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Emergency
Planning &
Preparedness
Report of Seminar
N6
Dept. Of Naval Architecture & Shipbuilding
INTRODUCTION
PAGE 1
Despite an organizations best efforts, the possibility of accidents and other emergency
situations still exits. Effective planning and preparation can reduce injuries, protect
employees and neighbours, reduce asset losses and minimize production downtime. An
effective emergency preparedness and response program should include
1. provisions for assessing the potential for accidents and emergencies
2. Preventing incidents and their associated environmental
procedures for responding to incidents.
impacts, plans
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PAGE 3
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1.
Establish and maintain procedures to identify the potential for, and the response to,
accidents and emergency situations, in order to prevent and mitigate the environmental
impacts that may be associated with them.
2.
Review and revise the importance of learning from incidents. Obviously corrective
actions will be taken and results of audits will be considered after the occurrence of
accidents or emergencies or even near misses.
3.
Testing of emergency plans should be planned and the Standard indicates that
periodic testing of such procedures should be carried out where practicable.
1.
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the
media
Examining the function of the media response team further is worthwhile. It is tempting
in the event of an environmental incident to offer no comment to the press. However,
other parties, who may be hostile to the organization, will comment. This could be
disgruntled neighbours, competitors and others who will take the opportunity to repeat
rumours or provide media with exaggerated accounts of the incident. The media will
find out, despite efforts to deter them. An attempt to hide issues will usually be
uncovered later and will ultimately reduce the credibility of future communications. If, for
example, there is a large spillage to a local stream or river with a high amenity value
and the organization does not control the media input, the information any interested
party receives may be inaccurate at best and hostile at worst. This could influence
future relationships with the media. The news-gathering media work to strict deadlines
and information is required from whatever source. It is best, therefore, that this source
is the organization itself. Possible emergencies will most certainly have been identified
during the preparatory environmental review and suitable responses formulated. At the
simplest level of response, this may include a list of competent personnel who can be
contacted with alternatives in the event of an emergency situation. Provision should
also be made for off-site availability of the information needed to contain the disaster in
case access to the site is denied on the grounds of safety. The main objectives of the
fire service are to control the fire and/or chemical spillage and save lives. They may
cordon off the site and prevent access to staff who require telephone numbers to make
contact with other personnel, access to records or emergency procedures, etc. It is
worthwhile noting that even if a fire situation is handled correctly by the fire service,
environmental problems can be caused by contaminated water used by the fire
services. Such water, contaminated by combustion products, may enter canals, streams
and drains, and emergency plans should take this into consideration. It is also important
to remember that just because risks are low, it does not mean that emergency plans are
unnecessary. Without an emergency plan, minor incidents can escalate into major
ones.
2.
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In the case of near misses it is important that such potential incidents are recorded and
reviewed and not hidden away or merely forgotten. Such incidents indicate areas of risk
which
on
other
occasions
may
turn
into
environmental accidents.
3.
and tested? Does the fitment on the hydrant fit the fire services hoses?
Toxic gases may be released during a fire. If so, what are these gases? In
which direction is the prevailing wind? What is the likely area that will need to be
evacuated for safety as well as environmental reasons? What information will be
given to the local police in such an event?
Test emergency scenarios at the shift change from day to night shift for example.
During such shift changes there is an overlap as incoming staff come in early so that
the outgoing staff may brief them as to events that have happened etc. Thus, for a short
period of time, there could be double the number of people on site, causing extra
congestion of roads, and lines of command may become blurred during this period.
Some organizations ban the use of cellular phones during normal operations because
of safety issues. Would staff be able to use them in an emergency?
If so, this should be written into the emergency procedure. Some organizations have
wind direction indicators on site so that in the event of an emergency (fire or noxious
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fumes escaping), staff can move away in the safest direction. Test scenarios should
ascertain whether such indicators can be seen visually from all points of the site. Some
organizations have an incident centre that would reasonably be expected not to be
influenced by a disaster i.e. underground or remote from flammable areas. Test
scenarios should check whether this isolation is still valid. The time to put an
emergency plan to the acid test and seek the answers to the above is not the day of the
real event. Therefore, an organization should evaluate its risks of environmental
emergencies and evaluate the extent to which it should carry out testing of its
procedures.
Several environmental and health and safety regulatory programs require emergency
plans and/or procedures. Look at what you have in place now and assess how well it
satisfies the items discussed above. One area where additional work is often needed is
on identifying the potential for accidents and emergencies. A team of site personnel from
example from engineering, maintenance and Environmental Health and Safety) can
identify most potential emergencies by asking a series of what if questions related to
hazardous materials, activities, and processes employed at the site. In addition to
normal operations, the team should consider start-up and shutdown of process equipment,
and other abnormal operating conditions.
Whether everyone including new employees know what to do in an emergency,
How would contractors or site visitors know what to do in an emergency
situation.etc. Communicate with local officials (fire department, hospital, etc.) about
potential emergencies at the site and how they can support the response efforts. Mock
drills can be an excellent way to reinforce training and get feedback on the effectiveness of
the plans / procedures. Post copies of the plan (or at least critical contact names and
phone numbers) around the site and especially in areas where high hazards exist.
Include phone numbers for the on-site emergency coordinator, local fire department, local
police, hospital, rescue squad, and others as appropriate.
Finally, an audit checklist is made where the following are ensured.
Audit Checklist:
1.
Has the organization established, implemented and maintained a procedure(s) to
identify the potential emergency situations and potential accidents that can have an
impact on the environment?
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2.
Does the Emergency Preparedness and Response plan describe the evacuation
routes and exits (map), and assembly points?
SOURCES OF REFERENCE
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http://isoconsultantpune.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/management-standards/iso14000.htm
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