No industry is safe. The frequent threat of a major fire or leaking toxic gases or chemicals leakage from industrial incidents can be devastating. When an emergency occurs on an industrial site, the most feared risk, which could happen, is not only in terms of the potential for catastrophic damage, but in terms of the risk of life. The basic requirement of planning for an emergency evacuation in large plant is the same as it is in a smaller, less complex facility, to provide adequate means of quick and safe escape for employees and visitors, especially to those workers working in height.
Introduction
With the Occupational Health & Safety legislation and the Disability Discrimination Act now in place, owners of industries and employers must not only provide a safe working environment but also a safe means of access and egress for all occupants (employees and visitors) of buildings (offices, facilities, plants and factories). Plant managers must also provide adequate means of quick emergency egress for high-hazard occupancies is an important part of this legal obligation. In the event of a hazard in the workplace at tall structure, in the workstation at equipment and machine of considerable height, workers have a right to egress quickly, which is the responsibility of employers. For example, escape chutes are installed on earth moving plant to satisfy the safety requirements of the Mines Department, NSW in Australia.
Emergency Preparedness
No ones like to contemplate the possibility of a major industrial evacuation. Once a hazard has been detected it is important that the facility’s emergency response team must be able to respond quickly and effectively with the procedures, equipment and training available for all type of emergency situations. All employees within the industrial site must receive adequate notification so that an orderly, safe evacuation can take place if necessary.
The facility manager must take necessary steps to ensure that all the means of escape capable of being safety and effectively used at all material times in case of fire and employees are familiar with these means of escape. Site employees are at a greater risk and must be trained to have basic knowledge and skills required for protective actions and self-evacuation in respond to any industrial emergency. The use of proper respiratory protective equipment can protect the workers from inhaling smoke and other hazardous gases in the process of emergency escape from danger.
When evacuating, all staff/occupants should guide guests/visitors to the nearest exit staircase/fire exit. Apart from establishing a systematic and orderly evacuation plan, the safety manager must set emergency procedures to bring the elderly, disabled, pregnant women, etc, if present, are given particular attention during evacuation. Some fire departments approve the use of fire elevators if available for evacuation of people with mobility impairments, while others deem this method too risky. Although current fire regulations do not require buildings to provide escape chutes for escape or rescue purposes, building owners and employers in many countries have installed escape chute system to meet their evacuation requirement as part of emergency preparedness.
Escape Chute For Evacuation Slides In Industrial Applications
Apart from stairs, ladders, rope-descending devices that are traditional used for emergency egress in industrial facilities, a quicker way down to escape from immediate danger for workers working in high-hazard occupancies is the used of escape chute.
Escape chute is a reusable preparedness solution to help workers working at considerable height on structure, equipment and machine to get down quickly in the event of a hazardous situation. Escape chutes are used by industrial facilities, such as grain silos, process plants, oil cracking towers, offshore oil rigs, ferries, control towers, shuttle launch pad, mining shovels, overhead cranes, etc for emergency exiting. A safety escape chute can makes a huge difference in the potential survivability where a worker could be trapped at height in an emergency situation with no other means of escape or rescue.
For example, the application of escape chutes for evacuation slides in the space center. A deluge system and the escape chutes are in place in the towers of launch pads, from which the shuttles are launched. If the shuttle has to be evacuated in an emergency from the launch pads, the deluge system is activated while the rescue and shuttle crews are moving from the orbiter to the evacuation slides. All the crews know how to use the escape chutes for evacuation slides in the event that they need to extricate themselves. They can quickly get to the bunker at the ground before the fire department arrives.
Another example, the application of emergency escape chutes onto fixed and mobile mining equipment was first initiated in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia in 1998. The installation of such escape chute onto a 540 tone Hydraulic Shovel proved itself in October 2000 when during the early hours of a morning shift, not long after the shovel had been fuelled and greased. There was a loud explosion, and a fire started which quickly burned the two engine compartments and the operator's cabin. The operator realizing that the fire blocked his escape via the cabin door, kicked out the side window, and stepped out onto the side platform where the escape chute had been fitted. Then by activating the chute container, and entering the chute, the operator was safely on the ground in less than 20 seconds. The operator's comments after travelling through the chute were: " I could feel the heat of the fire as I traveled through the chute. But felt very comfortable and safe". It is a credit to the Mine Management, who had the foresight, to have the escape system installed, that the operator escaped very easily and was not killed or badly injured had he jumped the 5 meters from the platform.
Conclusion
Whilst safety is of paramount importance in any industries so is the ability to ensure all workers working from height can also get down and out quick from danger. A safer strategy would be to get as many people evacuated out of a dangerous workplace in a predetermined evacuation plan than having to depend on firefighters to perform rescue operations is the only acceptable way in guaranteeing life safety prevention.
This article contributed by Escape Consult Mobiltex (S) Pte Ltd. For more information on escape chute evacuation system, please visit our website: www.escapeconsult.com
