Safety is not in the nature of some of us.  If it is not a bread and butter issue, it is not something that our sub conscious mind would look out for.

So, I have been wondering lately why even though at almost every fuel pump, the sign against the use of mobile phones are conspicuously displayed, people continue to defy the order and go ahead and use their mobile phones while their vehicles are being refilled.  Is it the “well, it can never happen to me” syndrome that seems to have engrossed us as a people that make us approach safety issues with so much passivity?

A couple of weeks back; someone shared with me one of those widely circulated messages on the internet.  The message warned mobile phone users to desist from using their mobile phones when at fuel stations.  

According to the e-mail message, the use of mobile phones while filling up at a petrol pump could be a potential cause of an explosion.

I recall that this was not the first time I was receiving such circulated messages on the internet.  The first one I received about eight years ago cited the case of a young man whose phone ignited at a New York gas station where he had gone to refill his vehicle.  The message went on to say that the man received some burns on his face and part of his vehicle was also damaged.

At my former place of work, we used the message in that circulated e-mail and others on the use of mobile phones as discussion topics at one of our normal weekly departmental safety meetings.  A lot of valuable lessons were learnt.

As a conformist , therefore, even before these forwarded messages made their rounds, I have always taken such signs or instructions as are found at sensitive places like fuel pumps, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) stations, in an aircraft and the like, very serious.  I do make it a point to conform.  When travelling for example, I ensure my mobile phone devices are turned off at the last gate and even before boarding the aircraft. 

It is irritating to see people holding on to their mobile phones and making conversations  sometimes just to tell the person at the other end,  “we are now taxiing, getting ready to take off”,  even though the captain would have asked all such devices to be switched off and ready for takeoff.

Similarly, at petrol and LPG stations, despite the bold instructions which even the most illiterate driver can discern that the sign of a mobile phone with a red slash boldly across it means do not use mobile applications here, people are simply not conforming.  Painfully, the recalcitrant ones are found busy making or receiving calls irrespective.  Station attendants are just as guilty.  I have had occasions to remind a couple of flouting their own “Don’ts”.

As I dutifully shared last fortnight’s circulated e-mail message with some people on my contact list, they also must have forwarded my message in ditto to their contacts.  One response that came through from one of them was that there was no scientific basis for anyone to claim that mobile phones pose any danger at fuel pumps. 

He probably must have been a scientist for he explained that sparks from a mobile phone battery could not ignite petrol or gas vapours from the nozzle of the pump during their discharge into a vehicle or a gas cylinder.

There might not be any scientific basis and there might never have been any instances or incidents in the world to conclude that mobile phone usage at a fuel pump sparked off fire.  However, does it hurt anyone to desist from using their mobile phones for just ten minutes or less when their vehicles or gas cylinders are being filled up and at a time they have had their vehicle engines completely switched off?

I believe in the saying that when in doubt, it is always safe to err on the side of caution.   The petrol and LPG stations are no doubt doing the right thing by continuing to display warnings of no mobile usage at their petrol and gas filling stations.  They have a duty to protect themselves and their customers.  It is only right that they make people feel safer while on their premises.

The fact that my house has never caught fire does not mean that I should not install smoke detectors, fire alarms or fire extinguishers.  It does not also mean that I should not take up a fire insurance policy.  Taking precautionary measures and having that inner satisfaction that you are safe at a particular place should not be subjected to scientific proof or even second guessing.

Fuel and gas stations should continue to create that awareness for their customers and ensure that people do not flout their instructions as safety is an essential commodity in their line of business.  Their own attendants also need strict schooling.  They do forget sometimes too.