By Andrew Perks
We have all seen that document come across our desk where we have thought, “Oh no, how do they expect me to deal with this and still get the job done?”
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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, project engineer, refrigeration design engineer, company director 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. |
No doubt to which the reply has been, “You had better because when the nasty stuff hits the fan you are going to be hit with this document.”
Who writes these things anyway? Well, whether you know it or not the SANS standards are excellent documents, as good as anything worldwide. Back in 2014 when I was involved in the update of SANS 10147, we looked at the European, British and American standards to ensure that ours were in line with their standards and I believe they are.
However, it is necessary to have working documents that are compact and easy to use bearing in mind the core of the standard. These documents should really not be relegated to the bottom drawer.
Take SANS 1514:2018 Major Hazard Installation: Emergency Response Planning. This can be a lengthy document, depending on the site, up to some 100 pages covering everything you need to know in an emergency. Have you ever seen anyone reading a set of instructions during an emergency? No, they start flying by the seat of their pants. I have always loved that statement, “You don’t rise to the occasion – you sink to your level of competence”. We often just go with our gut instead of relying on continuous training.
Being an associate of ASTI from California, we are aware of the implications of a serious emergency. We have a video 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, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got immersed in an aerosol 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 emergency services arrived on site, even though there were plans in place.
Without good, clear, available information, the emergency services will not be able to give the assistance necessary. In line with ASTI standards, we have developed a response programme based on SANS 1514 and call it the Response Pack. The Response Pack is a manual full of the key information that the emergency services need to know when they arrive on site. It is of prime importance that the emergency services are informed 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 copy of the full Response Pack to give the incident commander. Information is then 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 where the leak is and where it is expected to saturate the area.
The emergency escape route should be indicated and the location of hazardous material on site. The emergency services also need to know where the site fire hydrants are – remember that a fire truck has a limited amount of water. They need to get connected to fire hydrants right away if they are going to be using water.
Now all this should be in the emergency plan document – but who knows where it is and who knows their way around it?
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 all sites highlighting the critical stages and what to do in an emergency. Training 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.
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