AS THE festive season gets under way, WorkCover is reminding hotel and club employers, staff and party-goers to take care when using beer kegs and to closely follow manufacturers' instructions.
WorkCover's Jodie Deakes said the Christmas and new year periods were among the busiest on the hospitality calendar.
"With so much activity happening in these workplaces, it can be all too easy to take shortcuts and overlook manufacturer warnings, inadvertently putting staff at risk of serious injury," Ms Deakes said.
"People using beer keg delivery systems need to be appropriately trained, instructed and, in particular, supervised in operating procedures, to prevent over-pressurising."
An incident in October left a man, 23, with severe injuries when a gas-pressurised beer keg ruptured at a club in the Newcastle region.
Ms Deakes said it was also important to ensure the equipment was regularly inspected and maintained to prevent any faults, malfunctioning or damage.
"Beer keg delivery systems involving the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) or beer gas cylinders must have a regulator fitted to the cylinder to limit the supplied pressure," she said.
"There also needs to be a pressure-relief valve fitted between the cylinder and the keg to release the pressure in case of regulator failure."
Ms Deakes said private individuals who were hiring portable beer keg systems (party kegs) should closely follow manufacturer instructions when using the equipment to avoid injury.
WorkCover NSW collaborated with the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) to develop safety guidelines for cleaning beer lines and working around cellar trapdoors, which are available on the Workcover website and AHA's website, aha.org.au
Details: workcover.nsw.gov.au