Guest Post by Bill Pomfret (first posted on CERM ® RISK INSIGHTS – reposted here with permission)
Evacuation management is a necessary element of safety planning for oil and gas operations. It is critical to be prepared to evacuate personnel quickly and safely in the event of an emergency, as every second counts when lives are on the line. Evacuation drills and preparation exercises can be disruptive and time-consuming.
However, the overhead costs and lost productivity expended in preparation for emergency scenarios have become accepted as unavoidable costs of doing business. That’s because until now, there hasn’t been an efficient way to manage and improve evacuation drills while still adequately preparing team members for real emergencies.
Traditional evacuations depend on manual headcounts at muster points. It’s an extremely time-consuming process that can be prone to error with rescue teams left to search for unaccounted for workers. In addition, without detailed data about the effectiveness of the drill, it is difficult for management to measure and improve on their emergency preparedness over time. This is where the digital worksite and connected safety solutions can make a world of difference, making it possible to save time during evacuation drills, measure and improve emergency preparedness, reduce unnecessary efforts and expenditures, and ensure efficient and timely emergency responses that leave no one behind in the event of an actual emergency.
For evacuation management, a digital worksite solution leverages personal gas monitoring devices, like Blackline’s G7c, that refinery and offshore workers are already wearing to protect them from hazardous gases. These GPS-enabled connected safety devices, coupled with online monitoring software, make it possible to visualize everyone’s location throughout an evacuation, helping to accelerate response times and streamline the process of accounting for the wellbeing of each person.
Bio:
Dr. Bill Pomfret of Safety Projects International Inc who has a training platform, said, “It’s important to clarify that deskless workers aren’t after any old training. Summoning teams to a white-walled room to digest endless slides no longer cuts it. Mobile learning is quickly becoming the most accessible way to get training out to those in the field or working remotely. For training to be a successful retention and recruitment tool, it needs to be an experience learner will enjoy and be in sync with today’s digital habits.”
Every relationship is a social contract between one or more people. Each person is responsible for the functioning of the team. In our society, the onus is on the leader. It is time that employees learnt to be responsible for their actions or inaction, as well. And this takes a leader to encourage them to work and behave at a higher level. Helping employees understand that they also need to be accountable, visible and communicate what’s going on.
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