Annual Report for Fiscal 2015
(April 1, 2015 - March 31, 2016)

The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan (KHK)1. Business Environment and Overview of Operations
While the Japanese economy in fiscal 2015 saw

situation around industrial safety and technologicalcontinuous improvement in employment and income

advances and alterations of market and international

environments driven by the impact of an oil pricetides, holding discussions on smartification of safety

decline and the effects of various policies, and there

regulations in the Industrial Safety Committee of thewas a gradual trend toward economic recovery, theIndustrial

business downturn in the Asian emerging nations,establishment of new systems, including the newincluding China and resource-rich countries, wasaccredited facility system and the fast track system,

causing the risk of depressing the Japanese economy.

about which an intermediate report was compiled in

Structure

Council,andconsidering

Enjoying the continuing upward momentum of the

March 2016.

national economy from fiscal 2014, the industrial

In such circumstances, the business environment ofareas of high pressure gas showed a rallying trend of

KHK remained strong or turned up with the firm

equipment investment. In addition, the provision ofbusiness of equipment inspections the same as inhydrogen stations went forward throughout the

fiscal 2014 and the increase in applicants of thecountry, and the actions to realize a hydrogen society

statutory training and the National Examinations

progressed steadily. Meanwhile, the field of safety

associated with the revision of the Fluorocarbons

regulations intended evolution of the system capable

Emission Control Law, accordingly ensuring a goodof taking rapid, flexible actions in an effective andbalance in the accounts.

efficient manner to respond to changes in the

2. Overview of Financial Statements for Fiscal 2015
2) Statement of Profit and Loss
(April 1, 2015 - March 31, 2016)

1) Balance Sheet(As of March 31, 2016)
AssetsCurrent assets
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
Intangible fixed assets
Investments
Total

Liabilities/Capital
Current liabilities
Fixed liabilities
Reserve
Profit for the term
Total

1

2015

2014

Million Yen

Million Yen

1,639
6,275
640
171
5,465
7,914

2,016
6,018
445
208
5,365
8,034

Ordinary expenditure
Operating expenditure
Extraordinary loss
Corporate taxes, etc.
Profit for the term
Total

Income2015

2014

Million Yen

Million Yen

1,138
2,553
4,223
248
7,914

1,024
3,035
3,974
2
8,034

Expenditure

Ordinary income
Operating income
Non-operating income
Extraordinary income
Total

2015

2014

Million Yen

Million Yen

4,576
4,576
84
0
24
4,909

4,875
4,875
0
0
2
4,877

2015

2014

Million Yen

Million Yen

4,582
4,466
116
327
4,909

4,875
4,750
125
2
4,877

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan3. Overview of Each Activity
1) Development and Issue of Technical Standards
To promote safety in activities involving highpressure gas production, sale, consumption, andtransportation, KHK establishes technical standards
such as KHK Standards (KHKS) as well as reviews
existing standards.

Committee organizations undertaking the
preparation of technical standards are as follows:

Fitness for Service Standards Committee

LPG Standards Committee

Technical Committee

Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning
Standards Committee

The High Pressure Gas
Safety Institute of Japan
High Pressure Gas Standards Committee

Transportable Container Standards
Committee

Pressure Vessel Standards Committee

Each committee consists of committee members
appointed from among experts who have relevant
knowledge and experience in high pressure gas or
LPG safety.
In response to requests from the president of KHK,
the technical committee decides basic policies forestablishing the technical standards.
The technical standards are then established by eachstandards committee section in accordance with thebasic policies, and the development and issue
procedures maintain fairness and openness as thefundamental rule.
During fiscal 2015, the following standards wererevised or abolished.
① Revised Technical Standards
・ Standard for Aluminum Alloy Liner/Carbon
Fiber General Composite Cylinders(KHKS0121)
・ Standard for Rubber Cap as Indoor Gas Plug for
LPG (KHKS0712)
・ Standard for Pressure Chart Recorders for LPG

2(KHKS0713)
・ Standard for Regulators for LPG (KHKS0735)
・ Standard for High Pressure Hoses for LPG(KHKS0736)
・ Standard for Automatic Gas Shutoff Devices(Diaphragm Meters) based on
Microcomputer-based Flow Rate Detection for
LPG (KHKS0737)
・ Standard for Automatic Gas Shutoff Devices(Ultrasonic Meters) based on
Microcomputer-based Flow Rate Detection for
LPG (KHKS0741)
・ Standard for Automatic Gas Shutoff Devices(Ultrasonic Meters) based on
Microcomputer-based Flow Rate Detection for
LPG (KHKS0743)
・ Standard for Bulk Storage Tank Transport of
LPG (KHKS0840)② Abolished Technical Standards
・ Standard for Class I Designated Equipment(KHKS0223)

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan2) Inspection, Examination and Accreditation① Inspections for Pressure Equipment
The High Pressure Gas Safety Act stipulates that theperson who has manufactured/ imported a containeror accessory shall apply for the Container/Accessory
Inspection. We at KHK conduct these inspections.
In addition, for preventing explosions or otheraccidents, the act defines "equipment for highpressure gas production (including storage tanks)“which particularly requires “inspections of its
design, material quality, and the process of its
manufacturing", as "Designated Equipment." KHK
undertakes mandatory inspections of such DesignatedEquipment at each manufacturing process.
KHK undertakes technical assessments in advanceto obtain Ministerial special approval, and also offers
services for certification and examination as a part ofits optional activities.
In fiscal 2015, the number of application forinspection of containers decreased by 0.6% and thatof accessory equipment decreased by 2.2% comparedto the previous fiscal year respectively. And thenumber of application for inspection of designatedequipment decreased by 4.0%, while the number ofapplication for high pressure gas equipment test
decreased by 6.8%, compared to the previous fiscal
year respectively.

Number of Container/Accessory inspections② Pre-Assessment of Accredited Completion/
Safety Inspection Executor
This pre-assessment undertaken by KHK is part ofthe statutory service related to the Ministerial
approval of accredited completion inspection
executor and safety inspection executor.
Class 1 high pressure gas producers who obtained
Ministerial approval as a result of this pre-assessment
can replace completion inspections or safety
inspections that are conducted by prefectural or
municipal governments with self–inspections by theapproved producers themselves. When the
self-inspections are conducted, the results shall be
submitted to jurisdictional prefectural or municipal
governments.
Number of pre-assessments
2015

2014

Accredited completion
inspection executor

20

18

Accredited safety inspection
executor

26

20

Number of Designated Equipment Inspections

3

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan

③ Safety Inspections of Refrigeration and
Air-Conditioning Facilities

inspectors of facilities designed to consume LPG.
The total number of applicants for suchexaminations in fiscal 2015 was 62,332, which was
an increase of 6.8% compared to 58,365 from theprevious fiscal year.

The number of inspections of refrigeration andair-conditioning facilities undertaken by KHK
2015Completion inspection ofrefrigeration andair-conditioning facilities
Safety inspection ofrefrigeration andair-conditioning facilities
Approval of specified
equipment (refrigerationequipment)
Transfer of specified
equipment (refrigerationequipment)
Testing of refrigeration
apparatus
Design strength verification
test, etc.

2014

80

57

2,065

1,877

181

150

5

1

190

274

186

233
Number of applicants for statutory training

3) Education① Statutory Training
By the High Pressure Gas Safety Act, high pressure
gas producers are required to establish a safety
management team consisting of members with adesignated high pressure gas production safety
management certificate, depending on the type andscale of processing equipment and the type andvolume of gas produced. To train certified personnel,
KHK offers lectures on each certificate type, andretraining for existing members of safety
management teams.
In addition, KHK also provides training courses forthe following certificates: high pressure gas sales
safety chiefs required at specified high pressure gas
dealers, transportation supervisors required fortransportation of specified amount of specified highpressure gas, and specific high pressure gas operation
safety chiefs required for storage and consumption of
specified high pressure gas beyond the designatedcapacity.
As for the LPG Law-related activities, KHK offers
the following courses: training and retraining of LPG
installation engineers for LPG piping facilities used
for general consumption, retraining of retail operation
chiefs, training and retraining of LPG filling
operators, as well as training of safety operators and4

Among the statutory training, while there was aincrease in the number of the qualification training
from 43,554 in fiscal 2014 to 45,284, the number ofapplicants for the re-training (compulsory training)
decreased from 47,477 to 32,001 in fiscal 2015 andthe total number of applicants of the statutory training
also decreased from 91,031 to 77,285.
② Other Trainings
During fiscal 2015, KHK held periodical seminars
including basic lectures on high pressure gas safety(16 types at 50 locations), and organized 11 on-site
lectures on voluntary safety activities depending on
the needs of each business facility.
③ Publications
KHK publishes books related to high pressure gas
safety such as high pressure gas safety act, technicalstandards, and textbooks for training. During fiscal
2015, KHK published 138 types of books, accounting
for a total of 156,539.

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan4) Qualifying Examination
The High Pressure Gas Safety Act and LPG Law
stipulates that the Minister of Economy, Trade andIndustry or prefectural governors must be responsible
for conducting the high pressure gas production
safety management examination, the high pressure
gas sales safety chief examination, and the LPG
installation engineer examination, depending on theclassification of examinations.
However, the actual implementation of suchexaminations was transferred to KHK from the
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry andprefectural governors.
The total number of applicants for suchexaminations in fiscal 2015 was 62,332, which was
an increase of 6.8% compared to 58,365 from theprevious fiscal year.

“Investigation and Research on Fuel Cell Vehicles
and the Optimization of Domestic Regulations andInternational Harmonization and Standardization of
Hydrogen Supply Infrastructure”①

Research and Development on the
Diversification of the Types of Metal Materials
for Hydrogen Fueling Stations
In preparation for the advent of the hydrogensociety, it is intended to build up an environment,
which will allow the selection of reasonable, easy andconvenient materials at temperatures and pressuresdesired for the construction of a hydrogen station,and gain experience by practice. It is also aimed to
study and determine the criteria to evaluate
availability of materials in hydrogen stations,
including test types, conditions, evaluation methods
and the like, and standardize these techniques andwiden the range of usable materials.
②

Number of applicants for qualifying examinations

5) Research and Development
The Research and Development Center at KHK
owns testing machines such as tensile/fatigue tests ofmaterials, as well as hydraulic fatigue/explosion tests
of pressure equipment including transportablecontainers, undertaking research and development toenhance high pressure gas safety. In addition, KHK
are working on researches commissioned by thegovernment and incorporated administrative
agencies.
In fiscal 2015, KHK conducted four researches
commissioned by the Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry as well as by the New Energy andIndustrial Technology Development Organization(NEDO). The following is the overview of theresearch commissioned by NEDO.

5

Research and Development on theStandardization of Composite Cylinders andTubes for Stationary Storage
In the testing of composite cylinders and tubes
which are used in hydrogen stations, there is a big
gap between an ambient temperature pressure cycling
test, one of the evaluation methods, and actual use
conditions. A further sophistication of the evaluation
methods, including the fatigue design of composite
cylinders and tubes, is desired. Under thecircumstances, it is aimed to improve and sophisticate(1) the evaluation techniques of Composite Cylinders
and Tubes for Stationary Storage, (2) the evaluation
techniques of CFRP, (3) the fatigue design methodsof Composite Cylinders and Tubes for Stationary
Storage and (4) the safety inspection techniques ofcomposite cylinders and tubes, in order to contributeto the research and development for the
standardization of composite cylinders and tubes forhydrogen stations.

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan6) Measures to Promote LPG Consumer Safety① Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Commission
The commission operates with contributions from17 LPG-related organizations and KHK. In
partnership with the Gas Safety Office at METI
Commerce, Distribution and Industrial Safety PolicyGroup, the commission performed the following
safety campaigns during fiscal 2015.
 LPG Consumer Safety Campaign
Prepared and distributed LPG safety guides andposters, and advertised in magazines, while provided
assistance to safety activities undertaken by
prefectural LPG associations.
 LPG Consumer Safety Promotion Conference
At the event, the commission offeredcommendations for LPG retailers and related
operators (including individuals) with the ‘METI
Minister's Secretariat, Director-General forCommerce, Distribution and Industrial Safety PolicyAward,' 'KHK President's Award,' and 'Liquefied
Petroleum Gas Safety Commission President's
Award,' respectively.
② Examination
During fiscal 2015, the following examination
activities were undertaken.
Examination activities
2015

2014

LPG leak alarm
examination

2,730,252

2,826,648

LPG incomplete
combustion alarm
examination

26,18328,510LPG sensor
examination

2,510

2,130

7) Collection and Offering of Information,
Technical Exchanges① Collection of Accident Information
Acting on a commission by METI, KHK compiles a
database of high pressure gas and LPG-related
accidents and conduct a statistical analysis. Seereference at the end of this brochure.

6②Organization of Various Conferences andConventions
The notable conferences and conventions KHK
organized during fiscal 2015 includes the following: Grand Conference of National Association ofGeneral High Pressure Gas Safety
Organizations (Tokyo, July 2015)
The conference was organized for the purpose of
fostering cooperation and discussions among generalhigh pressure gas safety organizations established in
prefectures. KHK acted as the administrative
department for the conference.
 Seminar on Lessons from Accidents and Safety
Management Technology (Tokyo and Osaka,
July and August 2015)< Part of Safety Management Technology >This seminar is for the accredited completion andsafety inspection executors and the personnel of threemanagement divisions (equipment, operation, andsafety), including those at headquarters managementlevel, of high pressure gas producers at industrial
complexes, and it is organized to provide a place of
information provision, information exchange, anddiscussions related to high pressure gas producing
equipment, their operations, and safety management
activities.
< Part of Lessons from Accidents and Safety
Measures >The high pressure gas producers that actually caused
accidents explained their experience andpost-accident efforts on safety measures so thatseminar participants could make use of theinformation that would be helpful for their futurevoluntary safety activities, including lessons from
accidents and preventive measures.
 National Conference of High Pressure Gas
Safety (Tokyo, October 2015)
The conference, which takes place every October, isorganized as a part of the annual high pressure gas
safety promotion week, hosted by METI in
conjunction with KHK. Each year, top-rated plants ofsafety, persons who have rendered distinguishedsafety service and excellent production safety
managers are awarded in honor of their continuing
hard work, support, and resulting outcomes inpreventing high pressure gas-related accidents.

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of JapanHigh Pressure Gas Equipment Manager
Meeting (Tokyo, October 2015)
The meeting is organized annually for the purposeof informing high pressure gas equipment personnel(applicants for Designated Equipment Inspection) ofquestion and answers about material, design,
welding, and structure-related issues in order toachieve consistent applications across varying issues.
 General Research Presentation (Tokyo,
November 2015)
The presentation is hosted annually to disseminate
information on the findings from the investigative
research undertaken by the Research andDevelopment Center at KHK.

② Assessment and Registration of Environmental
Management Systems
For assessment and registration of environmental
management systems (ISO14001), the center became
a JAB- accredited certification body in 1996, and asof the end of fiscal 2015, it operates registration
screenings in 34 out of 39 JAB-accredited classes(class 1-39).
As of the end of fiscal 2015, the accumulated
registered number (including 399 registration
withdrawals) stands at 966. The number ofregistrations stands at 567 in fiscal 2015.

③ International Technical Exchange
KHK sends a delegate to the boiler and pressure
vessel standards committee and the post-construction
standards committee of the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and also has
established good relations with Korea Gas Safety
Corporation and Industrial Safety and Health
Association of the R.O.C.
Change in the total number of registrations (Quality
and Environment)
8) Assessment and Registration System① Assessment and Registration of Quality
Management Systems
Since being accredited by the Japan Accreditation
Board (JAB) as a quality management system
certification body in 1994, KHK ISO Registration
Center (KHK-ISO Center) handles registration ofquality management systems for operators inaccordance with the ISO9000 series standards, andmanages registration and publication of registeredorganizations. As of the end of fiscal 2015, it operates
registration in 30 out of 39 class JAB accredited(class 1-39).
As of the end of fiscal 2015, the accumulated
registered number (including 877 registration
withdrawals) stands at 1,794. The number ofregistrations stands at 917 in fiscal 2015.

7③ Other Assessment and Registration
As of the end of fiscal 2015, the total number ofoccupational health and safety management system(OHSMS) registrations was 43 (including 19
withdrawals). And the total number of food safety
management system (ISO22000) registrations wasseven (including 2 registration withdrawals), the total
number of FSSC22000 series was five.

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan4. Organization
1) Organization Chart
Compliance Promotion Office
General Planning Department
Board of Councilors

General Affairs Department
Information Services & Research Department

Board of Directors
High Pressure Gas Safety Department
LPG Industrial & Consumer Safety Department

President

Inspection & Certification Department
Education & Publication Department
AuditorVice President
Examination Center
Directors

ISO Registration Center (KHK-ISO center)Research & Development Center

Seven Branch Offices* Information Service & Research Department was renamed Information & International Affairs Department
due to reorganization on April 1, 2016.

2) Membership Status
Types

8

March 31, 2016

March 31, 2015

Companies

887

900

Organizations

192

192

Individuals

95

91

Supporters

30

31

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of JapanReference: Overview of Accidents in Recent Years
Under the commission of METI, KHK records statistics of high pressure gas- and LPG-related accidents, basedon the number of reports submitted in accordance with the regulatory requirements of the High Pressure Gas
Safety Act and the LPG Law.
The number of high pressure gas-related accidents has been increasing in recent years, and 2011 in particular
saw a sharp rise in the number as a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Since the number of accidents in2015 has increased in comparison to 2014 and remained relatively high, major accidents involving explosions at
industrial complexes have occurred in recent years, and further strengthening and revisions of operations aredemanded in our aim of eliminating high pressure gas-related accidents.

Number of high pressure gas-related accidents

Similarly, the number of LPG-related accidents has remained high since 2006. Particularly, accidents involving
commercial kitchen equipment are showing an increasing trend, and a rise in the number of accidents caused bydeterioration due to corrosion or CO poisoning has also been recorded. In order to prevent such accidents fromoccurring, it is increasingly essential to provide effective information to LPG users, facility owners andpossessors.

9

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan

Number of LPG-related accidents

10

Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan

＜Contact for inquiries related to this document＞

The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan (KHK)
Information & International Affairs Department
International Affairs Division
4-3-13 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8447
TEL: +81-3-3436-2201 FAX: +81-3-3438-4163
Web: http://www.khk.or.jp/english/index.html
MAIL: oversea@khk.or.jp
Copyright© The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan