Standards Revised For Transportable Gas Containers

The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) has announced that it has made changes to two important guidelines that will help strengthen the petroleum sector.

The announcement was made at the virtual launch of the Standards for Transportable Gas Containers held on Thursday (March 24) under the theme ‘Standards: Fueling Safety’.

The launch focused on the revised JS 25:2018 Jamaican Standard Specification for Transportable Gas Containers and the JS 41:2021 Jamaican Standard Specification for Inspection, Retesting and Use of Transportable Containers.

Vice Chair, Transportable Gas Containers Technical Committee at the BSJ, Dwight Campbell, said that new content was added to help protect marketing companies and consumers.

“The need for revision of the standards was as a result of an intervention of an agency regarding some of its containers. We saw it fit to meet as a committee to ensure that we fool-proofed the standards,” he said.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC), Dr. the Hon. Norman Dunn, during his remarks said that both documents had been carefully reviewed. This, he said, required intense work. The JS 25:2018 took a little over a year to complete while the JS 41: 2021 was developed, virtually, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was completed in just about 12 months.

More than 35 reference documents were consulted and contributed to the final product.

The revision of the standards benefited from expertise across academia, public and private sectors, and industry and consumer groups.

The updated JS 25: 2018 Standard Specification for transportable gas containers outlines the requirements for the materials, design, construction and testing of containers for the conveyance of permanent, liquefiable and dissolved gases under pressure.

He added that companies are to ensure that their cylinders meet the requirements of the two standards to ensure protection of the company, the business and the consumer.

Pointing to the benefits of utilising the standards, Mr. Campbell said that if companies have operational best practices in place, they will be able to minimise litigation risks, reduce costs, increase profits and support innovation.

Also speaking at the launch was Corporate Secretary at the BSJ, Sussitte Smikle, who shared that the two standards will ensure the continued safe usage, handling and inspection of gas containers. The implementation of these standards by stakeholders is crucial and will help to strengthen petroleum sectors. They will also ensure that transportable gas containers are designed and manufactured in accordance with the standards specifications,” said Ms. Smikle.

In commending the management and team at the BSJ for their commitment to developing Standards for the industries, Minister Dunn encouraged the Bureau to ensure that its staff is properly trained on the standards.

“You have a responsibility to train your staff to ensure they are familiar with the details of the Standards. This process must be repeated whenever there are new additions to your teams, to prevent breakdown in your operations,” he encouraged.

The standards are available for purchase online at https://shop.bsj.org.jm/.

Source: JIS