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Do I Need a Risk Assessment for Changing LPG Cylinders on My Catering Van?

by Andy
(Durham, England )

Olive green converted box van burger van serving a lunchtime queue at a busy County Durham market

Olive green converted box van burger van serving a lunchtime queue at a busy County Durham market

After completing my gas safety certificate, the engineer said i will need a risk assessment for changing the bottles and safe use of lpg.
Can anybody point me in the right direction or what did you use?
Thanks.

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Nov 02, 2026
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by: MobCater

Andy, your engineer is right, and it is good that they told you. Lots of traders get their gas safety certificate and think the paperwork is finished. The certificate covers the installation. The risk assessment covers how you and anyone working with you use that installation every day, and changing a bottle is the job you will do more than any other.

The legal side is the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which say every business has to assess its risks. LPG also falls under DSEAR, the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002, because it is a flammable gas. Once you have five or more staff the assessment must be written down. I would write it down anyway, because event organisers and your EHO will often ask to see it, and it shows you have thought it through.

You do not need a consultant or an expensive template. The HSE has a free risk assessment template and a short guide on its website, hse.gov.uk, and it follows five steps: spot the hazards, decide who could be harmed, decide how you control it, write it down, and review it. Calor and Flogas both publish free safety leaflets for LPG users, and those give you most of the wording for the cylinder section.

For changing bottles, your written procedure should cover the basics in plain words. Every appliance is off and nobody is smoking or cooking near the cylinders. The empty bottle is turned off at the valve before anything is undone. You check the washer or seal on the connection, and if it is worn or missing you stop and get a new one. You connect the full bottle, open the valve slowly, and check for leaks with leak detection spray or soapy water, never a flame. Bottles stay upright and strapped in, and you wear gloves, because liquid propane can give you a cold burn.

The safe use section should say what happens if anyone smells gas: turn off at the cylinder, no switches or flames, get everyone out of the van, and call your gas supplier's emergency line and your engineer. Add the daily checks you already do, like keeping the vents clear and looking over the hoses for cracks, and note where your fire extinguisher and fire blanket are kept.

One thing to be clear on. Swapping a cylinder is a user job you can be shown how to do. Anything beyond that, such as replacing hoses, regulators or pipework, is for a Gas Safe registered engineer only. Ask your engineer to show you and any staff how to change a bottle on your own van, then write down the date. That record is worth having.

Hope that helps

David

Disclaimer: Gas installation and maintenance must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Never attempt gas work yourself. Check gassaferegister.co.uk for qualified engineers in your area.

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