of the fuel dispensers, she replied that “it was an emergency call.”
She added that “during working hours, stepping out of the premises is not permitted. This forces us to take our calls on the premises itself.”
It may be mentioned here that the premises where fuel is dispensed is technically categorised as an ‘explosive area’.
According to the explosives rules, 2008 given by the petroleum and explosives safety organisation, people are “restricted to use radio or cell phone within fifteen meters from the place where an explosive is stored.”
Explaining the dangers associated with the use of mobile phones, B Rajesh Naik, Deputy Director, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) said that the devices are not to be used as a precautionary measure.
“It is well known that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones can trigger fire accidents at fuel dispenser. However, even the frequent act of pulling out a phone from a pocket can cause a fire,” he said.
Even when a car is not switched off, there is a scope for electric sparks to come through the battery, which could can lead to fire accidents, he added.
Meanwhile, fuel dealers observe that onus of containing fire lies with the service persons. “We instruct them to not use mobile phones while working. But it is they who should realise that such activity can lead to a danger,” said Krupal Dayal, Manager, Bharath Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Sanathnagar.