That sounds extremely dodgy indeed. How far away from the pumps / petrol / gas storage is this manhole ?
There are definintely regulations in force here regarding hazardous areas. If the station's wiring is in a hazardous area and isn't conforming it really ought to be reported.
Historically in Ireland there have been a lot of independent petrol (gas) retailers who operated under franchise from the oil companies. I wouldn't be 100% convinced about their compliance with codes, particularly for the parts of the site that were not installed by the oil company itself.
