1. INTRODUCTION:

“An Emergency is a situation, which may lead to or cause large-scale damage or destruction of life, property or environment within or outside the Factory. Such an unexpected situation may be too difficult to handle for the normal work force within the plant”.

Nobody expects an emergency or disaster – especially one that affects them, their employees, and their business personally. Yet the simple truth is that emergencies and disasters can strike anyone, anytime, and anywhere. You and your employees could be forced to evacuate your company when you least expect it.

Emergency plan contains policies and procedures developed by an organization to be used during an emergency or disaster to prevent or minimize damage to an organization, its people and its resources [1].

In spite of various preventive and precautionary measures taken in the coal handling plant, the possibility of a mishap cannot be totally ruled out. Hence, the need to prepare a Contingency Plan for dealing with incidences which may still occur and are likely to affect life and / or property, both within the plant and in the immediate neighborhood. Such an emergency could be the result of malfunction of the Plant and Equipment or non-observance of operating instructions.

The research work deals strategies Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) at Coal Handling Plant in View of Safety Work Management at Khaparkheda coal fired thermal power plant.

Following are the potential emergencies that can be occurs at any point of time in any industries

* Fire

* Structural collapse

* Industrial unrest

* Food/ water poisoning

* Transport Accident

* Cyclonic Strom

* War

* Bomb

II TYPES OF EMERGENCIES:

Level-I: Operator/Factory level

This category of emergency can be taken as situation aroused out of routine operational activities.

Level-II: On site crisis

This emergency corresponds to level II category emergencies. In such emergencies normally only the corridor area is affected but the intensity of crisis is such as to warrant help from outside agencies, neighbors such as mutual aid scheme partners.

The consequences of level III emergencies may escalate to such a magnitude that it affects the emergency smoothly with minimum effect on life and property to avoid happening of disaster. Hence in offsite crisis, assistance is further required from local bodies e.g. Civil Defence, Police Station, Hospitals, etc.

III LITERATURE REVIEW:

An emergency action plan establishes procedures that prevent fatalities, injuries, and property damage. The plan must cover the actions the employer and employees are to take to ensure employee safety in the case of fire or other emergencies[2]. Every occupier shall, on-site emergency plan and detailed disaster control measures for his factory and make known to the workers employed therein and to the general public living in the vicinity of the factory the safety measures required to be taken in the event of an accident taking place [3]. An important element of any system for the prevention of major accidents is the establishment of site-specific emergency plan personnel with adequate training and resources. [4]. Disaster Management act 2005 provide for the effective management of disasters and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto [5].

IV OBJECTIVES THE STUDY:

The objectives of EPP is to describe the thermal power plant emergency preparedness, the resource availability and response actions applicable to deal with various types of emergencies that could occur at the site with organization structure being deployed in shortest time possible during the emergency.

1. To minimize losses in terms of human lives, working man-hours, power plant and societal assets.

2. To minimize chaos and confusion among the people during emergency.

3. To resume normal operations as soon as possible.

4. To anticipate any emergency and determine the methods, equipments, facilities and expertise to tackle them effectively.

5. To reduce the response time by having a planned communication system and allocating the responsibilities to concerned persons.

6. Arrange training in emergency preparedness through lectures and mock-drills.

V PHASES OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLAN

Mitigation

Mitigation efforts are attempts to prevent hazards from developing into emergency/disasters altogether or to reduce the effects of emergency/disasters. Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of emergency/disasters. This is achieved through risk analysis, which results in information that provides a foundation for mitigation activities that reduce risk.

Preparedness

Preparedness is how we change behavior to limit the impact of emergency/disaster events on employees, assets and people. Preparedness is a continuous cycle of planning, managing, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, creating, evaluating, monitoring and improving activities to ensure effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities of concerned organizations to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, create resources and mitigate the effects of emergency/ disasters. In the preparedness phase, action plans are carefully chalked out to counter risks and also to develop the necessary capabilities needed to implement such plans. Common preparedness measures include:

Ø Communication plans with easily understandable terminology and methods.

Ø Proper maintenance and training of emergency services, including human resources.

Ø Development and exercise of emergency warning methods combined with emergency shelters and evacuation plans.

Ø Responsibilities and duties of persons responsible.

Response

The response phase includes the mobilization of the necessary emergency services like firefighters, medical crew, ambulance, maintenance services, and trained volunteers. A well rehearsed emergency plan developed as part of the preparedness phase enables efficient coordination of rescue. The quick response to emergency/disaster need both discipline (structure, doctrine, process) and agility (creativity, improvisation, adaptability).It also need to build an effective leadership team who can quickly coordinate and manage the emergent circumstances.

Recovery

The aim of the recovery phase is to restore the affected area to its previous state. It differs from the response phase in its focus; recovery efforts are concerned with issues and decisions that must be made after immediate needs are addressed. Recovery efforts are primarily concerned with actions that involve rebuilding destroyed property, repair of essential infrastructure, resuming of business operations and processes. Efforts should be made to "build back better workplace", aiming to reduce the pre-disaster risks inherent in the Power plant and infrastructure. People after the emergency/disaster are more likely to accept more mitigative changes when a recent emergency/ disaster is in fresh memory

Fig 1Coal transportation process at coal handling plant

VI METHODOLOGY:

The On-Site EPP is administrated by the owner or occupier of the installation, guidelines provided as per above Literature review. The Off-Site EPP is administrated by the District Magistrate with the assistance of other relevant authorities. Aim of EPP is to identify, contain and ultimately bring the incident under control and minimize the losses especially human loss.

A Questionnaire consist of 21 questions is developed and distribute to all workers/higher authority in the coal handling plant for data collection. One aim of this questionnaire is to identify the awareness of safety/hazard, and to collect Information of Hazard at particular site. Data from 100 employees collect to gather the information about the hazards presents and can occurs at coal handling plant which will lead towards emergency.

VII IDENTIFIED MAJOR HAZARDS AT CHP:

ü High temperature and pressure.

ü Fire and explosion

ü Toxic and corrosive chemicals.

ü Toxic and poisonous gases.

ü Coal Dust.

ü Flying Ash.

ü Work in confined space/vessels/tanks.

ü Specific jobs carried under highly hazardous atmosphere.

ü Non working of safety devices, interlocks, failure of high rpm rotating machines.

ü Working at heights.

ü Failure/bursting of Boilers.

ü Leak of Ammonia, Chlorine, Hydrogen, ozone

ü Failure of EOT Cranes, Chain, Pulley Block, Slings, Hooks, Ropes during handling of heavy equipment, machineries and cargo.

ü Fall of object during manual material Handling.

ü Tripping, falling, and toppling over material and objects.

ü Slippery approach ways and floor area.

ü Fall of objects and/or hand tools from height.

ü Animal and/or reptile bite.

ü Radiation hazards.

ü Cut, slit, puncture with hand tools as well as powered tools.

ü Entanglement in conveyors, railway wagon door.

ü Entrapment in nip points of the rotator machineries etc.

ü Hazards due to inadequate Identification of Pipelines.

VIII A) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS:

Administrative controls are of very much importance as they are the best to give information how to do any process and what to do if any hazards/emergencies occur to make it less impact.

ü Work Instructions, Awareness

ü Trainings, Sign / warning Boards Displays in

prominent places

ü Health Checkups. Housekeeping.

ü Safety audits

ü Inspection of places.

ü Sign boards

ü Procedure to exit

B) ENGINEERING CONTROLS:

Engineering controls are of very much importance as if any hazards/emergencies occur to make it less impact they are useful.

ü Dust Control Guard,

ü Dust separator.

ü Fire fighting

ü Automation, use of sensors,

ü Safety belts, Automatic guards.

ü Use of activators,

ü automatic guards,

ü Automatic shut-off systems.

ü Sources(To know miss functioning)

ü Sound Pollution Management

C) PRECAUTION TO BE TAKEN DURING

ATTENDING EMERGENCIES:

ü Give information to the site incharge.

ü Use of alarm system,

ü Restricting access to the personal.

ü Use emergency guidelines

ü Avoid spillages.

ü Swith off main switch. .

ü Use protection guidelines..

ü Restricting access to the personal.

ü Collect at near assembly point

ü Listen carefully the type of alarm,

ü Use protection guidelines.

IX. KEY PERSONNEL’S RESPONSIBILITY:

1. Site Controller

He will retain overall responsibility for the factory and its personnel. As soon as he is informed of the emergency he shall proceed to the control room and meet the P. and A. Manager. His duties shall be:

i) Assess the magnitude of the situation and decide if staff needs to be evacuated from their assembly points.

ii) Exercise direct operational control over areas other than those affected.

iii) Maintain a continuous review of possible development and assess in consultation with Incident Controller and other Key personnel as to whether shutting down of the plant or any section of the plant and evacuation of persons is required.

iv) Liaison with Senior Officials of Police, Fire Brigade, Directorate of Industrial Safety, provide advice on possible effects on areas outside.

2. Incident Controller:

On hearing of an emergency siren he will rush to the scene of the occurrence and take overall charge and report to Site Controller. On arrival he will assess the scale of emergency and decide if major emergency exists or is likely and inform the Communication Officer accordingly.

(1) Direct all operations within the affected areas with the priorities for safety of personnel minimize damage to the plant, property and minimize loss of materials.

(2) Pending arrival of Site Controller, assume the duties of his post and, in particular.

(3) (a) Direct the shutting down and evacuation of plant and areas likely to be adversely affected by the emergency.

(b)Ensure that all Key personnel and outside help are called in.

(4) Provide advice and information to the Fire squad and Security Officer and the local fire service as and when they arrive.

(5) Ensure that all non-essential workers/staff of the areas affected are evacuated to the appropriate assembly points, and the areas are searched for casualties.

3. Human Resources Manager

He will At the Main Entrance (Security Office near Main Gate) during the emergency. He will under the direction of the site Controller handle police, press and other inquiries, receive reports from roll-call leaders from assembly points and pass on the absentee information to the Incident Controller. His responsibilities shall include -

(1) To ensure that casualties receive adequate attention, to arrange additional help if required and information relatives.

(2) To control traffic movements into the factory and ensuring that alternative transport is available when need arises.

(3) When emergency is prolonged, arrange for the relief of personnel and organize refreshments / catering facility.

4. Security Officer

On hearing alarm advice fire squad and security staff in the factory of the incident zone and cancel the alarm. He will also announce through telephone or messengers to the HR Manager, Incident Controller and Site Controller that incident has occurred in such and such zone. He will open the gates nearest to the incident and stand by to direct the emergency service.

5. Departmental Heads

The Departmental head wherein the incident has taken place will report to Incident Controller and provide assistance as required. They will decide which members of their staff they require at the scene.

6. First-aid Teams

The Personnel Manager shall keep in security the roll call lists for the fire and first-aid teams on duty. Each Departmental Head for his shift-team appoints roll call leaders and first aiders. Roll call leaders shall check their rolls as members of the services report for emergency duty. Names of any unaccounted for absentees will be informed to the Security Officer.

7. Factory Fire Squad Personnel

The duty Fire fighting Squad under the command of the Security Officer shall be responsible for fire fighting and rescue. On hearing the alarm, they shall proceed to the place of incident. The men at security gate shall find out the location of the emergency and proceed to the site of the occurrence.

X.EMERGENCY CONTROL CENTRE (ECC):

ECC is a place from where SMC would provide direction/guidance and co-ordinate various activities to effectively handle the emergency situation. The SMC would take charge of the ECC during emergency. All the key personnel (except SIC and the persons he would need) would assemble in ECC after knowing that the on-site emergency has been notified / declared. While selecting the location of ECC, due care has been taken that it should not fall under any risk.