;
Energy type: 
LPG
 
Event summary: 
A New Zealand appliance supplier notified WorkSafe Energy Safety of an incident where one of their canister cookers had been involved in a gas leak and explosion. It appeared that the canister had vented.
 
Accident ID: 
180921-07
 
Accident date: 
21 September 2018
 
Site: 
Domestic
 
Environment: 
Building
 
Voltage: 
N/A
 
Equipment: 
Camping cooker
 
Accident type: 
Fire and explosion
 
Casualty: 
Non-fatality
 
Injury: 
Burn
 
Property damage level: 
Restricted to the direct vicinity of the equipment
 
Outcome of investigation: 

The cooker and its canister were provided to an NZ importer of the appliance. The photos in the report provided by the appliance supplier show a CRV style canister which has vented. Venting occurs when a CRV canister is overpressured and the expanding gas physically deforms the neck of the canister. This deformation exposes holes which allow the canister to vent in a controlled manner. This is a safety design that allows the gas to vent rather than the canister rupture completely with a resulting explosion and fireball.

The physical deformation of the canister was unlikely to be due to a material fault but instead from overheating. The user was cooking on a 25 cm frying pan. Although this is within the size limit for this cooker, if it had been placed in an offset position over the canister compartment, it may be the source of the overheating.

WorkSafe Energy Safety determined that there was no further investigation required and closed the case.