Basic Safety

Safety is of paramount importance to BOC. It is the company's highest priority to ensure a safe working environment for both our employees and yours. We are also dedicated to making sure the products we supply to our customers have undergone rigorous safety and quality checks at each stage in their manufacture.

Fire and explosion risk

Some materials which do not normally burn in air will burn in an atmosphere of oxygen, nitrous oxide or gas mixtures containing more than 21% oxygen. These gases do not burn themselves, but strongly support combustion, and therefore special attention should be directed to the hazards associated with smoking and naked flames. When using medical gas cylinders it is most important that no part of the cylinder valve or equipment is either lubricated or contaminated with oil or grease. This is due to the risk of spontaneous combustion that can occur with high pressure gases in the presence of hydrocarbons. Special care is needed with the use of handcreams as these could provide sufficient contamination to the medical cylinder valve surface when handling the cylinder to cause an ignition when the valve is turned on.

Health and safety at work

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, it is the responsibility of employers to train their employees on the recommended safeguards relating to products and equipment used at work. BOC have published this information to guide customers and employees to enable them, when handling medical gas cylinders, to be as safe as is reasonably practicable. Specific gas safety requirements are contained in Medical Gas Data Sheets which should be read in conjunction.