On
site and offsite emergency plans on chemical disaster
Why Emergency Planning is required?
After
the incident of Bhopal gas disaster, the Factories Act has been amended and a
new chapter i.e. Chapter IVA – provision relating to hazardous processes has
been added to the Factories Act with addition of new provisions sec 41A, 41B,
41C, 41D, 41E, 41G & 41H covering all hazardous process industries. Under
the provision of Sec 41B(4) every occupier shall with the approval of the Chief
Inspector of Factories draw up an On-site Emergency Plan and detailed disaster
control measures for his factory and make known to the workers employed therein
and to the general public living in the vicinity of the factory the safety
measures required to be taken in the event of an accident taking place. This is
the statutory provision laid down in the act for preparation of On-site
Emergency Plan to control disaster in the factories. Major accidents may cause
emergency and it may lead to disaster, which may cause heavy damage to plant,
property, harm to person and create adverse affects on production. Many
disasters like Bhopal gas tragedy, Chernobyl nuclear disaster etc. have
occurred at many places in the world causing heavy loss of life and property.
Emergency situation arises all on a sudden and creates havoc and damage to
person, property, production and environment. Therefore such situations and
risks should be thought in advance and it should be planned before hand to
tackle them immediately and control them within the shortest time.
What is emergency?
A
major emergency can be defined as an accident/ incident that has potential to
cause serious injuries or loss of life. It may cause extensive damage of
property, serious disruption both in production and working of factory and may
adversely effect the environment. The following factors may cause major
emergency.
(i)
Plant failure.
(ii)
Human error.
(iii)
Vehicle crash.
(iv)
Sabotage.
(v)
Earthquake.
(vi)
Natural Calamities.
On-site Emergency:-
If an accident/ incident takes place in a factory,
its effects are confined to the factory premises, involving only the persons
working in the factory and the property inside the factory it is called as
On-site Emergency.
Off-site Emergency:-
If the accident is such that it affects inside the
factory are uncontrollable and it may spread outside the factory premises, it
is called as Off-site Emergency.
Objectives:- The main objectives of an
emergency plan are-
a. to control and contain the
incident/ accident and if possible, eliminate it and
b. to minimize the effects of
the incident on person, property and environment.
Each major hazardous factory should prepare an
emergency plan incorporating details of action to be taken in case of any major
accident/ disaster occurring inside the factory. The plan should cover all
types of major accident/ occurrences and identify the risk involved in the
plant. Mock drills on the plan should be carried out periodically to make the
plan foolproof and persons are made fully prepared to fight against any
incident in the plant. The plan will vary according to the type of industry and
emergency.
Statutory Provision:-
After the Bhopal gas tragedy (1984) and supreme
court direction in case of M/S. Sriram Foods and Fertilizers, the Govt. of
India has made some important amendments to the Factories Act 1948 in the year
1987 with incorporation of special provisions relating to hazardous process.
Under Section 41(B)(4) every occupier is to prepare On-site Emergency Plan and
detailed disaster control measures for his factory. Again under provision of
Rule 13 of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules
1989, the occupier shall prepare and keep up to date On-site Emergency plan
containing details how major accidents will be dealt with on the site on which the
industrial activity is carried on and that plan shall include the name of the
person who is responsible for safety on the site and names of those who are
authorized to take action in accordance with the plan in case of emergency.
In
Assam Major Accident Hazard Control Rules 1992 under Rule 13 provision for
preparation of On-site Emergency Plan by the occupier has been laid down in the
same line stated above. The occupier shall ensure a mock drill of the on site
emergency plan is conducted at least one in every six months. A detailed report
of the mock drill conducted under rule shall be made immediately available to
the Inspector and Chief Inspector.
Main
elements of On-site Emergency plans :-
o Leadership and
Administration.
o Role and Responsibilities of
Key Personnel.
o Emergency action.
o Light and Power.
o Source of energy control.
o Protective and rescue
equipment.
o Communication.
o Medical care.
o Mutual Aid.
o Public relation.
o Protection of vital records.
o Training.
o Periodical revision of plan.
Emergency Action Plan:- The Action Plan should
consist
v Designated Emergency Control
Centre/Room.
v Key Personnel.
Emergency Control Centre:- This is the main center
from where the operations to handle the emergency are directed and
co-ordinated.
Maximum
facilities to be made available in the emergency control are –
i.
Internal and external communication.
ii.
Computer and other essential records.
iii.
Daily attendance of workmen employed in factory.
iv.
Storage of hazardous material records and manufacturing records.
v.
Pollution records.
vi.
Walky-talky.
vii.
Plan of the plant showing-
a. Storage area of hazardous
materials.
b. Storage of safety
equipments.
c. Fire fighting system and
additional source of water.
d. Site entrance, roadway and
emergency exist.
e. Assembly points.
f. Truck parking area.
g. Surrounding location.
viii.
Note Book, Pad and Pencil.
ix.
List of Key Personnel with addresses, telephone number etc.
Assembly Points:-
A safe place far away from the plant should be pre
determined as assembly point where in case of emergency personnel evacuated
from the affected areas are to be assembled. The plant workers, contract
workers and visitors should assemble in assembly point in case of emergency and
the time office clerk should take their attendance so as to assess the missing
person during emergency.
The Key Personnel for onsite emergency:-
1. Works main controller.
2. Works incident controller.
a. Communication Officer.
b. Security and Fire Officer.
c. Telephone Operators.
d. Medical Officer.
e. Personnel/Administrative
Officer.
f. Essential work team leaders.
(1) Works Main Controller:-
The General Manager of the Plant should act as main controller. His duties are
to -
1. Assess the magnitude of the
situation and decide whether the evacuation of staff from the plant is needed.
2. Exercise and direct
operational control over areas other than those affected.
3. Maintain a continuous review
of possible development and assess in consultation with work incident
controller and other Key Personnel.
4. Liaison with Police, Fire
Service, Medical Services, Factory Inspectorate and other Govt. agencies.
5. Direct and control
rehabilitation of affected area after emergency.
6. Intimate Off-site Emergency controller if the
emergency spreads beyond the factory premises and likely to affect the
surrounding area.
7. Ensure that evidence is
preserved for enquiries to be conducted by statutory authorities.
The Works Main Controller will declare the
emergency and he will instruct gate office to operate the emergency siren after
assessing the gravity of the situation.
(2) Work Incident
Controller(WIC):- He is the next
responsible officer after the Works Main Controller. Generally the plant
manager is designated as Work Incident Controller. In case of emergency he will
rush to the place of occurrence and take overall charge and report to the Works
Main Controller by personal communication system like cell phones or walky
talky and inform about the magnitude of emergency. He will assess the situation
and considering the magnitude of emergency he will take decision and inform
Communication Officer to communicate the news of emergency to different
agencies. He will give direction to stop all operations within the affected
area. He will take the charge of Main Controller till the Main Controller
arrives. He will order for shutdown and evacuation of workers and staffs from affected
area. He will inform all Key Personnel and all outside agency for help. He will
inform security and fire officers and State Fire Services. He will ensure that
all non-essential workers/staff are evacuated to assembly point and areas
searched for casualties. He will report all significant development to
Communication Officer. Moreover he will advise to preserve evidence of
emergency into the cause of emergency.
Other Key Personnel and
their duties:
Communication Officer : On hearing the emergency
siren/alarm he will proceed to the control center and communicate to work
incident controller. He will collect information from the emergency affected
area and send correct message to work main controller for declaration of
emergency. He will maintain a log book of incident. He will contact all
essential departments. He will take stock of the meteorological condition from
local meteorological Department. He will communicate all information as
directed by Works Main Controller.
Security and Fire Officer : The Security or Fire
officer will be responsible for the fire fighting. On hearing the emergency
alarm/siren, he will reach the incident area with fire and security staff.
Immediately after arrival to the emergency area, he will inform through
telephone or walky talky to the communication officer. He will inform to the
Work Incident Controller about the situation and requirement of outside help
like State Fire Service and other mutual aid members.
At the site, the entire fire squad member will
respond to the advice and information given by the works incident controller.
The security will control the visitors and the
vehicle entry.
Telephone Operator : In case of fire is
discovered but no emergency siren is operated, he shall ensure the information
about the location of the fire/emergency incident from the person discovered/
notices the above and communicate to different Key Personnel immediately with
clear message.
Medical Officer : Medical Officer with his
team will report to the Works Incident Controller on hearing the fire/
emergency siren immediately. The ambulance will be parked nearest to the site
of incident. Name of injured and other casualties carried to the Hospital will
be recorded and handed over to Works Incident Controller. The ambulance will carry
the injured to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Personnel/ Administrative
Officer :
He should work as a liaison officer liaisoning with works main controller and
other essential departments such as Police, Press and Statutory authorities.
His responsibilities shall include-
§ To ensure that casualties
receive adequate attention to arrange additional help if required and inform
relatives.
§ To control traffic movement
into the factory and ensure that alternative transport is available when
needed.
§ When emergency is prolonged,
arrange for the relief of personnel and organize refreshment and catering
facilities.
§ Arrange for finance for the
expenditure to handle the emergency.
Essential Works and Team
Leaders :
During emergency the plants immediately affected or likely to be affected, as
determined by the Works Main Controller, need to be shut down for safety. In
the area immediately affected, it may be possible to isolate equipment from
which flammable or toxic material is leaking. This work must be immediately
carried out by plant supervisors and essential operators.
Workers/ staffs need to be nominated to carry out
the following essential works at the time of emergency-
o Extra first aid personnel to
deal with casualties.
o Emergency engineering works,
provision of extra or replacement of light, isolation of equipment, temporary
by pass electrical lines etc.
o Moving tankers or other
vehicles from area of risk.
o To carry out tests on
ambient air quality.
o To act as runner in case of
communication system fails.
o The Works Main Controller
will require a task force of suitable trained people for the following works-
i.
Manning of assembly points to record the arrival of evacuated people.
ii.
Assistance of casualty arrival areas to record details of casualties.
iii.
Manning the factory entrance in liaison with security to direct
emergency vehicle containing the gate e.g. ambulance, fire tenders etc.
For these essential jobs designated teams should
be made available. The responsibilities of the team and the leader should be
given.
The essential work teams are-
1. Task Force and repair team.
2. Fire fighting team.
3. Communication team.
4. Security Team.
5. Transport Team.
6. First aid and medical team.
7. Safety team.
Alarm System: Alarm system varies and
will depend on the size of the works area. Simple fire bell, hand operated
siren – break open type, fire alarm etc. Automatic alarm may be needed for
highly hazardous nature of plant.
Communication System:
` Communication is a key component to control an
emergency.
The following communication system may be provided
in the plant-
·
Walky Talky.
·
Telephone(internal & external).
·
Cell phone.
·
Intercom/paging.
·
Runners (verbal or written messages).
Siren for Emergency: Siren for emergency should
be different from the normal siren. The emergency siren should be audible to a
distance of 5 KM radius. The emergency siren should be used only in case of
emergency.
Escape Route: The escape route from each
and every plant should be clearly marked. The escape route is the shortest
route to reach out of the plant area to open area, which leads to assembly
point. This route should be indicated on the layout plan attached to the
On-site Emergency Plan.
Evacuation: All non-essential staff should be evacuated from the emergency site.
As soon as the emergency siren rings the workers have to shut down the plant
and move to the assembly point. The plant shut down procedure in case of
emergency should be prepared and kept ready and responsible person should be
nominated for the purpose.
Counting of Personnel: All personnel working in
the plant should be counted. Time office person should collect the details of
personnel arriving at the assembly point. These should be checked with the
attendances of regular workers, contract workers present in the site on the day
of emergency. The accident control should be informed and arrangement should be
made for searching missing person in the emergency affected area. The
employees’ address, contact number of next to kin should be maintained in the
time office so that during emergency relatives of those affected due to
emergency may be informed accordingly.
Information in respect of emergency should be
given to the media and other agency.
All Clear Signal: After control of emergency
the Work Incident Controller will communicate to the works main controller
about the cessation of emergency. The main controller can declare all clear by
instructing the time office to sound “All Clear Sirens”.
Mutual Aid System: Mutual aid scheme should
be introduced among industries so that in case of emergency necessary help from
mutual aid partner may be extended.
Essential elements of this scheme are –
o Mutual aid must be a written
document signed by the Chief Executive of the industries concerned.
o Specify key personnel who
are authorized to give requisition of materials from other industries.
o Specify the available
quantity of material/equipment that can be spared.
o Mode of requisition during
emergency.
o Mode of payment/ replacement
of material given during an emergency.
o May be updated from time to
time based on experience gained.
Mock drills on emergency planning should be
conducted once in 6 months and sequence of events should be recorded for
improvement of the exercise. Exercises on On-site Emergency Planning should be
monitored by Factory Inspectorate and the high officials of the organization
and the plan is reviewed every year.
Emergency facilities: The following facilities
should be provided in any factory to tackle any emergency at any time.
1. Fire protection and fire
fighting facilities.
2. Emergency lighting and
standby power.
3. Emergency equipment and
rescue equipment –
i.
Breathing apparatus with compressed air cylinder.
ii.
Fire proximity suit.
iii.
Resuscitator.
iv.
Water gel Blanket.
v.
Low temperature suit.
vi.
First aid kit.
vii.
Stretchers.
viii.
Torches.
ix.
Ladders.
4. Safety Equipment –
i.
Respirators.
ii.
Gum boots.
iii.
Safety helmets.
iv.
Asbestos Rubber hand gloves.
v.
Goggles and face shield.
vi.
Toxic gas measuring instruments.
vii.
Explosive meter.
viii.
Oxygen measuring instruments.
ix.
Toxic gas measuring instrument.
x.
Wind direction indicator.
On-site Emergency Plan should contain -
1. Site plan and topographic
plan.
2. Plan showing the fire
fighting facilities.
3. Plan showing hazardous
material storage area.
4. Material safety data sheets
for hazardous chemicals.
5. Facilities available in main
control center.
6. List of emergency equipment.
7. List of Safety Equipment.
8. List of important telephone
numbers and addresses.
i. Nearest hospitals and
ambulance service center.
ii. Nearest fire station.
iii. Govt. Officials.
iv. Transport provider.
9. Names and address &
contact telephone number of Key Personnel.
The on site emergency plan so prepared shall be
documented in a printed form in sufficient copies to give all concerned for
knowledge, study and easy follow up. The emergency plan shall be rehearsed and
practised at regular intervals to test efficiency of personnel, equipments
co-ordinated efforts and to increase confidence and experience to operate such
plan.
Off-site Emergency Plan:
The main objective of the plan are –
i.
To save lives and injuries.
ii.
To prevent or reduce property losses and
iii.
To provide for quick resumption of normal situation or operation.
Risk Assessment: Risk assessment is most
essential before preparing any off site emergency plan. Hazardous factories and
their hazard identification, other hazard prone areas, specific risks,
transportation risk, storage risks, pollution risks by air and water pollution,
catastrophic risks such as disasters, natural calamities, acts of god,
earthquake, landslide, storm, high wind, cyclone, flood, scarcity, heavy rain,
lightening, massive infection, heavy fire, heavy explosion, volcano, heavy
spill, toxic exposure, environmental deterioration etc., risks from social
disturbances, risks from the past accidents must be considered while carrying
out risk assessment for a particular area(district) from which the offsite
emergency plan is to be prepared.
Central Control Committee: As the offsite plan is to be prepared by the
Government, a Central Control Committee shall be formed under the Chairmanship
of the District Collector. Other officers from Police, Fire Service, Factory
Inspectorate, Medical Department shall be incorporated as members of the
Central Control Committee. Under the Central Control Committee the following
committees shall be constituted under the control of the District Collector.
i.
Incident and Environment Control Committee.
ii.
Fire Control Committee.
iii.
Traffic control, Law and order, Evacuation and Rehabilititation
Committee.
iv.
Medical help, Ambulance and Hospital Committee.
v.
Welfare, Restoration and Resumption Committee.
vi.
Utility and Engineering Services Committee.
vii.
Press, Publicity and Public
Relations Committee.
The Off-site Emergency Plan shall be prepared by
the District Collector in consultation with the factory management and Govt.
agencies. The plan contains up to date details of outside emergency services
and resources such as Fire Services, Hospitals, Police etc. with telephone
number. The district authorities are to be included in the plan area.
a. Police Department.
b. Revenue Department.
c. Fire Brigade.
d. Medical Department.
e. Municipality.
f. Gram panchayat.
g. Railway Department.
h. Telephone Department.
i. Factory Department.
j. Electricity Department.
k. Pollution Control
Department.
l. Explosive Department.
m. Press and Media.
Mock exercises on Off-site plan should be carried
out at least once in a year to train the employees, up to date the plan,
observe and rectify deficiencies.
Hazop Study:
Before making the on site and off site plan hazop
study has to be carried out to identify the potential hazardous situations and
to find out possible control measures. Hazop study is to be carried out by a
team of experts. The team should consist of –
(a) Mechanical Engineer.
(b) Chemical Engineer.
(c) R & D Chemist.
(d) Works Manager.
(e) Project Manager.
(f) Outside experts.
(g) Safety Officer/ Manager.
Conclusion:
To carry out mock exercises and rehearsal of the
off site plan to ensure its efficiency, test and response, interaction and
co-ordination of operators various service organizations evaluate the
effectiveness and adequacy of the
equipments and to gain experience and confidence to implement the plan. The
finalized disaster plan shall be given to all concerned for implementation and
rehearsal for preparedness.
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