Emergency Response Plan
The state of emergency is unpredictable and unplanned. That can cause serious deaths and injuries to staff, customers or the community, total disruption of processes, operations, environmental and physical damage. Emergencies can be natural or man-made, such as floods, hurricanes, fires, release of toxic gases, chemical spills, radiological accidents and public disturbances. Emergency response is the action taken to decrease the effects of an accident or crisis and save lives, reduce physical or mental injury and prevent future damage. Emergency Response Plan is a set of actions that guarantee the safety of the employer and the employee in an emergency. In other words, the plan includes: preparation process, risk reduction, emergency response and normalization. Emergency response planning is the most important component of emergency preparedness. The plan describes actions that keep employees safe in an emergency. The main elements of an emergency response plan are:
• Procedures for reporting emergency situations.
• Implementation procedures to alert employees in emergency situations (warning systems).
• Maneuvering and evacuation procedures.
• Executive methods of counting people.
• The duties and responsibilities of individuals in rescue and medical practice.
• Description of personnel training.
• Procedures for those who Are involved in stopping critical operations, fire-fighting and special-purpose teams.
Emergency situations cause many damage to industries and many deaths each year. Emergency situations are unpredictable and unplanned situations that can result in death or serious injury to employees, customers, or the community as well as disrupting work operations and damage to the environment. These conditions can happen to anyone, anywhere and at any time and one must be prepared to deal with these conditions and evacuate workplaces when these conditions occur. The best way to protect employees and workplaces is to expect extraordinary events and create a good emergency response plan.
Emergency Response Plan
When designing an emergency response plan, the potential emergency situations that can occur in the workplace must be considered in various respects. The plan should be relevant to the risks involved in the place and include information on all potential sources of emergency. Developing an emergency response plan means assessing the hazards in order to determine what physical or chemical hazards can create an emergency in the work environment.
Elements of Emergency Response Plan in the Complex which implemented by the HSE unit of this complex are as follows :
The way should inform employees in emergency situations
The plan also includes to inform all staff, such as disabled staff, that they can do the work they have to do or report an emergency. The alarm sound should be set so that it can be distinguished from the background noise. Visual, vibrational or sensory alarms have been used in places where some people may not be able to hear sound alarms. These alarms are very obvious and indicate the responsibility of people to evacuate or perform any operation in an emergency. Alarms are also used to alert outside forces (police, firefighters, etc.).
Alarms and warning systems are designed to alert foreign workers. Alarms and warning systems are also regularly checked to ensure they are safe.
Emergency evacuation
Emergency evacuation means the evacuation of all people and resources (equipment, property, etc.) out of the accident site.
The Emergency Discharge Guidelines include the following:
1- The emergency evacuation procedure is quite simple and provides complete evacuation of people from the scene.
2- The emergency exit route map is clear , accessible and operational, in which all emergency exit routes are identified by signs or colors that are visible 24 hours.
3- The way for notifying the staff.
4- How to access the rescue team and search for people in this team if alarms are specified.
5- Emergency lighting (local type) is provided to provide adequate lighting during discharge (during power outage), for stairs and corridors and all exit routes.
6- Foreign staff are completely familiar with alert signs and emergency exit routes.
7- Forecasting the climate and ensuring that evacuated people are protected from the weather, etc.
8- Considering those who are in charge for this kind of situation , ensuring the complete evacuation of people and equipment.
9- Identify the missing persons.
10- Identify important equipment and installations that need to be evacuate (such as centeral computers).
11- Inappropriate evacuation can lead to confusion and damage to the equipment. Employees should be given special training before as pre- employment training , so that they are ready to be leave under any circumstances. Also, specific people in the workplace should be responsible for making decisions about evacuation or disrupting critical operations; all employees must be familiar with all evacuation methods or symptoms beforehand and the health and safety conditions of the employees should be a major priority in the site. For this purpose, the HSE has provided personnel with the necessary training on how to properly evacuate in emergencies.
12- In the preparation of the individual emergency response plan, someone is selected as the coordinator and the evacuation officer. It is important for staff to know the person in charge and to know who is making an emergency decision. The Coordinator shall be responsible for:
• Assessment of the situation to determine whether the existing emergency situation requires emergency procedures to be implemented.
• Staff evacuation supervision.
• Supervising emergency services outside the work environment such as firefighters and medical assistants
Emergency exit routes and routes:
When preparing an emergency response plan, emergency exit routes and doors must be identified and ensured that they meet the following requirements:
• Have sufficient width to evacuate staff.
• The Emergency routes must be unobstructed.
• People are not exposed to other dangers.
• Emergency exit routes and routes should be identified on a map and made should be available to everyone.
Counting people after evacuation:
Counting all the people after evacuation is very important. Confusion and lack of planning can lead to delays in rescuing people trapped in buildings or leading to unnecessary and dangerous search and rescue operations. In order to quickly and accurately count personnel, the following must be considered in an emergency response plan:
• Identify a place to gather after evacuation.
• After evacuation census should be done.
• Develop a method for counting non-staff such as customers and visitors.
Emergency medical measures:
The First Aid activities and Emergency Relief has been taught to everyone in the HSE unit. Treatment for severely injured people should begin 3 to 4 minutes after the accident. Untrained people are endangering both themselves and those who seek to rescue them, so rescue operations should only be carried out by trained, competent, and equipped people.
Emergency Response Plan Requirements for dangerous materials:
All industry managers should always be prepared to deal with hazardous materials such as flammable, explosive, toxic, corrosive, biological and radioactive substances. The source of hazardous materials may be external, such as neighboring chemical factories, or it may be a source of contaminants within the organization. There must be readiness to deal with both. Regardless of the source of the pollutant, these materials affect the staff and the work environment, so they should be considered in the emergency response plan. If hazardous materiaks are used:
• A list of the chemicals materials should be collected and MSDS made and be available to staff.
• Contents of material must be labeled.
• The risks and harms of the materials must have written and be available to staff.
• Although many crises cannot be prevented, injuries and damages can be restricted and returned to normal quickly. Key activities include risk assessment, planning, training, equipment testing, and working with neighboring and responsible organizations.
evaluation of Emergency Response Plan
Emergency response plans are reviewd annually at the Dorfak Shomal Steel Complex. In addition to annual audits, the following circumstances are the reason them be changed and revised in the emergency response plan:
• After training exercises and maneuvers.
• After any emergency.
• When appointing someone new in charge or changing their responsibilities.
• When changing the design, process or layout of equipment.
• When switching to related methods and instructions.
Emergency Response and Response Measures:
The following should always be considered in this regard:
• Security
• Water supply
• Improving the environment
• Primary health care
• Search and rescue
• Providing emergency shelter
• Fire extinguishing :
