“Why don’t the evening shift get specific training exercises?” was a question we were recently asked, while delivering a briefing on updates to the emergency response plan for a client.
The safety of the workforce is at the pinnacle of every decision and action taken by that client. They have an excellent emergency response plan, with well trained and exercised emergency response teams. To date all the exercises have been conducted during the normal day shift, with members of the emergency response team from the evening shift brought in.
The vast bulk of the facilities work-load is done during the standard day shift but there is also a smaller evening shift who are involved in manufacturing as well as preparation of the facility for the next day-shift. This usually involves the movement of raw material chemicals into the production area for the next day.
The challenges facing an evening shift differ greatly from the day shift. There are usually significantly less people on site, which is good for an emergency evacuation, but equally there are less people available to respond to a critical incident.
To test the emergency response plan for the evening shift we conducted a training exercise on-site during the evening tour of duty. The scenario was a fire in an area of this large facility. To highlight the possible vulnerability of first responders going to the scene of an incident, the exercise injects led to them being overcome by the smoke and not responding to communications from the emergency controller. During day shifts when there are lots of personnel available, it is possible to have greater support for first responders. That luxury may not be available during evening or night shifts. The exercise scenario reinforced the training that the team have already received in ensuring their own personal safety while responding as part of the emergency response team.
Emergency response plans are simply fancy documents until they are tested. For any help and advice on your plan contact www.cuttleconsulting.ie .
Plan | Prepare | Perform