EMERGENCY PLANNING - ONSITE AND OFFSITE
INTRODUCTION
Before looking into the ingredients of
emergency planning -- onsite & offsite, it is very important to understand
the relationship between industrial process safety management and emergency
planning. Industrial process safety management basically deals with the control
of hazards associated with the industrial processes. It attempts to choose
intrinsically safer processes and apply protective measures for accident
prevention. Process safety management never guarantees freedom from accident.
It only attempts to prevent them to the extent our existing knowledge of the
hazards and practicability of the protective measures. Here comes the role of
emergency planning which takes care of this residual risk. An emergency denotes
a situation, which demands immediate action for preventing serious losses due
to an unforeseen, unplanned and sudden happening. The word emergency plan thus
means a document in which thoughts about such possible unforeseen, unplanned
and sudden happenings have been recorded along with the arrangements for the
immediate action for loss mitigation. Emergency planning is not an alternative
to process safety management but is supplementary to it and it takes care of
the risk, which remained uncovered even after best possible safety management.
The difference between an on-site emergency plan and an off- site emergency
plan is that of their domains. An on-site emergency plan, which is required to
be prepared by the management of the facility, confines itself to, within the
industrial facility. An off-site emergency plan, which is required to be
prepared by the district authorities, covers all such credible happenings
within an industrial estate and includes measures for mitigation of losses to
the property, environment and people outside the industrial facilities.
In our country several statutes make it
mandatory for the factory management and the district authorities to prepare
on-site and off-site emergency plans. Some of these statutes include:
1.
The
Factories Act, 1948.
2.
Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous
Chemical (MSIHC)
Rules, 1989.
3.
Control
of Industrial Major Hazard (CIMAH) Rules, 1990.
4.
The
Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and
Response) Rules, 1996
Significance of emergency planning can be better
understood by studying the consequences of some of the past accidents and their
investigation reports.
·
In
·
In
well-known Feyzin disaster, the explosion of 12 LPG tanks could have been
prevented if the delay in announcing the emergency had been avoided and proper
arrangements for cooling the tank and diverting the vehicular traffic had been
made.
·
In
Dupont (France), where 146 people got killed in a dance hall, which caught
fire, a large number of people could have escaped if the exit gates had not
been closed for preventing unauthorized entry.
In accidents pertaining to toxic releases,
number of casualties could have been reduced if the public in the near vicinity
of the site had been informed about onset of the mishap by blowing a siren and
the information about the wind direction, escape directions and antidotes had
been provided.
A good emergency plan should necessarily
include the following elements:
1.
Identification
of hazards and possible emergencies.
2.
Assessment
of hazards.
3.
Procedures
for rapid actions.
Some well known techniques widely used for
identification and assessment of hazards include:
1.
Data
Analysis of past accidents.
2.
Investigation
of accidents.
3.
Job
Safety Analysis.
4.
Preliminary
Hazard Analysis.
5.
Hazard
and Operability Study.
6.
“What
If” Analysis.
7.
FMECA
(Failure Mode Effect & Criticality Analysis).
8.
Safety
Audit.
9.
Dow
Index & Toxicity Index.
10.
Hazard
Analysis (Fault Tree Analysis & Event Tree Analysis).
11.
Dispersion
Modeling.
The list of potential emergencies should
include:
1.
Emergencies
within the facility.
2.
Emergencies
in the neighborhood that could affect your facility.
While trying to foresee the possible
hazards and emergencies, we should consider the following factors:
1.
Historical: Types of emergencies that have occurred in past in the facility or nearby such as earthquake,
hurricane, tornados,terrorism, hazardous spillage, fire, etc.
2.
Geographical:
Proximity to floodplains, proximity to large storage of hazardous
materials, proximity to main transport routes (railways and airports etc.),
proximity to nuclear plants, etc.
3.
Technological:
What could occur if safety systems fail, process parameters deviate, heating/cooling system
failure, emergency notification system
failure etc.
4.
Human
errors: What emergencies employee’s errors, poor training, carelessness,
misconduct, substance abuse, fatigue,
etc. can cause.
5.
Human
errors: What emergencies employee’s errors, poor training,carelessness,misconduct,
substance abuse, fatigue, etc., can cause.
6.
Physical:
What emergencies could result due to design or construction of the plant such
as layout of equipment, evacuation routes and exits, facilities for storing
combustibles, oxidizers, explosives, proximity to shelter area, etc.
Procedures for rapid action should
essentially include:
1.
Availability
of resources: This should include consideration of both types of resources,
personnel as well as equipment.
2.
Mutual
Aid: This should define with whom, extent of help possible and whom to be
contacted.
3.
Which
team to respond: Action by designated teams needs to be well defined, whether
the team members have been trained in
the actions expected from them.
4.
Means
of communication: This should include separate communication systems for
declaring emergency within the plant and
for informing to outside public, means of communication amongst the emergency
response team members and also with the control room and outside agencies.
5.
Transport
system: Transport system for tackling the emergency should include transport
for equipment, personnel and other
essential supplies. Transport system will also be required for the injured persons, valuables, and
hazardous material and for other people.
While planning emergency equipment the
following need to be considered:
1.
Suitability
2.
Adequacy
3.
Ease
of usage
4.
Reliability
5.
Location
and ease of accessibility
6.
Marking
for quick identification
7.
Record
of periodic examination
Emergency route maps: The emergency plan should include
identification of routes, alternate routes, availability of emergency team,
maintaining emergency routes free from parking of vehicles and storage of junk,
adequacy of emergency routes as per the number of people expected to use them
and emergency illumination of such routes.
Building and site maps: Such maps are of
immense use during tackling of emergencies. Such maps should clearly indicate:
1.
Utility
shutoffs
2.
Water
hydrants
3.
Water
main valves
4.
Water
lines
5.
Gas
main valves
6.
Gas
lines
7.
Electrical
cutoffs
8.
Electrical
substations
9.
Storm
drains
10.
Sewer
lines
11.
Floor
plans
12.
Alarm
and annunciators
13.
Location
of each building (include name of building, street name and number)
14.
Fire
extinguishers
15.
Fire
suppression systems
16.
Exits
17.
Stairways
18.
Designated
escape routes
19.
Restricted
areas
20.
Hazardous
materials (including cleaning supplies and chemicals)
21.
High-value
items
22.
Emergency
control rooms.
Emergency Key personnel: Emergency plan should clearly designate
emergency key personnel such as Site main controller, Site incident controller,
First aid providers, Operators for emergency shut off, Engineering staff, Roll
callers, Running messengers, Traffic controllers, etc.
Site main controller: The site main controller should be the
chief executive of the facility with some of his deputies as his alternates. It
must be ensured that either the chief executive or one of his alternates is
always present in station all the time. Duties of site main controller, in an
emergency, should include: -
1.
Decision
regarding whole works.
2.
Directing
actions from emergency control room.
3.
Assessing
situation.
4.
Declare
emergency (if not already done).
5.
Communication
with internal & external emergency services.
6.
Decide
probable further course of emergency situation & start actions.
7.
Directing
for shutdown of the plant.
8.
Ensuring
proper treatment of injured persons & counting of the persons.
9.
Ensure
traffic control.
10.
Keep
record of events.
11.
Communicate
with media & Govt. agencies.
12.
Control
Rehabilitation.
13.
Directing
for evacuating of the personnel.
Site incident controller: The senior most technical person should
be designated as the site incident controller. Some of his deputies should also
be designated as alternates. Site incident controller should take charge of the
situation in absence of the site main controller. It should be ensured that at
least one site incident controller is present at the site all the times. Duties
of the site incident controller, during an emergency, should include: -
1.
Take
charge of the situation till main controller arrives.
2.
Assess
situation & initiate emergency procedures.
3.
Take
actions for controlling the incident, securing safety of people, material,
plant & environment.
4.
Direct
rescue, firefighting at site.
5.
Coordinate
emergency services at site.
6.
Search
for injured, causalities & arrange for proper aid.
7.
Evacuate
non-essential people.
8.
Maintain
communication with main controller.
9. Preserve evidence.
Details required to be furnished in an
on-site emergency plan, as per schedule 11 of the MSIHC Rules, 1989, are as
under:
1.
Name
and address of the person furnishing the information.
2.
Key
personnel of the organisation and responsibilities assigned to them in case of
an emergency:
3.
Outside
organisations if involved in assisting during on-site emergency:
a. Types of accidents
b. Responsibility assigned
4.
Details
of liaison arrangement between the organizations.
5.
Information
on preliminary hazard analysis:
a.
Types of accident
b. System elements or events that can lead to a
main accident.
c. Hazards.
d. Safety relevant components
6.
Details about the site:
a. Location of dangerous substances
b. Seat of key personnel.
c. Emergency control room.
7. Description of hazardous chemicals at
plant site:
a.
Chemicals (quantities and toxicological data)
b. Transformation if any, which could
occur.
c. Purity of hazardous chemical
8.
Likely
dangers to the plant.
9.
Enumerate
effects of:
a.
Stress
and strain caused during normal operation.
b.
Fire
and explosion inside the plant and effect if
any of fire and explosion outside.
10.
Details
regarding:
a.
Warning,
alarm and safety and security systems.
b.
Alarm
and hazard control plans in line with
disaster control and
organisational precautions.
c.
Reliable
measuring instruments, control units and servicing of
such equipment.
d.
Precautions
in designing of the foundation and load bearing parts of the building.
e. Continuous surveillance of operations.
f. Maintenance and repair work according to
the generally recognised rules of good engineering
practice;
11.
Details of communication facilities available during emergency and those
required for an off-site emergency.
12. Details of firefighting and other facilities
available and those required for an off-site emergency.
13.
Details of first aid and hospital services available and its adequacy.
Details required to be furnished in an off-site emergency plan, as per schedule 12 of the MSIHC Rules, 1989, are as under:
The types of accidents and release to be
taken into account
1.
Organisations
involved including key personnel and responsibilities and liaison arrangements between them.
2.
Information about the site including likely
locations of dangerous substances, personnel and emergency control rooms.
3.
Technical information such as chemical and
physical characteristics and dangers of the substances and plant.
4.
Identify the facilities and transport routes
5.
Contact
for further advice e.g. meteorological information, transport, temporary food and
accommodation, first aid and hospital
services, water and agricultural authorities.
6.
Communication links including telephones,
radios and stand-by methods.
7.
Special equipment including fire fighting
materials, damage control and repair items.
8.
Details of emergency response procedures.
9.
Notify the public.
10.
Evacuation arrangements.
11.
Arrangements for dealing with press and other
media interests.
12.
Longer term cleanup.
Mock Drill: A good emergency plan essentially necessitates a state of preparedness
under all circumstances and the efficacy of arrangements therein can be
assessed only by conducting periodical full scale mock drills. Trained manpower
is an essential ingredient of any emergency plan. Mere provision of
sophisticated equipment without trained manpower is futile. For handling an
unforeseen situation like managing a Chemical Disaster, training of all
personnel concerned is an inevitable input. To acquire necessary knowledge and
skill, all relevant personnel should be given periodic training regarding their
duties and that of their department. Objective of the full-scale mock drill will
be to:
·
Gauge
the preparedness of the emergency plan including detailed planning and keeping
of all equipment in good fettle.
· Integrate the operational response to
measure overall performance of the exercise.
· Measure performance with regard to
restoration.
During these full scale mock drills,
following aspects should be closely watched
· Assembly of staff.
· Handling of rescue equipment.
· Logging of events.
· Functioning of generator sets, lighting
equipments.
· Preparedness of first-aiders and
availability of medical equipment.
· Knowledge of duties by the key persons.
An industrial installation should have a well-balanced process
safety management programme along with a well-rehearsed on-site emergency plan.
District authorities should prepare off-site emergency plans for the industrial
estates under their jurisdiction.
REFERENCES:
a.
Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous
Chemical (MSIHC) Rules, (1989).
b.
Control of Industrial Major Hazard (CIMAH) Rules,
(1990).
S.B.Mathur
Director
(Safety)
RLI,
Kanpur, DGFASLI