Industry sources privy to a recent DOE steering committee meeting said this call was made amid a number of LPG-related accidents which were caused by improper handling and installation of LPG and human negligence.
The said committee was responsible for the creation of the task force which is composed of DOE inspector and legal officers including representatives from non-governmental organizations.
The committee, on the other hand, is composed of DOE (as chairman) and presidents of various associations in the industry, and presidents or owners of major players and new players (as members).
The sources said the task force has informed the Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of this proposal.
For a start, the sources said the BPS/DTI has expressed keen interest on monitoring pipeline or cylinder installations in shopping malls.
They said that most of the food courts in Metro Manila-based shopping malls have been violating this provision on the guidelines or rules and regulations of LPG usage.
"We want to prevent similar incidents like that of Glorietta and Makati’s The Coffee Shop in the future," sources said.
Under the law, the LPG cylinders should be installed outside of the cooking area of the store. It should be either placed outside the building where there is an open area.
"The LPG tank should be piped in and should not be placed inside the food courts/store. These LPG tanks would be considered a bomb waiting to explode if handled improperly," the sources said, noting that most of the customers are unaware of such law.
Among the requirements that need to be enforced, the sources said, is the hiring of "qualified LPG servicemen" to undertake installations as some LPG related explosions are also attributed to improper handling and installation.
It was noted that more and more players because of cost cutting are resorting to backyard repairing and welding of LPG tanks; and hiring of unqualified repairmen to comply with requirements of requalification and proper identification such as nameplating/embossing, etc.), making the market really unsafe.