Employees Hone Skills to Handle Emergencies

During exercises, mustard takes the place of hazardous materials, as trainees learn how to contain and control a chemical release and handle the cleanup so that it’s safe to resume production.

Employees at Imperial Sugar Company’s Port Wentworth sugar refinery in Georgia are getting continuing hands-on training in handling potential emergencies. Recently, in an emergency preparedness drill, first responders at the plant donned chemical protection suits and learned how to clean up small amounts of hazardous material on their gear should they ever need to deal with a chemical spill.

Each year, the company trains several groups of employees as first responders to handle emergencies at its plants. The initial training consists of 40 hours of instruction in three OSHA-certified courses for emergency response teams: hazardous material response, confined space rescue and incipient fire drills.

“The annual drills not only assure compliance with OSHA standards but also equip team members to handle emergencies effectively within the scope of their training,” said Darren Pevey, a Port Wentworth safety manager and facility security officer who is part of the First Responder Team’s monthly meetings and organizes their training sessions.

“They learn that it’s just as important to recognize when not to attempt to control an emergency and to call for professional assistance early so they never put themselves or their team members at risk.”

With two days of classroom instruction and three days of drills, the training provides basic instruction in triage medical care, including first aid and CPR for life-threatening emergencies and the ability to recognize and respond to other serious safety or health hazards.

Custom Training Technologies founder David Flory, a contractor and expert who conducted the training, explained what was behind each of the drills, for example:

Chemical Spill Containment

Chemical spills can result from a broken drum or container or a ruptured line. During our exercises, trainees learned how to contain and control a chemical release and handle the cleanup so that it’s safe to resume production.

Confined Space Rescue

“We conducted confined space rescue drills at the old Georgia Pacific facility nearby, where first responders performed tank and vessel extrications in coordination with the Port Wentworth Fire Department,” Flory says.

The goal of the drills was to recognize medical emergencies in and out of confined spaces and safely handle and deliver the victims to emergency medical technicians (EMTs). One of the drills involved moving a victim from an upper level at the facility to the ground, where EMTs were waiting to take over.

Incipient Fire Response

Incipient fires are beginning-stage fires that don’t require any personal protective equipment.

The trainees did live fire exercises and hose drills. We talked about the fire protection equipment on site. We also reviewed the fire protection system at the plant and how it operates, including the alarm system and controlling the fire pump system and water.

Flory said one of the things he emphasizes in the training is getting employees to make an assessment whether a response is beyond their capabilities or not.

“Any response should start with questions: ‘What’s going on? Where’s the hazard? Is anyone injured?’” Flory said. “Based on answers to these type of questions, they formulate a response plan.”

As part of that plan, first responders determine if they should respond offensively or defensively. The goal is to respond directly or offensively, without depending on outside help, if the situation is within the scope of their level of training.

A defensive approach might be indicated if, for example, combating a fire requires protective personal gear. In that case, responders would call for outside help and might wet down areas adjacent to the fire to keep it from spreading. Or, in a situation involving a massive chemical spill, they might mitigate the spread of the spill into a nearby river while waiting on professional help.

Keeping emergency situations in check is not the only benefit of emergency preparedness training. Training also helps employees recognize conditions that lead to disasters before they occur. As Flory said, “The best way to deal with emergencies is to prevent them.”

About 60 employees participated in three separate training sessions during a three-week period.