WorkSafe Victoria have issued a safety alert on the safe use of flammable refrigerants.
The safety alert states that it concerns “class 2.1 flammable refrigerant gases and provides guidance to occupiers of premises on how to control the risk of fire and explosion from refrigeration and air-conditioning systems containing flammable refrigerants.”
The safety alert provides its background, the duties of occupiers of premises, marking and labelling, location of equipment containing flammable refrigerants and risk control measures.
The background states that a recent incident involving flammable refrigerants resulted in death, injury and damage to property.
The safety alert states that the duties of occupiers of premises include identifying all hazards, using risk controls compliant with the Dangerous Goods Acts and Regulations and obtaining material safety data sheets (MSDS) or safety data sheets (SDS) from the supplier of the refrigerant.
The safety alert states that service access points, refrigeration systems and entries into machinery rooms that contain these refrigerants need to be marked and labelled with warning signs that the systems contain class 2.1 refrigerants.
The safety alert also states that refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment should be located outdoors and above ground in a well ventilated area.
The safety alert also provides a table on flammable refrigerant charge and control measures, as well as details on what risk control measures to take based on the information provided in the table.
A copy of the safety alert can be downloaded from here and was originally published on WorkSafe Victoria’s website here.
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