Just spoke to a Petroleum lorry driver pulling into an Esso garage.He jumped out of his cab yelling at a young lad to turn his mobile off and get it away from the nozzle he was filling up with.The lad was startled and didn't realise they posed a danger.I thought he was off his trolly then he explained why they are a serious danger. Did you lot know that there are 100s of accidents involving mobile phones and static in filling stations every year.I didn't. The mobiles that light up when ringing have enough energy to ignite vapour from a filling nozzle. Smart phones are even worse.Lots of static. He said that one case in London a driver filled up , the phone ignited the drivers chest and face and because he threw the nozzle it sprayed inside the back window and burnt the back of the car out with kids in the back. He told me that motorcyclists are in danger when they fill up at the pump and not get off the bike.If the phone is near that nozzle it could ignite it.2 cases in USA where 2 bikers died filling up on either side of the pump The fire was ignited by one of the riders phones. Static from your car during the spring/summer months can trigger a nozzle too if you carry that static to a pump. So when filling up folks bike car van or lorry bear this in mind.
I was only thinking somethingsimilar yesterday .The petrol mixer we have run out of petrol just as i was passing so instead of getting the labourer to fill iti popped into the metal store and got out the green can but could not find the nozzle so i just poured it stright in but... half of it went all over the hot engine and i am thinking whilst all this is going on can it be ignited whilst off but hot and pictured myself going up in flames but still carried on .Its a bit like when you are giving the bike some gip and you know its not pretty .You still keep going Why????????
The smell and thrill of danger perhaps mate.Like climbing a tree you know it's a long way up but you carry on up until you get what you went up there for.
I remember seeing something about this on mythbusters a few years ago. They said that it was b*llocks. They put a mobile phone in a chamber filled with the correct mix of petrol and air and called the phone. Nothing. They even tried messing with the phone to strip the insulation off wires and even stood it in petrol and nothing. They concluded that it was nonsense.
There is however a real danger from people getting in and out of their cars while they're filling up as this can cause a static discharge when they touch the pump. Obviously this isn't really a problem in this country because unlike the states you can't lock the handle to pump and then let go of it to go do something else while it's filling. The problem nicely illustrated here.
Thanks guys for that.The Esso truck driver did say that he thought it was a myth too until he saw video evidence of this on his H&S course.It could be possible that static alone could be the cause and whilst people were using their phones maybe they thought it were the phone.Whether myth or not just be careful.I'm getting off the bike and filling up.
Lots of myth's out there. always interesting to hear. But when they have no mobiles sins at Stations it does boil my pee. if it says don't do it just don't. I can wait 5 mins to make a call
That woman in the car, in out in out, I mean fill it or leave it...lol Wooly jumper and car seats if you can't generate some static with all that give up....lol And then she's pretty cool about pulling the pump nozzle out....lol If she had shut the filler cap it may have gone out, I'd have been gone long before that...brave or stupid?
You hit a bit of a nail there, Matt. I know you can't help it if you get a call but I'm amazed how people can't be away from their phones for just the few minutes it takes to interact with other humans. I'd kill for a bit more authority over my life so I could refuse to serve customers who insist on conversing on their mobiles during the process. But I digress. It would actually be safer to ban non-conductive footwear than phones in an area containing inflammable compounds. All the equipment will be safely earthed except for the human in the Nikes. We've seen printers destroyed from static discharges from trainer wearing operators.
You should move to France, Ken. I kinda admire their attitude that the customer is NOT always right. Especially in Paris. They have this strange notion over there that just because you work in a taxi / restaurant / etc you're still a person and not a servile minnion. I think it's the whole French revolution thing. We're still largely a nation of forelock tugging subjects A couple of years ago I was sat outside a bar in Paris in the middle of the day waiting to get a train from the Gare du Nord and was just watching the traffic and enjoying a beer. I'd observed the usual pleasantries with the waiter since I'd arrived, "Excuse me Sir, could I have a beer please?"....."Certainly Sir, what type would you like?".....etc......the guy couldn't have been more pleasant. Then I saw an English family. What I took to be Mother, Father, 20 something daughter and her boyfriend. Definite chinless private school fodder. They sat down and then he motioned to the waiter and half-shouted, "Garçon!" I could sense the waiter's anger and after he'd taken their order walked past me and wandered back into the bar I could hear him say the word "Putain!" to his colleague
Being that the vast majority of my customers are specifically coming to me for advice, by definition, they're never bloody right. Fortunately, I'm still sufficiently two faced to grin back at them while I take their money. Or, in the case of "artists", hand over their magic beans. One of the few advantages of encroaching old age though, is that as my eyesight fails, the position of my "F**k Off!" button becomes much clearer and much much easier to hit first time.
I had a important call come in with a job offer while I was using the pump, I did answer it but then when I was paying the woman she tried to tell me off shouting over my call.people probably thinking Im being ignorant but a job was worth a 19yr old trying to tell me off...same way I dont remove my lid (can of worms opened)
