Risk Awareness Leads to Accident Prevention
Leonard Meador
Benefits of the Emergency Action Plan
- Coordinated and quick mitigation of the emergency
- Shows professionalism and improves creditability
- Defines site and situation specific responses
- Helps reduce negative social impacts
Stages of an Emergency
- Imminent emergency
- Emergency in progress
- Emergency discovered after the fact
Imminent Emergency
- Containment liquid levels at or above freeboard
- Inoperable liquid level sensors and alarms
- Obstructed transfer lines and sumps
- Non-protected entry to manure storage containments
- Misplaced equipment guards or open electrical wiring
Emergency in Progress
- Over topping or leaking manure containment
- Actively leaking transfer line
- Manure actively running or drifting off of the application site
- Accident of transport vehicle on public use roadway
- Witnessed personal injury or death due to known cause
Emergency Discovered After the Fact
- Leak in foundation or berm of manure containment
- Evidence of manure in tiles or water courses
- Discovery of an un-witnessed personal injury accident
- Death of workers or livestock due to unwitnessed causes
Evaluating Level of Risk
- High Level
- Moderate Level
- Low Level
High Level of Risk – Immediate Action Required from Multi-Sources
- Serious Personal Injury
- Threat to Freshwater Supply
- Spill Has Occurred on Public Use Right-away
Moderate Level of Risk
- Minor Personal Injuries
- Spill affects only private use property
- Threat to flowing stream
- Exposure to surface drainage
Low Level of Risk
- No personal injuries
- No immediate threat to public use areas
- No immediate threat to surface or ground water
- Emergency contained on owned or controlled property
Plan Development
- Preplan
- Training and Awareness
- Post and Label
- Review and Update
Preplanning
- Contacts on and off the site
- Actions to be taken
- Reporting procedures
- Record-keeping
Preplan — Contacts On and Off the Site
- On-Site Emergency Response Personnel: Name, Home Phone, Cell Phone, Pager
- Recovery Equipment Location: Sand bags (20-25), Absorbent pads (10-15), Backhoe, Dozer, Tractor and Vacuum Tank
- Off-Site Emergency Response Personnel: Fire and Rescue, Ambulance, Sheriffs Department, State Enviro Agency, Local Enviro Agency
Preplan — Actions
- Spills From Containment Breaches or Structure Failures
- Spills During Pumping Operations
- Shut off all pumping equipment
- Build a sand bag dike to contain or divert spills away from tiles, watercourses, and roadways
- Use absorbent pads to stop leaks in dike
- Remove spill from diked area with vacuum tank
- If larger dike is necessary use backhoe to reinforce with soil barrier.
- Spills During Transportation on Public Roadways
Preplan — Reporting
- Spill Reporter Name
- Date and time
- Location of spill
- Pumping volume per minute
- Approximate amount of spill
- Application Rate (gal/acre)
- Application method
- Manure source
- Affected landowners
- How did the spill occur?
- What action was taken?
- Recommendations to prevent future spill of this kind.
Preplan — Record Keeping
- Emergency Response Checklists
- Training and Test Records
- Actual Spill or Emergency Response Documentation
- Agency Inspections or Plan Reviews
Training and Awareness – Who are the Response Leaders?
- Production Facility Owner
- Unit Manager
- Maintenance Manager
- Field Supervisor
- Fire Department
- Sheriffs Department
- Civil Defense
Training and Awareness – Spill Recovery Six Part Process
- Attend to Any Personal Injuries
- Stop the Manure Flow
- Contain the Spilled Manure
- Remove and Land Apply the Spilled Manure
- Make Any Needed Repairs
- Restore the Affected Landscape
Training and Awareness
- Bilingual training where necessary
- Initially train all new employees
- Substitute and seasonal employees
- Provide written Standard Operation Procedures
Post and Label – Post By All Phones
- Emergency phone numbers
- Directions to nearest town
- E 911 address of facility
- After-hours, weekends, and holidays phone numbers
- Site diagram of all facilities and containments
Post and Label
- Use pictures and large letters to label key items
- Mark electrical, water, and gas shutoffs
- Post building diagrams to show key shutoff points
- Make emergency procedures available to all workers at all times
Review and Update
- Review emergency procedures seasonally
- Prepare record system to store all documentation
- Communicate with employees to add precautions they see
- Update emergency plans when any changes occur