Case study: South Africa
Shell is funding an industry organisation dedicated to improving the safety of paraffin in South Africa. Each year 80,000 children ingest paraffin and 200,000 people are injured or lose property in paraffin-related fires.
The Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa (PASASA), which Shell supports along with five other oil companies, aims to halve the accidents and the effects of pollution related paraffin by 2009.
Paraffin is by far the most popular fuel for low-income families in South Africa who buy a total of around 700 million litres a year for cooking, lighting and heating. Used by more than half of all South Africans, it is inexpensive and is conveniently delivered to communities.
Care must be taken when using paraffin. It is poisonous when ingested, and highly flammable; it also contributes to indoor pollution. The majority of paraffin–related accidents involve children as they are more likely to drink paraffin thinking it is water, or be trapped in paraffin-related fires.
PASASA is running education and awareness campaigns on paraffin safety, assisting in the creation of safety standards, and introducing practical steps to reduce accidents. In a recent example, PASASA developed child-proof bottle tops that are distributed free where paraffin is sold. The bottle tops stop children mistakenly drinking the paraffin which is sold in bulk and dispensed into containers provided by customers such as soft drink, milk or liquor bottles. Selling paraffin in its own single-use packaging would make it too expensive for some customers who rely on it for household fuel.
PASASA is now lobbying for legislation to ensure that all bulk paraffin is safely packaged and sold to consumers in a variety of sizes using a deposit system to recover packaging. Research has proved that packaging dangerous substances in child-resistant containers reduces ingestion by at least 47 percent.
Related links
Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa (PASASA) - opens in new window
