I grew up, like most males my age, watching Connery and Moore on the big screen as the ladies swooned and Britain’s best secret agent used trickery, gadgets, and machismo seduction (if not harassment and assault) to save the world from the likes of SPECTRE or some other megalomaniacal billionaire with ambitions of space or using the media to misinform and bring down governments. (Of course the similarities to today’s reality are not lost on me.)

There was, and a case can be made for “is,” nobody cooler than James Bond. The fanboy in me is excited for the latest installment and the last for Daniel Craig.

Q’s gadgets have become so much a part of our shared cultural experience, that almost every father has convinced their child that at least one button in the car was for an ejector seat, machine guns, or rear rockets. I know my sons were terrified to press the hazard button for fear that their father would suddenly be ejected from the driver’s seat, leaving the car driverless speeding down the highway. In fact, and I am ashamed to admit it, more than once I motioned towards the button when their mother was driving and was forcefully chastised from the back seat jury.

Family disfunctions aside, this picture is definitely not the right DIY for creating your own rocket car!

Besides it looking like the trunk is about to shear off the cap on that cylinder when it comes crashing down, which will certainly produce enough force to rocket that cylinder through the cabin of the car and into the driver – compressed gas should NEVER be transported in the trunk of a sedan.

Here are some general precautions you should follow when transporting compressed gas:

  1. When moving cylinders, securely fasten them to a suitable cylinder transporting device. At the site, chain or otherwise secure the cylinder in place. Remove the valve cap only after the cylinder has been safely installed then check the cylinder valve and fixture. Remove any dirt or rust. Grit, dirt, oil or dirty water can cause gas leaks if they get into the cylinder valve or gas connection.
  2. Store, handle and use compressed gas cylinders securely fastened in place in the upright position. Never roll, drag, or drop cylinders or permit them to strike each other.
  3. Never roll, drag, or drop cylinders or permit them to strike each other.
  4. Never try to lift a gas cylinder by the cap. Instead, use a Cylinder Transporter designed specifically for gas canisters.
  5. Don’t move cylinders by hand. That’s what your cylinder cart is for.
  6. Take care to avoid tipping or dropping a gas container. They can crack and explode. They can also break your foot. Again, use the designated cylinder cart.
  7. Store gas containers in a weatherproof area with plenty of ventilation.
  8. Don’t MacGyver material handling equipment to move gas cylinders. The Compressed Gas Association warns users not to “handle a cylinder with a lifting magnet. It goes on to say that “slings, ropes, or chains should not be used unless provisions have been made on the cylinder for appropriate lifting attachments, such as lugs.”

For more tools and safety training on Compressed Gas, you can go to SafetyNow ILT.

To preview our brand new Compressed Gas Safety course and pilot our online safety training, you can request a pilot here.