EnergySafe Magazine Spring 2014, issue 37 | Page 25

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For all the latest energy safety news visit www.esv.vic.gov.au

Spring 2014
energysafe issue 37

Gas incident data: learning
from New Zealand
By Michael Weber,
Technical Communicator
Energy Safety New Zealand has long been
recognised by the Gas Technical Regulators
Committee (GTRC) as a producer of high
quality gas incident statistics.
The GTRC is an association of government
departments responsible for the safe use of gas
and includes representatives from every state and
territory in Australia and New Zealand.
Early in September, Michael Weber of ESV’s
Gas Installation and Appliance Safety (GIAS) Division
met with Mark Wogan, Manager Energy Safety—
High Hazards & Specialist Services, and Vallabh
Patel, Senior Research Analyst at Energy Safety
NZ offices in Wellington, over a two-day period,
to discuss and exchange ideas for the collection,
analysis and distribution of gas incident data.
It was also an opportunity to make
comparisons and identify improvements for
ESV’s GIAS data recording and analysis.
Similar yet different
Some similarities exist between Energy
Safety NZ and ESV. Energy Safety NZ enjoys a
similar role in that it also monitors and enforces
compliance with the laws related to electricity
and gas supply. Energy Safety NZ is a part of
WorkSafe New Zealand.
New Zealand’s North Island uses natural gas
and LPG while the South Island uses only LPG.
Natural gas on the North Island is reticulated
through piping networks in urban areas.
With a small workforce of only 12, Energy
Safety NZ covers gas issues from the city gate
to the consumer. This area of responsibility is
equivalent to ESV’s Gas and Pipeline Infrastructure
Safety (GPIS) and GIAS combined.
Phone enquiries to Energy Safety NZ are
handled by a call centre that processes about
85 per cent of calls, while the more difficult
enquiries are passed to Energy Safety NZ
technical experts for processing.
Differences between our two organisations
begin to show when it comes to recording gas
incidents. Differences are seen in the description
of equipment types, cause codes, type of
accident or incident and the notification
of accidents and incidents.
Energy Safety NZ does not distinguish between
Type A and Type B gas appliances as ESV does,
nor does Energy Safety NZ distinguish between
gas incidents before or after the gas meter.
Energy Safety NZ collects gas incident
data from government agencies, gas supply
companies, appliance companies and industry
associations and also from hospitals, consumers
and public notification and the news media. ESV
operates with similar industry and consumer
relationships for gas incident data collection.
Energy Safety NZ investigates accidents,
and records at least a basic level of data for all
reported accidents, regardless of the scale of

Domestic Appliance Incidents
July to August 2014

Cooker
Heater
Hot Water Service
BBQ & LPG storage vessel

Building a picture: Plotting gas events in Victoria by category will help ESV better identify trends.

the investigation. More comprehensive information
is recorded for significant accidents. These
accidents are analysed for severity and frequency
of similar types of accidents.
Energy Safety NZ further enhances its
records by using a matrix for assessing the cost
of damage or repair to property as a whole or a
portion thereof, based on damage due to fire,
water or smoke.
Case management system
Accident information is prepared through
a case management system known as ESI
(Energy Safety Intelligence). This integrated case
management system brings electricity and gas
acciden [