Little General Store Propane Explosion - US Chemical Safety and ...

Little General Store September 2008
propane basics and propane delivery modules. Companies may also augment the curriculum to include
company-specific policies and information. 41
An important part of the CETP curriculum is its skills testing component. The training program itemizes
basic propane procedures; within 12 months of passing the CETP certification exam, certification
candidates must demonstrate these procedures and be evaluated. The CETP curriculum includes skills
assessment forms; a trainer or other supervisor with sufficient experience must observe a certification
candidate perform or simulate procedures correctly, document performance evaluations for each set of
procedures, and forward the documentation to PERC before the candidate is certified to work alone.
The junior technician at Little General was preparing for a tank-to-tank transfer of liquid propane.
Although a CETP module provides step-by-step procedures for liquid transfers to and from bulk delivery
trucks, such procedures do not exist for tank-to-tank transfers. While some propane companies may
develop their own instructions for this task, the junior technician had no written procedure for his
activities on the day of the incident.
5.3.1.4 Propane Service Technician Emergency Response Training
A propane incident involving fire department response occurs nearly once per day in the United States
(see Table 1). The CSB found that propane service technicians routinely respond to these emergencies.
When the lead technician returned to the Little General store in response to the emergency, he was
functioning as a specialist responder, with expertise in propane and propane systems. By the time he
arrived, a hazardous materials release had been underway for at least 20 minutes. However, his training
had not included an emergency response component.
41 PERC offers the Safety and Training Administrative Records System (STARS), a computer-based program for
record keeping and training management, which also allows employers to add their own policies to modules.
39