Health & safety bulletin
Sharing Lesson Learnt - Mobile Phone On Forecourt
27th May 2010
Gigi Petane (an Xmo site surveyor) has reported a potential incident that he feels others can learn from and has agreed to me sharing.
Usually, when surveying a site, he leaves his mobile phone in the car, but on this occasion had been distracted and had put it in his pocket (with no intention of using it).
He put on his PPE, signed into the site, completed his safety documentation and started the survey. Whilst on the forecourt the phone rang in his pocket, causing a distraction which resulted in him making a decision to walk off the forecourt and answer the phone in a safe area away from the fuel vapours. Whilst there is a huge debate as to whether mobile phones actually cause a potential sparking hazard, what isn't in doubt is the fact that they cause distraction and can cause the operator to take their eye-off the site hazards (moving traffic in particular). In this case Gigi accepts that he was keen to get off the site and not miss the call, although his actions didn't cause any danger (on this occasion).
I applaud the fact that this incident was shared and not hidden, but note that Xmo Strata site rules strictly prohibit mobile phones being taken onto any petrol filling station.
Supervisors will be asked to use this as a toolbox talk to reinforce the issue.