Risk news

The idea that using a mobile phone in or around a petrol station forecourt can cause an explosion is an urban myth fuelled by excessive fears over safety, according to a leading sociologist.

According to a paper to be presented later this week the commonly held belief that a spark from a phone could ignite petrol fumes is nothing but a myth. The "phantom risk" has been created through a heady mix of rumour spread by the internet, word of mouth and excessive concerns over safety.

Dr Adam Burgess, of the University of Kent, will tell the annual conference of the British Sociological Association that not one of the 243 petrol station fires attributed to mobiles worldwide in 11 years was actually the result of such a spark.

Instead, many were found on investigation by BP's fire safety officer Richard Coates to have been caused by the discharge of static electricity from the body igniting fumes, according to Dr Burgess.

"The petrol station/mobile phone story crosses into the realm of rumour and urban legend," claimed Dr Burgess, whose principal research interest is risk and perception of risk.

"It's properly groundless, a story of health and safety gone mad. Even on an oil rig the only real reason not to use a mobile is because of the issue of distraction."

'Precautionary response'
Forecourt bans on mobiles were first introduced in the aftermath of the Piper Alpha tragedy of 1988, according to Dr Burgess, where 167 men died off the coast of Scotland after the explosion of a gas processor on an oil and gas production platform.

He claimed that the event gave "shape and momentum"' to the drive towards ever-greater safety. "It was possible in this climate of systematic risk reduction for the restriction on cell phone usage to be introduced without any challenge,'' he said.

"The ban was not based upon any scientific research, but a relatively instinctive precautionary response from those charged with responsibility for safety at British service stations."

When mobile phone manufacturers printed warnings in their manuals not to use their devices at petrol stations because of the risk of fire, the idea was given further credence, and has since proved hard to dispel despite recent research showing "there is nothing to worry about".

'Bogus' incidents
Dr Burgess said that in the UK there was now "official acknowledgement" of the lack of evidence, and the principle issue against using phones on the forecourt was that it might distract the customer. Despite this, confusion and misunderstanding prevailed.

"There appears to be no desire on the part of oil companies or UK safety officers to clarify the issue," he complained. "In practice the restriction continues to be enforced on the basis that there is something inherently dangerous about the cell phone in such an environment."

In 2002, Norwich Union Risk Services carried out an investigation into reports in a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) local authority newsletter, highlighting three incidents involving mobile phones and the ignition of petrol fumes on garage forecourts.

At the time, Shell, the company named by the HSE, told us that they were "not aware of any incidents of the type reported".

Also, a spokesman for mobile manufacturer Ericsson told us that mobile phone handbook warnings "were purely there for legal reasons" and that company engineers had given assurances that there was nothing in any modern mobile phone that could possibly ignite petrol fumes, whether it was in use or simply ringing.

The only theoretical danger was that if someone "dropped their phone and the battery came away and there was still some charged connection" creating the "minor possibility of a spark," he said.