Annual Report on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
Related Accidents(2012014 version)
ersion)The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan (KHK)1. Introduction
This Annual Report contains accidents that occurred in 2014 related to facilities for supplies and consumptions ofLPG at home or on business, which are regulated by the Act on the Securing of Safety and the Optimization ofTransaction of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (hereinafter, the “LPG Act”). This report also contains analyses the data ofthe accidents in 2014 by comparing with those in the last nine years (2005 to 2013).

2. Definitions
2.1 Definition of accidents(1) LPG accidents[1] Leakage

A case in which liquefied petroleum gas (hereinafter, “LPG”) leaked, but it did
not catch fire and cause human damages such as poisoning and asphyxiation.
However, in this report, leakage of a very little amount of LPG from joints aslittle as soap bubbles formed when those of threaded parts or rubber tubes are
soaked by soap water is excluded.

[2] Leakage andexplosion

Cases in which LPG leaked, and it resulted in an explosion or a fire caused by
the explosion, as follows.
A. Leakage and explosion, when the explosion resulted from leaked gas only.
B. Leakage, explosion and fire, when a fire broke out following explosion
caused by leaked gas.

[3] Leakage andfire

A case in which a fire that is not limited to that recognized as a fire by the fire
department resulted from leakage of LPG excluding those covered by [2]above. Here, a fire without leakage, which is caused by the overheating or thefailure of LPG appliances including their accessories or by spreading of flames
from a cooking oven, grill, etc., is not classified as a LPG accident.

[4] Poisoning andasphyxiation

A case in which human damages of CO poisoning and asphyxiation arecaused due to incomplete combustion, leakage of LPG, or leakage of exhaustgas from exhaust pipes, etc., at LPG consumption facilities.

(2) Other accidents (not classified as LPG accidents)[1] Accidents caused by suicide, damage by intention, mischief, theft, or other similar causes[2] Accidents resulting from a natural disasterExample)

Accidents caused by facilities’ damages resulting from collapse of houses due
to earthquakeExample)

Accidents caused by facilities’ damages resulting from flood and landslide

Even if accidents are resulted from natural disasters, however, those caused by defects in
toppling prevention measures, fallen snow prevention measures (snow shelters, protectiveboards), or other insufficiencies in safety measures, are classified as LPG accidents.
[3] Accidents involving portable cooking stoves and gas cartridges[4] Other accidents not categorized in the LPG accidents of (1) above
2.2 Classification of human damages
Classified as follows according to the level of damage.
Death:

when a person was confirmed to have died within about five days from thetime of accident

Seriously injured: when a person suffered an injury at the time of accident that took 30 days ormore for full recovery
Slightly injured:

when a person suffered an injury at the time of accident that took less than 30days for full recovery

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3. LPG accidents
ccidents
3.1 Occurrences of accidents in the past

It is noted a characteristic of accidents data inJapan that the number of leakage of gas,gas
which has not caught a fire and caused nocasualties due to poisoning or asphyxiation,asphyxiation iscounted as a LPG accident.

Figure 1: Accident occurrences and casualties by year

Table 1: Change in the number of aaccidents
ccidents and casualties by year
Year
Number of accidents
Rate to the previous year

Number of deaths
Number of injuries

1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
167 112 170 217 217 299 368 540 497 581 638 570 793 761 714 570 559 545 496 515 401 390 306 262 194 146 112
82
88 1016875797887
90 120 105 105 219 239 234 185 204 227 260 210 185
34 ▲3352
28038
2347 ▲81710 ▲1128 ▲4 ▲6 ▲20 ▲2 ▲3 ▲94 ▲22 ▲3 ▲22 ▲14 ▲26 ▲25 ▲23 ▲27715 ▲33
105 ▲212333 ▲130 109
9 ▲2 ▲2110
1115 ▲19 ▲1233
3869
4433
52597440655672636050
4351363542293736271331731214695824721044451131271 146 236 283 301 398 389 679 543 523 684 640 825 758 723 650 645 529 550 477 381 336 327 233 171 162 135
8266736964868858789879 1488380 109648388855276

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Figure 1 shows the number of accidents that occurred between 1967 and 2014 and the resulting
casualties. Looking at the data by decade, the number of accidents increased gradually during the 1960s
along with the increase in LPG consumption and diversification of users.
In the 1970s, the number of accidents continued increasing along with the number of households using
LPG and reached a peak in 1979 with 793 accidents, causing 63 casualties. This was the year thatmarked the highest number of casualties, at a level similar to that of 1974.
Soon after entering the 1980s, a large-scale city gas explosion took place that resulted in enormous
human damages marked by 15 deaths and 222 seriously and slightly injured persons. The number ofaccidents was 761 that year. The number of accidents peaked out this year and started showing adownward tendency, reducing greatly to 570 in 1982.
Thereafter, the number of accidents continued declining linearly from the late 1980s, falling below 100 in
1994, to 82.
The year 1997 saw the lowest number of accidents (68) since enactment of the LPG Act. In the 2000s,
the number of accidents remained above 100 until 2014, although the number of deaths has been on thedecrease.

3.2 Accident situations by phenomenon
Looking at the accident situations by phenomenon that occurred in 2014, the number of leakage-onlyaccidents that did not start fire or explosion were more than half of total accidents. The number ofleakage-only accidents was 96, showing a decrease of 17 from the previous year. The number of leakage
and explosion (fire) accidents was 59, showing a increase of 11 from the previous year. The numbers ofaccidents by phenomenon in the past decade are shown below.
Table2: Number of accidents by phenomenon

Leakage
Leakage andexplosion (Fire)
Leakage and fire
(Excluding explosion)
CO poisoning andasphyxiation
Total

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

46

137

113

115

8476

116

160

113

96

46

70

64

53

45

60

55

484859265160

4260

454443271161161481186

3

105

219

239

234

185

204

227

260

210

185

4. Analysis of accident situations
The following kinds of LPG accidents that have occurred frequently were analyzed.
(1) CO poisoning accidents
As shown in Table 3 and Figure 2, three CO poisoning accidents occurred in 2014, showing adecrease of one from the previous year. One of three was Class B accidents, showing a decrease of
one from the previous year. The breakdown of four accidents is shown below.
[1] Accident caused by indoor installation of an outdoor tankless water heater[2] Accident caused by indoor installation of an outdoor bath heater[3] Accident caused by use of commercial oven in an unventilated kitchen

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Incidentally, the reason why the number of casualties increased to 88 in 2009 was attributed to thelarge number of casualties per accident in 2013.

Table 3: Number of CO poisoning accidents (excluding asphyxiation) by year and casualties
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of Accidents

10511614810843Of the above, the number ofClass B or highr class accidents

1032633221

Number of deaths

1022331121

Number of injuries

221329885

1632

37

44Of the above, the number ofClass B or highr class accidents

00

9065

71623

10

Figure2 : Number of CO poisoning accidents by year and casualties(2) Buried pipes accidents
The pipes that are installed between LPG cylinderss and a gas meter are called supply pipes, and areinstalled between a gas meter and consumption devices like heaters are called distribution pipes inJapanJapan. Pipes
es are installed on the ground or underground. The number of supply pipe accidents isgreater than distribution pipe accidents.
Table 4 and Figure 3 show that 26 accidents involving buried pipes took place in 2014, ann increaseof on
one from the previous year. 21 out of 2
26 accidents involved supply pipes, in which one accidents
were increased from the previous year, and the other five accidents involved distribution pipes, inwhich resulting the same number as the previous year. Then no accident of Class B occurred.
occurred

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Causes of accidents include damages in 16 accidents (supply pipes in 13 accidents and distribution
pipes in three accidents) and deterioration
deterioration due to corrosion in eight accidents (supply pipes in six
accidents and distribution pipes in two accidents).

Table 4: Number of buried pipe
pipes accidents by year and casualties
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of Accidents

12172131241818162526

Of the above, the number ofClass B or highr class accidents

0100000010

Number of deaths

0000000010

Number of injuries

6312020020

Of the above, the number ofClass B or highr class accidents

0200000000Figure 3: Number of buried pipes accidents by year and casualties(3) Bulk supply accidents
In 201
2014, 11 accidents involving bulk supply (supply facilities only) occurred, showing a decrease
crease offive from the previous year. The main accidents were as follows.
*Bulk supply refers to supply of liquefied petroleum gas into bulk storage tanks from portable LPG
generators (bulk tank trucks).
). See Figure 4
4.
[1] Damages caused by snow (four(accidents)[2] Gas leakage from liquid outlet valve (four accidents)

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Figure 4: Bulk supply system
Protector

Regulator
Release valve
Liquid inlet valve

Gas outletvalve

Safety valve

Liquid outlet valve

Level gauge

Filling port

Figure 5: Bulk storage tank5.

Accident classification

When an accident occurs, it is classified as follows according to the degree of loss.
Contents of loss

Class A(1) Deaths

5 or more(2) Deaths plus serious injuries

10 or more

(3) Casualties (death plus injury) 30 or more
(4) Direct property damage

200 million yen or more

(5) Any accident affecting the public, or which could have developed into a large scale disasterClass B

(1) Deaths

1 to 4(2) Serious injuries

2 to 9(3) Casualties (injury)

6 to 29(4) Direct property damage

200 million yen or more

(5) Accidents repeatedly occurring at the same works(6) Any accident affecting the public, or which could have developed into a large scale of disaster.
Class C

Other than Classes A and B

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＜Contact for inquiries related to this document＞

The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan (KHK)
Information Services & Research Department
International Affairs Office
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

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