Preventing Fuel Station Accidents: The Importance of Community Involvement

From 2016-2018 there were 120 fuel station accidents in Indonesia. Fuel station accidents may harm not only workers but also the public. Major accidents in fuel stations have caused multiple fatalities and injuries. Various research regarding fuel stations has been done, but research on the role of the community in preventing fuel station accidents is limited. Therefore, studying the cause and effect of fuel station accidents is essential. The study aims to collect accident information and determine the impact, cause, and possible prevention programs for fuel station accidents. Study methods use data collection and classification, followed by qualitative analysis. Data were collected from the top 10 national news portals and tabulated in a structured manner. Twenty-nine fuel station accidents were identified and evaluated. These data were then categorized and analyzed to obtain the dominant effects of accidents. Accident causes were also investigated to provide an understanding and propose accident prevention programs adopted from previous research in various fields. It is concluded that fuel station accidents in Indonesia are dominated by vehicle fires, which involve consumer vehicles. The causes of accidents vary, but most of them were concerning the technical condition of vehicles, and a few were unsafe operations. To prevent future accidents, it is essential to ensure compliance with regulations and standards of facilities and equipment. Furthermore, community involvement is also crucial. Therefore, more efforts are needed to increase public awareness of fuel station hazards and how the community can be involved in preventing future accidents.