Equipment Refueling and Static
29 CFR 1926.152 · This talk in Spanish
Why it matters
Gasoline vapors ignite from sparks too small to feel, including the static charge you built up sliding out of the truck seat. Refueling fires happen at the overlap of vapor, hurry, and a hot engine: cans filled in truck beds on plastic liners, engines fueled running, nozzles jammed open with a glove. OSHA flammable liquid rules cover dispensing. Today: grounding, bonding, and the sixty seconds that prevent the fireball.
Hazards
- ⚠ Static discharge igniting vapors while filling cans and tanks
- ⚠ Filling containers on plastic bed liners that isolate them from ground
- ⚠ Refueling hot or running engines and generators
- ⚠ Vapors pooling around low fill points on still days
- ⚠ Spills on hot exhaust components
- ⚠ Smoking and phone-fiddling at the fuel point
Controls and safe practices
- ✓ Fill cans ON THE GROUND, never in a truck bed or trunk; keep the nozzle in contact with the can for bonding.
- ✓ Shut engines off and let hot equipment cool before fueling; generators especially.
- ✓ Use approved safety cans, and touch metal to metal before you pour: nozzle to tank, can to filler.
- ✓ No smoking or open flame within 50 feet of dispensing per 1926.152.
- ✓ Fuel slowly to reduce splash and vapor; wipe spills and let them flash off before starting.
- ✓ Extinguisher within reach at fuel storage and fueling operations.
- ✓ Fuel outside enclosures, upwind of ignition sources, with the exhaust in mind.
Crew discussion questions
- Where do we actually fill cans: ground or truck bed?
- Which equipment gets fueled hot around here, honestly?
- Where does fueling happen relative to heaters and hot work?
- Is the extinguisher at the fuel point charged and reachable?
Applicable OSHA standards
29 CFR 1926.152
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