CONTRIBUTORS |
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN |
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on the site, up to some 100 pages covering |
emergency services arrived on site, even |
where the leak is and where it is expected to |
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everything you need to know in an |
though there were plans in place. |
saturate the area. |
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emergency. Have you ever seen anyone |
Without good, clear, available |
The emergency escape route should |
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reading a set of instructions during an |
information, the emergency services |
be indicated and the location of hazardous |
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emergency? No, they start flying by the |
will not be able to give the assistance |
material on site. The emergency services |
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seat of their pants. I have always loved that |
necessary. In line with ASTI standards, we |
also need to know where the site fire |
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statement,“ You don’ t rise to the occasion – |
have developed a response programme |
hydrants are- remember that a fire truck has |
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you sink to your level of competence”. We |
based on SANS 1514 and call it the |
a limited amount of water. They need to get |
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often just go with our gut instead of relying |
Response Pack. The Response Pack is a |
connected to fire hydrants right away if they |
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on continuous training. |
manual full of the key information that the |
are going to be using water. |
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Being an associate of ASTI from |
emergency services need to know when |
Now all this should be in the emergency |
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California, we are aware of the implications |
they arrive on site. It is of prime importance |
plan document- but who knows where it is |
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of a serious emergency. We have a video |
that the emergency services are informed |
and who knows their way around it? |
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of the consequences of such an event where Jose Mata was inadvertently involved in a serious release of ammonia when a compressor failed and released a cloud of about 180kg. Unfortunately, |
about the incident when the initial call is made. Without this they do not know what they will be expected to deal with.
When they arrive on site, they should be met by the emergency controller who has a
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However, the Response Pack is a smaller document of some 20 pages highlighting what to do and who to contact, complete with all the necessary drawing and material schedules. This document is a must on |
Andrew Perks is a subject expert in ammonia refrigeration. Since undertaking his apprenticeship in Glasgow in the 1960s he has held positions of contracts engineer, |
he was in the wrong place at the wrong |
copy of the full Response Pack to give the |
all sites highlighting the critical stages |
project engineer, refrigeration |
time and got immersed in an aerosol |
incident commander. Information is then |
and what to do in an emergency. Training |
design engineer, company director |
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cloud( mixture of gas and liquid) and was seriously burned. If it had not been for his training, he may not be around to tell us about his experience.
The main impact of the incident was not so much the injuries and heroic actions of Jose saving his co-workers while sustaining horrific injuries, but the emergency response actions during and after the incident. The fire chief commented on the chaos when the
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conveyed to the incident commander about the incident stating what the conditions are; what actions have been undertaken to date; and what is required of the emergency services.
The Response Pack should include all this information highlighting the grade of the emergency, whether it is a level 1, 2 or worse level 3. It should contain a site layout, a plant schematic giving a clear indication of
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with this document and how to use it is part of the mandatory yearly Site Incident Response Training exercise as stipulated in the OHS Act.
When things are going wrong, we need to take the thinking out of the situation and work with the procedures so that everyone is in the right place, and they know their roles. That’ s why the training is so important. Ask Jose Mata. CLA
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for a refrigeration contracting company and eventually owning his own contracting company and low temperature cold store. He is now involved in adding skills to the ammonia industry, is merSETA accredited and has written a variety of unit standards for SAQA that define the levels to be achieved in training in our industry. |