From Buying a Medical Gas Storage Cabinet to Regularly Checking Your Cylinders – 5+ Tips When Storing Oxygen Gas Cylinders

If you have oxygen cylinders in your building, there are several points that you need to keep in mind to store them well. Some of these include buying a good medical gas storage cabinet, regularly inspecting your cylinders for leaks, and storing your cylinders away from flammable materials. Read ahead to learn more.

1.      Regular Checkups

One of the most important things that you need to do is regularly check your gas cylinders. If there are any leaks, you would know which would prevent possible explosions.

It is alright to contact the supplier you bought from and ask what to look for when checking for leaks, and to ask them if they can send someone to check the cylinders out too.

I would recommend that you do the inspections at least once or twice a week. But to some people, this can be overkill. So, a month would be fine.

2.      Slowly Open the Vales

Whenever using oxygen gas cylinders, be mindful of how you open them. You shouldn’t be too fast as this can cause frictional heat which can cause an explosion. As long as you’re gentle and slow with their vales when your smoke alarms go off, you should be fine.

3.      Wear Protective Gear

You should also wear protective gear when dealing with the cylinders, as you don’t want any flammable residues on you to accidentally get in contact with the gas that is being released.

With this in mind, you should always try to keep your cylinders clean as well. This would limit any grease or anything that is flammable from getting in contact. You can use any type of cloth when cleaning, but I would recommend microfiber options.

4.      Keep Away from Flammable Materials

It’s very important that you store your oxygen cylinders away from flammable materials. In case these materials catch on fire, the cylinders could also explode. A general rule of thumb is to try and keep the cylinders at least 20 feet away from anything that is remotely flammable.

Of course, keep the cylinders away from rooms with open flames as well. This would be an even bigger recipe for disaster.

I would suggest getting a medical gas storage cabinet to be on the safe side. You would get a safe, highly contained environment.

Final Thoughts

As you saw from my guide, there are several important points that you should keep in mind when handling with oxygen cylinders. Being mindful of where you place the cylinders is one of the most important points, as they need to be in safe spots that are far away from flammable materials and open flames. I would recommend that you get a medical gas storage cabinet.

You also need to regularly check the cylinders to make sure that there are no leaks. I would recommend that you do this at least once or twice a week but you can do this once a month only if you want.