09.02.2011 01:34 PM

Sent by a regular reader: PetroCanada, wake up

Somebody at PetroCanada/Suncor needs to pull the security tape of this incident, I’d say.  And, I think, fire that franchisee.  The mother needs the Riot Act read to her, too, I think:

Warren: Witnessed a terrible accident at a Petrocanada station (Don Mills & Lawrence)  A mother allowed her 7 yr old son to pump the gas and he took the nozzle out while still holding the handle down.  She wasn’t watching and the child had gas spray ALL OVER his face, eyes, nose and mouth.  I alerted her, he was screaming, I told her to get him into the bathroom, and start flushing with cold water and I callled 911.  The gas station attendants DID NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!  They just went about their business like nothing at all was happening.  I was so shocked that there seemed to be no emergency procedure in place – no special “station” with solution for flushing eyes/mouths…NOTHING.  When I got home, I called Petro Canada and lodged a complaint but they couldn’t care less.  I mean the kid could have burst into flame…it was awful.

14 Comments

  1. Reid says:

    Just curious as to how PetroCan is responsible for any of that? I think the mother of the future Darwin Award winner is solely to blame. Who in their right mind lets a 7 yr old fuel up a car unsupervised? That mother is an idiot and clearly does not have the mental capacity to raise a hamster, let alone a child.

  2. Africon says:

    Yea, sure expect every Company to have contingencies in place for every conceivable act of foolishness and lodge a complaint if they don’t.

    I suppose blaming the idiot mother would be too obvious a reaction.

  3. Tiger says:

    Don’t most gas stations have policies in place now that only the drivers are supposed to pump gas at self-serve pumps?

    I’ve seen signs, I know I have.

  4. Wannabeapiper says:

    I think it is called First Response ie First Aid-it’s their Station and they should have at least done something. They may not have a legal obligation but they do have a moral one I think. The mother could be dealt with by calling Children’s Aid. If she lets her child pump gas, I wonder what he is allowed to do at home-maybe work on the house wiring etc…

    I think the media would run away with this one especially if Petro Canada “couldn’t care less”. It’s a good CityTV story-call them!

  5. sj says:

    Just a few weeks ago, I let my almost 12 year son pump gas at a Safeway gas bar and an attendant came flying out to tell us that he had to be 14 to pump gas. My son was a little grumpy, but I was impressed that the staff were so vigilant in enforcing the rules (even if I had no idea such a rule existed).

    So clearly there are some training deficiencies to be address at that PetroCan station.

    • Raymond says:

      *gulp* Mom & dad had us cutting the grass with a gas mower at seven (including fuel-ups) & shooting gophers unsupervised with a .22 at eight. Mind you, dad was a firefighter & we were trained at length on all things safety.

      Gawd. Today they’d be tossed in prison & we’d be wards of the state.

  6. lance says:

    This is a troubling incident as all the people above are correct, the mother is an imbicile and the attendant was a moron. It would be interesting to know though if this is a company owned station or if it is an independent retailer flying the Petrocan banner, if it is the latter then PetroCan only sells them the gas and gives them signs and all environmental, health and safety issues would be the sole responsibility of the station owner, kind of like Coke selling them their product and giving them a large sign. That being said PetroCan should have handled this better, as the general public do not know the difference between company owned and independent owned sites, it could still be a media mess for them until they get the word out that they have no recourse at an independent site. If tit is company owned then shame on them.

  7. TheSilentObserver says:

    When I was twelve or so, i got trapped in the washroom of a Shell in Ajax just south of the 401. Went in to relieve myself, door somehow autolocked from the outside, and I could not for the life of me get out. Felt like I was in there for an hour, though it was obviously way less, but believe me, I freaked the hell out. I was in the process of ripping one of the safety signs off of the door to stick under the crack as some sort of impropotu distress signal when my dad opened it. I was shaken for a while afterwards, and my dad explained afterwards that while it was awful what happened to me, the station didn’t give a damn if I or untold many others were trapped in there. In retrospect it’s not a very harrowing incident to anybody who wasn’t me, and i certainly didn’t get any hazardous chemicals in my face, but I feel this continues with the general theme of neglegent gas station attendants. I feel for the 7 year old though, hope there’s no permanant damage, I feel that contacting the media is a must here.

  8. Iris Mclean says:

    Good thing that the kid wasn’t sucking on an Export-A like I would have been doing at that age.

  9. Sean says:

    Having worked at a gas station, this doesn’t really surprise me. Virtually no safety training at all.

  10. Michael Southern says:

    Good evening Warren. Thanks to you and your readers for your concerns. Safety for everyone who works at or visits one of our retail sites is the first priority for all of us at Suncor Energy and Petro-Canada. We are currently investigating this incident and working to speak with the different people involved. Have a safe and happy Labour Day weekend to all.

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