In our previous post we explained how most safety professionals consider quarterly emergency drills a reasonable frequency (on average, every site is different of course!) Australian Standard AS 3745—2010 ‘Planning for emergencies in facilities’ states that: The size and configuration of the facility, together with the type of occupancy, will determine the type and time interval between emergency response exercises. These may be conducted either as partial emergency response exercises or … [Read more...] about Emergency Drill Frequency (2 of 2)
Complacency: how to address it
‘Complacency’: self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers of deficiencies (Merriam Webster dictionary). When applied to safety in the workplace, it’s probably more relevant to define it as the workers numbed perception of risk through habit and after a long period free from incidents. Complacency ultimately causes workers to lower their guard and cut corners affecting their safety and that of their peers. There are two key characteristics that I believe … [Read more...] about Complacency: how to address it
Fire Alarm at International Airport
I had to go to a conference in Sao Paulo last year in October, and I flew via one of the largest international hubs in the world. Allow me not to say the name, but you know, that really big one ;-)... During the four-hour stopover at the airport the fire alarm was triggered in the international transit zone. This is what happened: At approximately 10pm local time, the PA system went off buzzing and a recorded message started to play. It went something like ‘Attention, attention. … [Read more...] about Fire Alarm at International Airport
Emergency Drill Frequency (1 of 2)
The other day we did a safety audit on our premises. During the session, we discussed what the adequate emergency drill frequency should be. Most workplaces do one evacuation yearly, which is consistent with the minimum recommended by Australian Standard AS 3745—2010 ‘Planning for emergencies in facilities’: All areas of a facility shall participate in at least one emergency response exercise involving an evacuation each year. Out of curiosity I started a conversation (Emergency … [Read more...] about Emergency Drill Frequency (1 of 2)
Learning from an emergency exercise on site
A couple of years ago we conducted an emergency exercise on site where we simulated a chlorine gas leak. Chlorine is a toxic gas that is widely used for water treatment across a number of industries. When a leak occurs it is important to notify all site occupants and also direct them to a safe assembly area or evacuation point. In an open site like ours, this safe area may be different to the standard safe areas in the evacuation plan given the fact that the wind can direct the toxic gas plume … [Read more...] about Learning from an emergency exercise on site