Nasty experience at LPG station

[Clifford Pope]

Last night when I tried to fill up at my usual station I connected the nozzle to the filler and there was a spray of liquid LPG everywhere which didn't stop. I uncoupled quickly, but the nozzle continued to gush fuel for several seconds At that moment the attendant rushed up and said that the pump was out of order, they were waiting for someone to come and fix it.

Fortunately none of liquid went in my face, but my hand took the brunt. It felt frozen for some minutes, but quickly recovered. Now it is red and a little swollen, and has a slight pins and needles feel. One finger is still a bit numb.

There was no warning notice on the pump display or the nozzle, but the lights were not on. I had not noticed that in the dark, pouring rain, and dazzle of other lights.

What was going on there? There seemed to be two faults:
1) the nozzle was not sealing on the filler, but sprayed liquid even when clamped on
2) liquid was able to flow through the pump and filler hose despite the machine being turned off.

[migrator]

Does the station have an 'incident book'? If so make sure that there is an entry for this event.

If there really was no sign indicating that the LPG pump should not be used how about an approach to Health and Safety with claim for your pain?

[Clifford Pope]

I'm not so concerned about the pain - it's eased now.

I'm more interested in knowing how this can happen. I thought LPG systems were pretty much fail-safe. How can LPG pass from the storage tank through the pump and metring systems even though the unit was switched off? It's like walking into a closed petrol station and picking up a pump nozzle and just spraying a burst of petrol around.
Doesn't the cashier have to activate a pump? And what would cause the seal on the nozzle to fail at the same time?

[Grumpywurzel]

Surely it wasn't turned off, obviously they had a fault with the pump. The Attendant MUST of activated the pump out of habbit forgetting there was a fault. You cannot just walk up to the pump and use it anyway.

[classicswede]

The diaphragm in the pump is what seals the gas flow off to the gun as well as pumping when running. If the diaphragm had failed then that would explain the continual flow.

You can get nasty burns, make sure you do something to treat the burn

[volvoid]

this could have been be very nasty, liquid propane is very cold and can give serious burns (heat flowing out of body gives a cold burn). You need to tell HSE and local council - one of them will have to investigate. I'd have called the police too.

[monkeh]

Just out of interest, was it the garage between Aberystwyth and Aberaeron? I can't remember the precise location... If it is, I had issues with them, the nozzle was faulty and didn't vent pressure on release, spraying lpg into my face and causing a burn to my hand, also propelling the nozzle off into my shin. After reporting it, they did nothing TWICE!

[Clifford Pope]

Originally Posted by monkeh

Just out of interest, was it the garage between Aberystwyth and Aberaeron?

Yes, that's the one. I use it twice a week, as it's the only LPG place on my daily commute to Aberystwyth. I didn't realise they had a "previous" - I might report it knowing that.
On the other hand if I fall out with them I'll have nowhere else to go conveniently.

It was definitely off - the lights were not on, so I don't think the attendant can have activated it.

It was fixed the next day - I refilled yesterday evening in some trepidation, but all was well. It had a brand new nozzle, I don't know what else. Presumably the diaphragm, as Classicswede explains.

[monkeh]

Well I'm glad to see they finally did something, I thought something was amiss when releasing the lever and it didn't vent pressure, when it happened the second time I kicked the filler off the car, and pretty much read the riot act voting never to return.
it's a shame that Tanygroes isn't getting lpg back, nearest in t'other direction is just out of range of a full tank!
Yes, I would report it, I had a blue V70, the first time with a gassy face and a burnt hand, the second time the poor cashier had both barrels, and this was with a 2 week window, so they had plenty of time to repair it.

[skyship007]

Firstly go see your doc and get the cold burn dressed to prevent infection. Then ask the doc for a letter describing the burn before you go visit the fuel station.
It would help if you had a witness or pics of the pump taken at the time, but I would try a claim anyway. The local small claims courts work fairly well in the UK, BUT remember a judge want facts not opinions, so letters and pics work better than verbal accounts.