National Petroleum & Corrosion Services Pty Ltd and its managing director Robert Santilli pleaded guilty and were sentenced in the South Australian Employment Tribunal on 30 June 2025 after a SafeWork SA prosecution.

The incident occurred on 30 April 2022 when Mr Santilli released1280 litres of the extremely flammable gas from the 8KL vertical bulk tank by deliberately ‘venting’ it into the atmosphere, over a period of about five hours.

The scope of works entered into by National Petroleum & Corrosion Services required the remaining gas to be decanted into gas cylinders before being removed from the site.

No pre-start risk assessment or appropriate checking was undertaken in the four minutes between when Mr Santilli arrived at the service station and when he commenced releasing the LPG.

Mr Santilli also did not have appropriate personnel or tools to ensure that the decommissioning would be safely and competently completed.

The release of the extremely flammable gas was filmed on a mobile phone and reported by a member of the public, sparking a SafeWork SA investigation.

Video footage obtained during the investigation from the mobile phone and the service station’s own CCTV system shows Mr Santilli intentionally releasing a dense fog of gas into the atmosphere over a five-hour period, leaving the tank unattended for periods of time to attend to other tasks at the site and allowing customers including his partner and young child to pass through the flammable range while the gas was being released.

Mr Santilli was also depicted operating battery-powered tools – a potential ignition source - within the flammable range.

Saturday afternoon trade continued as normal at the service station while the tank was emptied.

As part of the decommissioning work contract, National Petroleum & Corrosion Services was required to ensure that the LPG tank was empty before it was depressurised. The LPG tank could be safely emptied by either pumping out the remaining LPG into a tanker or by decanting the remaining LPG into cylinders.

If an ignition source was present in the flammable range, SafeWork SA deposed the most likely result would be either a flash fire or a jet fire. A flash fire causes the vapour to burn quickly without generating significant pressure while a jet fire results from the ignition of a high velocity jet of gas and/or liquid.

When initially interviewed by a SafeWork SA inspector, Mr Santilli falsely claimed:

• As per his standard procedure, excess LPG was transferred to cylinders prior to decommissioning.
• Only LPG and vapour remaining in lines was released on 30 April 2022.
• His car was used to block the driveway and stop vehicles from entering the area while LPG was released.
• A spotter was used on the day to keep any people out of the area.
• The area was clear for 10-15 metres from the tank and dispensers.

National Petroleum & Corrosion Services and Mr Santilli were charged with category 2 offences against section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 for failing in their duty to ensure the health and safety of its workers as well as other persons was not put at risk during the decommissioning work.

A conviction was recorded and National Petroleum & Corrosion Services was fined $98,000 following a 30 per cent reduction for pleading guilty. Mr Santilli was fined $28,000 following a 30 per cent reduction and also had a conviction recorded.

The Victorian-based company was also ordered to pay a victims of crime levy of $424 and $1,925 towards SafeWork SA’s legal fees. Mr Santilli was ordered to pay $1,210 towards SafeWork SA’s legal fees and a victims of crime levy of $424.

In his affidavit, Mr Santilli deposed that National Petroleum & Corrosion Services had spent $122,648.40 on safety, safety equipment and site clean-up since the offending.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Calligeros said the company and Mr Santilli disregarded the procedures stipulated in the scope for emptying the tank and failed to provide any vessels into which to decant the LPG despite agreeing to do so contractually.

“Had an ignition source been present within the flammable limits, an explosion could have resulted and could have had dire consequences,” Judge Calligeros said.

Attribute to SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell

LPG is an extremely flammable and highly dangerous substance with strict guidelines around its safe handling and storage.

In this case safety measures were not in existence, placing workers and others in the vicinity at significant risk of injury or death.

An ignition event would have had devastating consequences in the Mount Gambier region. It was only luck that no ignition occurred and no one was harmed.

Further links:

• SafeWork SA Prosecutions