Gas detection in the chemical industry can range from hand-held specialized gas monitors used by industrial hygienists or chemical engineers to the basic clip detection monitors used by the hundreds of operations personnel and contractors at a facility. There are a wide range of chemical hazards that can be found throughout a plant and there are many to detect these hazards. Because of this, it can be difficult to keep track of who is monitoring what hazards, where, and how.
The truth, however, is that keeping your employees and community safe has never been easier through the effective use of a chemical emergency toolkit.
Whether your gas monitoring program consists of a small team in one area or hundreds of contractors, one point remains the same: a properly vetted and practiced emergency toolkit is critical.
The core objective of a chemical emergency toolkit is to provide a common operating framework during emergencies, rapidly respond to incidents, limit financial loss, and protect human health. An emergency toolkit is a testament of your commitment to the safety and well-being of your community, your employees, and your shareholders.
In communities across the globe, most residents living near chemical facilities have not been trained on how to respond during a chemical accident – meaning it’s up to you and your team to protect your community from any hazardous gases or related incidents.
A 2018 survey, “Awareness about hazardous chemicals of residents living near chemical plants in South Korea,” found that only 10 percent of residents living near chemical facilities had been trained or educated on how to respond during a chemical accident, while only 30 percent of residents believed the facility operators had taken proper actions against chemical accidents in the past.
Including your community in your chemical emergency toolkit is crucial. By outlining communication plans and training the community along with your workers on sheltering-in-place and other protective measures, you can assure community members that you are ready to handle emergencies quickly and confidently without harming human life. The people in your community count on you to keep them safe—don’t let them down.
The first line of defense against gas hazards is a small personal monitor. These devices, while essential, are often treated as the ultimate protection against gas hazards when in fact they represent the first building block in a true emergency response toolkit. While personal gas monitors are critical in protecting individual personnel, a true emergency response plan requires careful consideration of how these tools can be used in a broader context. By properly equipping your workers and responders, you are already taking a key step toward protecting your people and your community.
Adding connected area monitoring equipment like the Radius® BZ1 greatly improves multi-threat detection, establishes hazard perimeters, monitors for long-term hazards, enables remote monitoring of potential critical receptors, and is easy to re-deploy as a chemical emergency unfolds.
Incorporating real-time weather data in your chemical emergency toolkit helps increase the scope of your response readiness. Conditions can change rapidly during a crisis and relying on data that is delayed can seriously impair your ability to make the safest decision. By understanding live weather conditions surrounding your site, you can pinpoint areas of concern and ensure the safety of the potentially affected population. No matter the hazard, real-time weather data helps enable rapid assessment of where to deploy team members in an emergency.
Dynamic plume modeling software, like SAFER One®, is extremely versatile and can help your team in an emergency by:
Dynamic plume models automatically adjust to your site’s conditions while recording incidents from the beginning of the incident to end. This feature gives you the information you need to understand any potential environmental impacts as well as review and develop lessons learned from the incident.
Once you have added the right gas detection equipment to your chemical emergency toolkit, you should take the following steps to follow safety best practices:
In a recent example, a major refinery in the U.S. implemented their own emergency response toolkit and began running true-to-life drills with simulated chemical plumes. In doing so, they discovered that local first responders would be severely impacted by the modeled chemical hazard as they attempted to reach the facility. They were able to incorporate this information into their toolkit and are now able to ensure first responders will be protected while they respond to future incidents.
Having a set plan in place, knowing how to use your gas detection equipment, incorporating dynamic modeling, and consistently practicing emergency response drills is critical in not only establishing control during an emergency but keeping workers and communities safe during a time when every moment matters.
To get the most value out of your chemical emergency toolkit and the tools you’ve invested in, you should be using them for day-to-day operations, too. When you run plume models in SAFER One and prepare for planned events that you anticipate may be risky, you can take your safety plans from reactive to proactive to prevent exposure and reportable incidents.
By combining your toolkit with emergency drills and operational readiness, you can take control of any situation to protect your workers, community, and environment.
To learn more about creating a chemical emergency toolkit, achieving operational readiness, and more, download our exclusive ebook.