A lack of regulations, oversight and training of refrigeration system installers has been described as disgraceful at an inquest into the death of a fireman.
Derek Lovell died and seven other fire-fighters were seriously injured when an Icepak coolstore exploded at Tamahere, near Hamilton, on 5 April 2008.
Engineer Brian Jackson on Wednesday gave evidence at the inquest on behalf of the Institute of Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers.
Mr Jackson told the Coroners Court at Hamilton that, even though the industry is dealing with systems that potentially are dangerous and could cause harm, it has never been regulated like other industries.
"The lack of overall regulation makes it very difficult to implement improvements and industry practices and it is impossible to enforce standards in the unregulated areas."
Mr Jackson says various pieces of legislation affecting the industry are complex and unknown by many.
"First thing is: finding them. And, as we've seen with refrigerant handling, how such legislation could come into place and be there for the number of years that it was before it dawned on our industry that we needed to comply - I've got no answer for that."
Mr Jackson says pressure is on the industry to use hydrocarbon refrigerants because they are more efficient and environmentally friendly. However, they are more dangerous because they are highly flammable.
He told Coroner Peter Ryan there needs to be a strong education campaign in the industry on the dangers of installing highly flammable refrigerants.
If the cowboys could be taken out of the industry and people working in the field were licensed, then the industry would be much better off, he says.
