It has been reported this month that poor safety practices from a cook caused a series of explosions while he was refuelling a petrol generator in his kebab van. Diners in the early hours fled for their lives as the blasts sent flames shooting out across the road. One customer became engulfed by the fire as he attempted to turn off the gas in the back of the vehicle. CCTV footage of the accident shows the man running away from the van with his right leg on fire.
The van's owner Hakan Durmaz admitted two contraventions of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and to operating outside his licensed hours. He was fined a total of £3,800 at Lewes Magistrates' Court. The court heard how the fire broke out at the Cross Kebabs van in Crowborough town centre shortly after 3am on New Years Day. When it spread to the petrol generator it sparked explosions that propelled flames across the A26. HSE investigators said that Durmaz had failed to take the necessary precautions while filling the generator which powered the van and that the fire could easily have killed someone.
The district council's senior health and safety officer Robert Mann said it was not known exactly what ignited the petrol fumes, but poor safety practices were to blame. "This incident underpins the absolute necessity for all operators to be competent in their safe handling and use of pressurised gas cylinders and to adopt robust safety procedures." In light of the incident, health and safety inspectors from the council have mounted a campaign to remind mobile traders of the risks involved when using, handling and storing bottled gas.
