SAFTENG NOTE: Please do NOT misunderstand what is being said here. This study was in NO WAY an endorsement that cell phones are safe for hazardous locations. What is being said, is that cell phones do not cause gasoline fueling fires; which we have debunked that myth here for over a decade. Static electricity generated by the person fueling their car is the ignition source for these fires. Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) hired BakerRisk to determine if a cell phone could be used to pay for the transaction at the pump station.
TSSA has reviewed its position on using cell phones at the dispensers at gasoline facilities. In the past, TSSA’s position was that cell phones are a possible source of ignition and should not be used at or near gasoline pumps. This position was reinforced by the user guides from cell phone manufacturers that state that cell phones are not intrinsically safe and should not be used in hazardous locations. With the proliferation of mobile payment, the fuel industry has asked for customers to be permitted to pay from their cell phone at the pumps. To that end, the Canadian Fuels Association commissionedBakerRisk to conduct a risk assessment related to “Risk Associated with Cell Phone Use During Refueling”, dated February 4, 2019, by Adrian J. Pierorazio, P. Eng. & Syed Taha of BakerRisk®.
The analysis from BakerRisk® found that “there is a very low probability of cell phones being able to ignite even an ideal flammable gas mixture in air. There have been no fires reported at gas stations attributed to cell phone ignition in the last 20 years which, at a rate of approximately 1 billion fills per year in Canada, yields a cell phone ignition probability of less than 10-10/fill.” This means that the chance that a cell phone will ignite the vapors generated at the pumps is negligible (i.e. one chance in 10 billion).
TSSA has reviewed the BakerRisk® assessment and accepts the conclusion therein that a cell phone is a negligible source of ignition. TSSA will permit cell phones TO BE USED FOR PAYMENT AT DISPENSERS at licensed gasoline facilities in Ontario.
However, TSSA cautions that
- THE RISK OF A SPILL OR OTHER INCIDENT CONTINUES TO BE MORE SIGNIFICANT WHEN A DISTRACTED PERSON IS PUMPING GASOLINE.
- THE CUSTOMER SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON THE TASK OF REFUELING, NOT ON USING CELL PHONES FOR CALLING OR TEXTING, ETC.
- OPERATORS ARE REMINDED OF THEIR OBLIGATION TO INTERRUPT FUELING ACTIVITIES WHEN THEY OBSERVE CUSTOMERS USING CELL PHONES FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN PAYING FOR FUEL.