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An Evaluation of the Risk and Safety Standards of some Fuel Stations in
Tarkwa
Article · January 2023
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ISSN: 2231-1785 (Online)
Journal of ISSN: 2321-5178 (Print)
Petroleum Engineering & Technology Volume 13, Issue 1, 2023
DOI (Journal): 10.37591/JoPET
STM JOURNALS
http://engineeringjournals.stmjournals.in/index.php/JoPET/index
Research JoPET
An Evaluation of the Risk and Safety Standards of some
Fuel Stations in Tarkwa
Richard Amorin1,*, Harrison Osei2
Abstract
Fuel stations play a major role in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry. However, their
activities are associated with high risk of safety and environmental issues posing traits to fuel
attendants, customers and immediate environs. Since 2007, Ghana has recorded numerous accidents
at some fuel stations across the country claiming lives and unaccounted damages to assets due to
inadequate knowledge of standardised safety policies and poor handling of petroleum products by
fuel station operators, attendants and consumers. This study therefore evaluated the compliance of
some fuel filling stations in Tarkwa with reference to National Petroleum Authority’s standards.
Areas under review included Technical Requirements, Housekeeping, Infrastructure Requirements,
Waste Management Storage and Disposal and Occupational Health and Safety. Ten out of fifteen
filling stations were evaluated through field visit, interviews, personal observations and
administration of questionnaire. The study revealed that, almost all the stations do comply with NPA
safety standards to some extent; 40% fell in category A while 60% fell in category B of NPA grading
system. Majority of the stations are lacking in the Technical Requirement and Occupational Health
and Safety areas which are vital areas to avoiding possible fires and explosions. All fuel stations
lacking in any of the five areas of assessment and especially those in the category B per the ranking
should be compelled by NPA and oil marketing companies to upgrade their systems to meet grade A
standard in order to avoid any unforeseen hazards.
Keywords: Filling Stations, Standards, Compliance, NPA, Occupational Health and Safety.
INTRODUCTION
Gasoline and diesel fuels are products from fractional distillation of crude oil and are used to fuel
internal combustion engines worldwide. Facilities which sell these fuels for motorists are known as
fuel or filling stations. Most filling stations in Ghana offer other services such as providing shopping
marts, rest stops (place of convenience), food-joint, washing bay, ceremonial grounds during festive
seasons, etc. [1]. Despite the advantages gained
from fuel stations, there are potential hazards
*Author for Correspondence associated with their operations. There is variance
Richard Amorin
E-mail: ramorin@umat.edu.gh in the level of risk or hazards associated with these
1
stations due to the location they are sited [2, 3].
Associate Professor, Department of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Engineering, University of Mines and Technology,
The products sold are very volatile and can easily
Ghana result in accidents and explosions if not handled
2
Senior Lecturer, Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas very carefully. Due to the compositions (benzene,
Engineering, University of Mines and Technology, Ghana
n-butane, isopentane, etc that is aliphatic and the
Received Date: December 09, 2022 aromatic nature) of these compounds and other
Accepted Date: January 25, 2023 hazardous substances of gasoline and diesel, their
Published Date: January 28, 2023
emissions may lead to the spread of cancer,
Citation: Richard Amorin, Harrison Osei. An Evaluation of environmental pollution, cardiovascular and
the Risk and Safety Standards of some Fuel Stations in
Tarkwa. Journal of Petroleum Engineering & Technology.
respiratory effects, etc. and therefore poses threats
2023; 13(1): 6–13p. to working personnel, consumers, assets, public
and the environment [2, 4, 5, 6, 7].
© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 6
An Evaluation of the Risk and Safety Standards of some Fuel Stations in Tarkwa Amorin and Osei
Ghana has recorded many filling stations associated accidents which has claimed many hundreds of
lives [8, 9, 10]. In 2015, over 150 people were reported to be killed in a petrol filling station fire [10],
due to poor handling of petroleum products at the pumps with other severe impacts [3] as shown in
Figure 1. Considering the hazardous nature of operation, the Ghana Standard Authority and NPA Act
2005, have proposed safety standard policies that need to be adhered to at various filling stations [11,
12]. This work therefore used the town of Tarkwa as a case study to evaluate the compliance of some
fuel filling stations in the town. They were evaluated based on the standards provided by National
Petroleum Authority on Housekeeping, Technical requirements, Infrastructure requirements, Waste
Management Storage and Disposal and Occupational Health and Safety.
METHODS
A structured questionnaire was administered to ten fuel stations with the coded names A, B, C, D,
E, F, G, H, I and J. The purpose of the study and procedure for responding to the questionnaire were
explained to the respondents. The response rate was hundred percent (100%). Descriptive Statistics
was used for the analysis of data collected from all the ten fuel stations. NPA Standardised grading
system was used in analysing the performance of all the ten filling stations as shown in Table 1. Five
areas that were evaluated included Technical Requirements, Housekeeping, Infrastructure
Requirements, Waste Management Storage and Disposal and Occupational Health and Safety. Major
question asked under each of the assessment areas are:
Figure 1. Effect of Fire Explosion Accident at a Fuel Station [13].
Table 1. NPA Standardised Safety and Risk Assessment Grading System
Grade Scores Actions
A 80–100 Licence to be issued or station allowed to continue operating
Licence to be issued or station allowed to continue operating. However, the sponsoring OMC
B 60–79
must ensure that all the identified shortcomings are addressed within a period of 2 months.
Suspension. The grant and issue of a licence will be considered after all the identified
C 50–59
shortcomings are addressed within a period of 3 months
D ˂ 50 Station to be Closed Down. Facility to be decommissioned within a period of 2 months
© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 7
Journal of Petroleum Engineering & Technology
Volume 13, Issue 1
ISSN: 2231-1785 (Online), ISSN: 2321-5178 (Print)
Technical Requirements
Technical requirements covers distance in between outlet and high voltage line, distance in between
outlet and low voltage line, dispensing nozzles condition, First Aid Box condition, availability of
dipstick, type of dipstick, presence of foam fire extinguisher, CO2 Fire Extinguisher, sand buckets
vent pipes, vent pipe length, distance between vent pipes and nearest building, distance between vent
pipe and source of fire, cleanliness of vent pipe outlet, no smoking sign switch off engines sign,
switch off mobile phone, availability of sampling thermometer state of Underground Storage Tank
(UST) manhole covers, are UST covers raised above ground level, colour coding for tanks manhole
covers, vent pipes, and UST installation mode.
Infrastructure Requirements
Infrastructure requirements covers toilet facility, state of the level ground, area around pump island,
presence of canopy over pump island, condition of canopy and canopy columns, state of light under
canopy, state of signage, office/store availability, emergency exit, approach/exit signs, size of
forecourt, state and position of electric control gear, waste management storage and disposal.
Waste Management Storage and Disposal
Waste management storage and disposal covers presence of trash bins, state of trash bins, storage
and disposal of oil filters, storage and disposal of used/dirty solvents.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping covers presnece of handwash basin, tissue paper and washing soap, hand towel in
washroom, availability of water in washroom, state of handwash basin, condition of station
surroundings, state of the drains, general state of washroom, general appearance of attendants.
Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational health and safety covers availability of hand gloves, availability of hard hats,
availability of uniform, availability of overalls for lubritory attendance, availability of safety boots for
pump attendants, availability of safety boots for lubritory attendants, availability of rubber boots for
washing bay attendants, availability of nose mask, availability of safety glasses, availability of an
emergency plan, and Fire-fighting certificate for attendants.
RESULTS
Technical Requirement
Figure 2 shows the trend of responses received from the ten fuel station operators and attendants on
the technical aspect of their operations as far as safety is concerned. Per NPA standards and the trend
from the respondents, majority (90%) of the fuel station operators do not comply with NPA safety
standards on technical requirement. Five stations; C, D, F, G and I fell within the 70%–79% category
and the rest; A, B, E and J, fell within the 50%–69% range. The trend therefore suggested that,
technically, majority of the fuel station operators lacked the technical requirement for safe operations
of the stations. These shortcomings were attributed to lack of basic safety items such as fire
extinguishers, signage, warning notices, etc necessary to save or protect lives and property at any
filling station.
Infrastructure Requirements
All the ten stations fell within 80%–100% of NPA requirements under this assessment but with few
shortcomings which were very sensitive to the safe running of the stations (Figure 3). Five out of the
ten stations lack approach and exit signs to their respective stations.
Waste Management Storage and Disposal
The respondent rate was very high; all the ten stations met the NPA standards under Waste
Management Storage and Disposal. Seven stations recorded 100% score while B, F and G each
recorded 83.3% due to an average score for storage and disposal of oil filters (Figure 4).
© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 8
An Evaluation of the Risk and Safety Standards of some Fuel Stations in Tarkwa Amorin and Osei
100
80
60
%
40
20
0
NPA
A B C D E F G H I J
SCORE
Series1 100.0 64.7 57.4 73.5 76.5 61.8 70.6 76.5 82.4 76.5 64.7
Figure 2. Scores on Technical Requirements.
100
80
60
40
%
20
0
NPA
A B C D E F G H I J
SCORE
Series1 100.0 92.3 100.0 84.6 100.0 92.3 100.0 84.6 100.0 84.6 92.3
Filling Stations
Figure 3. Scores on Infrastructure Requirements.
100
80
60
40
%
20
0
NPA
A B C D E F G H I J
SCORE
Series1 100.0 100.0 83.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 83.3 83.3 100.0 100.0 100.0
Filling Stations
Figure 4. Waste Management Storage and Disposal.
© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 9
Journal of Petroleum Engineering & Technology
Volume 13, Issue 1
ISSN: 2231-1785 (Online), ISSN: 2321-5178 (Print)
Housekeeping
The deductions from Figure 5 shows clearly that the response rate was high and all the ten filling
stations comply with NPA standardised safety policies on housekeeping. Issues that need to be
addressed are state of drains and washrooms.
Occupational Health and Safety
As shown in Figure 6, it can be established that little attention is paid to Occupational Health and
Safety as none of the stations was able to pass the grade A score of NPA in this area. Most operators
lack the requisite PPEs for their fuel attendants. Stations A, D, G and J fell between 50%–59%. The
rest fell within 60%–79%.
100
80
60
%
40
20
0
NPA
A B C D E F G H I J
SCORE
Series1 100.0 100.0 83.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 83.3 83.3 100.0 100.0 100.0
Filling Station
Figure 5. Scores on Housekeeping.
100
80
60
%
40
20
0
NPA
A B C D E F G H I J
SCORE
Series1 100.0 57.1 71.4 71.4 57.1 71.4 71.4 57.1 64.3 71.4 50.0
Filling Stations
Figure 6. Occupational Health and Safety.
© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 10
An Evaluation of the Risk and Safety Standards of some Fuel Stations in Tarkwa Amorin and Osei
Overall Grading/Ranking
Making reference to Table 1 and the five areas that were evaluated; Technical Requirements,
Housekeeping, Infrastructure Requirements, Waste Management Storage and Disposal and
Occupational Health and Safety, Table 2 and Figure 7 show the overall grading system of the ten
filling stations sampled using NPA standardised grading system. Four stations, H, D, F and I scored
grade A while the others scored grade B.
Table 3 shows the ranking/standing in deceasing order of merit using NPA grading system.
Table 2. Overall Grading/Ranking
Filling Stations
No. Assessment Sections
NPA Score A B C D E F G H I J
1 Technical Requirements 34 22 19.5 25 26 21 24 26 28 26 22
2 Infrastructure Requirements 13 12 13 11 13 12 13 11 13 11 12
3 Waste Management, Storage and
6 6 5 6 6 6 5 5 6 6 6
Disposal
4 Housekeeping 14 13 12 12 13 13 14 12 14 12 14
5 Occupational Health and Safety 14 8 10 10 8 10 10 8 9 10 7
Total 81 61 59.5 64 66 62 66 62 70 65 61
% 100 75.3 73.5 79.0 81.5 76.5 81.5 76.5 86.4 80.2 75.3
Grade B B B A B A B A A B
100
A
B A A A
80 B B B B
B
60
%
40
20
0
NPA
A B C D E F G H I J
SCORE
Series1 100.0 75.3 73.5 79.0 81.5 76.5 81.5 76.5 86.4 80.2 75.3
Filling Stations
Figure 7. Overall Grading/Ranking.
Table 3. Ranking of the Ten Fuel Stations
Name of Fuel Station Marks Grade
H 86.4 A
D 81.5 A
F 81.5 A
I 80.2 A
C 79 B
E 76.5 B
G 76.5 B
A 75.3 B
J 75.3 B
B 73.5 B
© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 11
Journal of Petroleum Engineering & Technology
Volume 13, Issue 1
ISSN: 2231-1785 (Online), ISSN: 2321-5178 (Print)
Per NPA standards in Table 1 and the ranking in Table 3, 40% of the stations fell in category A
while 60% fell in category B of NPA grading system. Stations H, D, F and I are to be allowed to
operate with their licenses while the rest of the stations; C, E, G, A, J and B are also to be allowed to
continue operation with their licenses but the sponsoring Oil Marketing Companies (OMC) must
ensure that all the shot shortcomings are addressed within a grace period of 2 months. Moreover, there
are minimum regulatory and safety items (fire extinguishers, signage, warning notices, etc.)
requirements for any fuel station to operate safely. Thus, absence of any of these safety items should
be addressed by fuel station operators lacking in them to help reduce the rate of accidents at the
service stations.
CONCLUSIONS
After evaluating the compliance of the ten filling stations in Tarkwa with reference to National
Petroleum Authority’s standards under the areas of Technical Requirements, Infrastructure
Requirements, Waste Management Storage and Disposal, Housekeeping and Occupational Health and
Safety, it can be concluded that:
i. Relatively, all the stations do comply with NPA safety standards to some extent; 40% fell in
category A while 60% fell in category B of NPA grading system.
ii. However, majority (90%) of the fuel station operators do not comply with NPA safety
standards on technical requirement. Five stations; C, D, F, G and I fell within the 70%–79%
category and the rest; A, B, E and J, fell within the 50%–69% range.
iii. Most operators lack the requisite for Occupational Health and Safety requirements which are
essential areas to avoiding possible fires and explosions. Stations A, D, G and J fell between
50%–59%. The rest fell within 60%–79%.
Recommendations
Pertaining to the conclusions made above, the following are recommended:
i. All fuel stations lacking in any of the five areas of assessment especially those in the category
B per the overall ranking should be compelled by NPA and oil marketing companies to upgrade
their systems to meet grade A in order to avoid any unforeseen hazards. Also, the sponsoring
OMC must ensure that all the identified shortcomings are addressed within a period of 2
months.
ii. There should be routine safety education programmes to educate fuel station operators on the
need for safe work practices at all times at the fuel stations.
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Environmental Engineering, Vol. 6, No. 12, pp. 1103–1114.
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Petroleum Gas (LPG) Cylinders using a Suburb of Afienya Township as a Case Study”, European
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© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 12
An Evaluation of the Risk and Safety Standards of some Fuel Stations in Tarkwa Amorin and Osei
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© STM Journals 2023. All Rights Reserved 13
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