EIGA Newsletter

December 2022

Global update

Global harmonisation on hydrogen

How to manage the tsunami of activities around hydrogen safety and standardisation ?

Surely you have seen the hydrogen key topic on our website. But what’s happening in the other global regions and is this all coordinated and aligned within our industry.

AIGA, CGA, EIGA and JIMGA launch the Hydrogen Safety Ecosystem

H2safety.info is a global web-platform centralising hydrogen safety standards and publications for easy access.

Hydrogen use is widely expected to grow drastically, in particular as it has the potential to decarbonize our society and avoid further global warming. We witness daily new investments in hydrogen production and applications.

Global IHC meeting in Brussels

The International Harmonisation Council (IHC) manages the global harmonisation of industry standards.

The IHC consists of representatives from the European Industrial Gases Association (EIGA), the Asia Industrial Gases Association (AIGA), the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) and the Japan Industrial and Medical Gases Association (JIMGA).

New publications

DOC 123 / 22 - Code of Practice - Acetylene

The purpose of the publication is to provide a comprehensive guide to acetylene that can be used with other documents such as European Standards, company standards and equipment instructions to assist those involved with all aspects of acetylene.

DOC 238 / 22 - Prevention of Plant Instrument and Utility Gas System Cross Contamination

This publication applies to HYCO plants and provides design and safeguards requirements of utility and instrument gas systems. It identifies the potential hazards resulting from the connections between gases, instrument gases, and the process.

SI 45 / 22 - Risk of Instant Flash Fire during Cylinder Maintenance

Several incidents have recently been reported to EIGA that have highlighted the importance to conduct appropriate risk analysis for the process of cleaning cylinder neck threads and to take appropriate precautions. Be aware that cleaning by using a fast-rotating iron brush will most likely induce enough ignition power to initialise an instant flash fire in an oxidising atmosphere

SL 9 / 22 - Safe Transport of Dry Ice - Safety Hazards

Every year many incidents occur during transportation of Dry Ice (solid carbon dioxide) in inappropriate vehicles. Unfortunately, this frequently results in severe incidents. Many of these could have been avoided if basic safety rules had been followed.
EIGA has developed a serious of publications aimed at helping customers to transport gases and Dry Ice more safely in "non dedicated" vehicles.
This Safety Leaflet is intended to be shared with customers collecting Dry Ice packages from sites or retail centres. The leaflets explain the safety hazards and then describe the basic precautions to be taken to stay safe.

TB 15 / 22 - Energy Efficiency: Compliance with Legal Requirements and Best Practices

EIGA has compiled this Technical Bulletin to give information to EIGA members, on the legal requirements and best practices for energy efficiency in order to comply and reduce energy consumption and energy wastage. Energy efficiency is one of the main targets of emissions trading schemes. Reducing energy intensity not only improves the competitiveness of the economy, it is a very effective way for ensuring reliable energy supplies and promoting market development of highly energy-efficient technologies. Therefore energy is a priority issue within the European Union which has developed a common energy and climate policy. EIGA member companies should make sure that they comply with all regulatory demands on energy efficiency, including the requirement for energy audit under EED which must be completed before 5th December 2015 and should consider best practice techniques to improve and manage energy efficiency.

TP INC 47/22 - Recent Incidents in the Industrial and Medical Gases Industry (SAC 171)

At each meeting of the EIGA Safety Advisory Council (SAC), the members exchange information on gas industry related incidents (accidents causing injuries, property or environmental damage and near-misses). SAC discusses and analyses these incidents. This information is used by SAC to determine the priorities for safety alerts, safety information, new and revised documents, campaigns etc.
In this Awareness Package are the summaries and photographs of recent incidents discussed at SAC.

This publication can be viewed or downloaded on the EIGA Website (restricted to EIGA Members only);