Email Query

Subject:                         Evacuation Procedures - What do you do?

Date of Email reporting Incident:  Tue 29/05/2007

Initial Comments:

1. We are presently reviewing our evacuation procedure. We have an average of 700 people on site (more on shut downs) could the JOIFF members please send me a copy of there site evacuation procedure.
2. What method is in place for reconciliation?
3. What happens to the people, with regards to shelter in adverse weather conditions, at the Muster points and the Site evacuation point?

Follow Up Comments:

Email dated 29/05/2007

For site evacuation we adopt a safe haven or toxic refuge approach requiring all non emergency response personnel to attend one of a number of designated Safe havens.  This is initiated by the sounding of a site wide alarm. To account for people we use both manual and electronic processes.

The electronic process uses the site access key card system.  All personnel including visitors and temporary contractors access the site via card key.
All safe havens are fitted with proximity card readers and personnel entering a safe haven are required to swipe into the safe haven.  By
generating an exception report   i.e. those people who have entered the
site, but have not entered a safe haven, we can identify those people who are potentially at risk.  If the report is blank then we have accounted for all site personnel. We can typically account for 99% of personnel within
10-15 minutes using this system, complete reconciliation usually takes a further 5 to 10 minutes.

In conjunction with the electronic system plant areas adopt a tag system requiring personnel working in plant areas to place a name tag on a board which is situated in the plant control room, indicating which area of the plant they are working in. On the sounding of the site alert a role call is taken in the control room.  Any remaining name tags after roll call are assumed at risk and will form the basis of search and rescue procedures, however persons tagged out in control rooms can often respond to other safe havens.  Roll call information is communicated to the site emergency control room and by interrogating the card key system persons missing from roll call are usually accounted for by the card key system.

Procedures are in place should any safe haven be compromised by adverse conditions, this takes the form of  controlled evacuation, which can involve the use of respiratory protection.

Hope this is useful