Standards set for the liquefied petroleum gas industry

Chief Technical Director in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Monique Gibbs (left), along with Executive Director, Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), Hopeton Heron (centre); and Chief Executive Officer, National Compliance and Regulatory Authority, Lorice Edwards Brown, at the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Awareness and Engagement Session, at the BSJ’s Multi-Purpose Facility, Winchester Road, Kingston, on November 19, 2019. The Bureau of Standards Jamaica and the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority, agencies of MICAF, hosted the session for the LPG Monitoring Programme. The purpose of the session was to ensure that all key stakeholders in the LPG industry are aware of the requirements for compliance with the relevant standards pertaining to the sector.

In an effort to ensure the health and safety of the consuming public and ensuring that all key stakeholders in the liquefied petroleum gas industry are aware of the requirements for compliance with the relevant standards, the Bureau of Standards Jamaica and the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority, agencies of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, have developed three standards for the sector.

The Standards are the JS 41:2014 Inspection, retesting and use of transportable gas; JS 31:2014 The repair and rebuilding of welded steel cylinders for containing liquefied petroleum gases and, the JS 25:2010 Transportable gas containers.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Awareness and Engagement Session for the LPG Monitoring Programme at the BSJ Multi-Purpose Facility in Kingston on Tuesday, November 19, Chief Technical Director in the Ministry, Monique Gibbs, said that “to ensure a safe and effective LPG industry for the domestic sector and the protection of consumers, it is imperative that the established regulations, codes and standards be enforced or additional programmes be established to improve the operations of filling plants.

“Codes and standards must be in place to protect not only our consumers, but also the reputation of the marketing companies and our distributors. Meeting standards in this industry is not optional. The adherence to standards will certainly make our companies, industries and our economies more competitive. The impact of standards is very real,” said the Chief Technical Director.

She added that the Government has always had an interest in the quality of goods and services from the perspective of safety, health, deceptive practices and the environment. She added that the role of government is to promulgate and enforce laws and regulations focused on the protection of human, health and the environment, while creating and enabling business environment.

The chief technical director noted further that the LPG sector is an important and vital source of energy for cooking purpose in the domestic sector of Jamaica. She informed that nationally, approximately 86% of households utilize LPG for cooking with 92.8% of urban dwellers and 78.6% of households in the rural areas doing so.

The next awareness session will be held at the Montego Convention Centre, Montego Bay on November 27, 2019.
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