...... procedures to assure the safety of main supply or... the whole sentence

[JACEK1]

Hello everybody!

The company is to control and maintain procedures to assure the safety of main supply or bottled gases used for heating and gas welding / burning.

In my opinion, the sentence needs a little makeover.

The company (is) to control and maintain procedures aimed at ensuring the safety of main supply or bottled gases used for heating and gas welding / burning.

or

The company (is) to control and maintain procedures for ensuring the safety of main supply or bottled gases used for heating and gas welding / burning.

I think that it is procedures that ensure the safety of ..........

I have looked the word "procedure" up on the Internet and it is followed by to and infintiive. The meaning is the same.

What I do not understand is main supply gases from "main supply or bottled gases".

Could you tell me what you think of my conclusions about the "procedures to assure the safety of main supply or" and the whole sentence.

I would also be grateful for helping me unravel the mysterious main supply gases.

Thank you.

 

[Eckaslike]

Gas mains are pipes which supply gas to buildings for heating and other purposes. Therefore "main supply gases" are gases which are sent through those pipes, or mains as they are known.
https://www.google.com/search?q=gas...X&ved=0CCMQsARqFQoTCIGLiLjtusgCFcg5FAodC3wLrA

The sentence is therefore talking about controlling and maintaining procedures which ensure the safety of gases used for heating, welding/burning, whether they come through a pipe or whether they are stored in a cylinder.

The original sentence is fine. "Is to" is being used in an emphatic way to mean "must".
"The company must control and maintain procedures to assure the safety of main supply or bottled gases used for heating and gas welding / burning."

Does that help?

 

[JACEK1]

I did not question the use of "is to" but of "procedures to assure the safety".

 

[Matthew Wai]

"procedures to assure the safety".

I think the above means the following, but I am not a teacher.

procedures which ensure the safety of gases used for heating, welding/burning

 

[JACEK1]

Nor am I.

 

[Eckaslike]

Matthew is correct.

I explained "is to" in the sentence because in your two reworkings you put "is" in brackets, which implied that perhaps you thought it shouldn't be used. If you take "is" out then none of the sentences make sense, and the vital element of the fact that "is to" is a essentially a command is lost. As this is a question about the safety of explosive gases I thought that it was necessary to explain that usage.

This is not a criticism, but an explanation as to why the use of brackets made me explain "is to".

 

[tzfujimino]

I agree with Eckaslike.
Those brackets were confusing to me, too, JACEK.

 

[Matthew Wai]

If you take "is" out then none of the sentences make sense

If 'is' was omitted below, I think 'aimed' would be the main verb, i.e. 'the company aimed at ...', but I am not a teacher.

The company (is) to control and maintain procedures aimed at ensuring the safety of main supply or bottled gases used for heating and gas welding / burning.

 

[JACEK1]

Won't you admit that there are the so called infinitive structures that are mainly used in headlines, for instance:
A probe to land on the Moon = A probe is to land on the Moon,
A man to swim across the Atlantic single-handedly = A man is to swim the Atlantic single-handedly.
Maybe it is the case in the case of "my" sentence in question.
What do you think?

 

[Matthew Wai]

A probe to land on the Moon = A probe is to land on the Moon

I think they are not the same because the former is a noun phrase while the latter is a sentence, but I am not a teacher.