Emergency response

There are also high concentrations of toxic chemicals found at plants, either used in the refining processes or a direct by-product of them, such as the deadly H2S (hydrogen sulphide), most commonly associated with production of sour oil and gas.

Consequently, companies have become much more diligent in their approach to HSE over the past twenty years, putting increased effort into ensuring that standards are high at their existing and newly planned facilities.

Providing appropriate training, ensuring strict operating procedures, having early warning systems and delivering rigorous health and safety programmes are all important in maintaining a safe working environment.

Unfortunately, industrial disasters do happen, regardless of how much planning and preparation has been put in. In March 2005 one such incident occurred at a BP refinery in Texas, USA.

One of the worst refinery disasters in over a decade, the explosion of an ‘isom’ unit resulted in the death of 15 people, and caused many more injuries.

The workers at the refinery were restarting the isomerisation unit after two weeks offline. Unexpectedly, abnormal pressure of gasoline components built up in the vent stack, causing liquid and gas to spew into the air like a geyser.

All that was required then was a small spark to lead to the catastrophic event that took place.

More recently, and locally to the region, a small explosion occurred at a Kuwaiti oil refinery killing one employee and injuring another. Although production at the 200000 bpd refinery was not affected, it was a stark warning to the perilous nature of the business.

One of the most vital responses to an event of this kind is clearly a swift and efficient fire service, not only to save workers lives but also to save the assets and products of the plants in question.

Petrochemical companies will often have an on site fire team, and a close relationship with local fire services to ensure a fast response in the event of a fire.

In an exclusive interview with Petrochemicals Middle East, Jacques Du Plessis, managing director of Special Risks – a company who provides specialist health and safety and fire fighting equipment, training and personnel – says that the standard of fire fighting training facilities in the region, and in particular the UAE, is not currently up to scratch.

“Something that Special Risks has noticed with interest and surprise in the UAE is the lack of international quality oil and gas training facilities, specifically for fire fighting. It is quite astonishing considering that the UAE is the fifth largest oil exporter, yet we still have not found a facility where we can go locally to train, through our partnerships with people like Williams,” says Du Plessis.

Due to the shortage, Special Risks and partner Williams – a fire fighting and hazard control firm – have both seen an increase in demand for the provision of trained and experienced fire personnel at all levels.

Du Plessis also points out that although health and safety prevention standards were generally quite high, there is currently no set of established fire fighting standards in the region.

“On the fire fighting side there is no recognised international standards, but there are accepted industry standards, and I think that is one of the main issues – working towards an excepted internationally benchmarked standard that is applicable to the GCC,” he says.

“Most of the companies do everything in their power from a prevention point of view, with early warning systems, immediate response, fixed installations etc, but clearly there will be instances when something does go wrong. The main concern is to ensure that there are personnel that respond to such instances, and that they are well trained and experienced so they can make the right strategic and tactical decisions.”
 

Scott Health and Safety, a unit of Tyco International’s fire and security sector, is an innovative specialist in the design and manufacture of respiratory, head and sensory personal protective equipment and safety devices.

The company, which operates out of a central office in Abu Dhabi, also works with Special Risks by providing the company with specialist products, as well as training and full technical support.

“Scott produces some of the most reliable and technically advance respiratory products available in the market, which I can say hand on heart. The Scott Middle East office boasts a strong technical team which provides training and 24 hours technical support,” says Dave Jackson, regional manger, Scott Health and Safety.

The lack of international quality oil and gas training facilities, specifically for fire fighting is quite astonishing considering that the UAE is the world’s fifth largest exporter. – Jaques Du Plessis, Special Risks.

The company currently supplies products and services to a large area covering the entire Middle East, North Africa, Caspian, Pakistan and India. The current team of seven has grown from just one, and continues to expand gradually as demand increases.

“You are faced with many respiratory risks in the petrochemical industry as far as health and safety is concerned. When responding to an emergency, firstly you want to make sure your people are safe, and your assets are protected. On top of all that the people who are protecting the assets in the event of an emergency have to be safe, that is why choosing the right respiratory product is absolutely crucial,” says Jackson.

Apart from the obvious risk of fire, if the refinery is dealing with substances with high concentrations of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), then special steps, precautions and equipment must be provided to ensure the workers safety. It is here that specialist safety apparel providers like Scott earn their crust.

“When it comes to dealing with H2S the client has to put in an early warning system, implement an evacuation plan, and educate everyone at the plant if there is a leak of H2S they need to evacuate fast – donning the breathing apparatus and moving in to a safe area named the master point. This is why the breathing equipment is critical, and why Scott is the way to go,” says Jackson.

Sabre Safety is a UK firm which specialises in the provision of H2S safety system. The company was recently brought under the Tyco brand of safety companies, and delivers products across the Middle East region.

“We deliver a full range of H2S services, from equipment rental packages with technician support, through to delivering expert advice from facility surveys and H2S audits. Sabre would help a client devise an H2S safety plan for a refinery or petrochemical plant, which may include delivering a red, orange and green zone plan for a client to classify different areas of the facility as high medium or low risk,” explains John Clark, business development manger, Sabre Safety.

“Whether it is providing 10 or 15 escape sets, or a fully built cascade system for many 10s of people, we can provide this. For example, we are working on a system at the moment that can support up to 100 personnel for 12 hours – a pretty serious undertaking for delivering breathing air in a toxic gas environment,” he adds.

Clark goes on to explain that it is important to train the employees in how to respond to an H2S event, and it is equally important to have a working knowledge of the dangers of the toxic gas. His thoughts are in agreement with Jackson’s, who believes that an understanding of the risks posed by H2S is vital.

“If I took someone who hadn’t been to a petrochemical plant, they would just walk through without asking for safety equipment, like a respiratory product. If I explained the dangers involved to them beforehand, then what I am doing is increasing their perception of risk, then when they get there the first thing they are going to do is search out breathing apparatus, hard hat, eyewear, etc. And that is the point – it is about educating people,” says Jackson.

H2S is an extremely toxic gas affecting the nervous system of victims, with similar toxic properties to hydrogen cyanide. Due to the heavy nature of the gas, it is likely to stay low to the ground where it has leaked or collected, and would only dissipate after it had been blown away by the wind.
 

The gas has a foul odour associated with the smell of rotten eggs, and can be detected by the human nose at as little as 0.005 ppm (parts per million) in clean air.

H2S becomes dangerous to a person at roughly 50 to 300 ppm, when it can cause permanent damage to the eyes and lead to respiratory difficulty.

Anything above 500ppm and the gas kills your sense of smell, then leads to pulmonary edema (fluid collecting in the lungs), a person collapsing into a coma and ultimately death. It is for this reason that it is such an important gas to monitor in the industry.

Explaining the dangers involved to people before entering a petrochemical plant increases their perception of risk. And that is the point – it is about educating people. – Dave Jackson, Scott Health & Safety.

The increase in E&P of sour products means that refineries must adapt to meet the necessary safety standards. Due to this, both Scott and Sabre have seen an increase in demand for their range of H2S products and services.

“The demand for safety equipment for H2S exposure is definitely growing as sour products become more attractive. This is where the specialists from Sabre and Scott side of the business are very strong, they are the preferred products for the H2S market, for two simple factors, ease of use and ease of servicing, and also with the tremendous support they get from the ME office,” claims Jackson.

However, a concern is that demand may not move at the same pace as an increase in E&P of sour products.

“To me it is no great secret that in certain regions the HSE culture is not as developed as in Europe. What we are trying to do is export the very high standards that we have grown up with here in the UK, particularly in the North Sea, and export those high HSE standards to other region where we are working,” says Clark.

“In some areas that is very straight forward, in others it is going to take a little bit of time for the market to adapt to those European way of thinking about HSE issues, but essentially minimising physical risk is all about minimising business risk as well, so it makes sense from every perspective for people to be working in a safe environment.”

It is not an area in which skimping and saving should be made, or one in which an apathetic attitude adopted.

As Jackson asks, “what price do you put on a persons life?” One challenge faced in the Middle East is finding the right personnel, with the right training, background and experience, to fill the health and safety positions at petrochemicals plants.

“Most of the Middle East countries will have to start looking at training form within, and getting the local people to taking ownership for their own safety. It’s all about perception – if you don’t know what risk is, then how do you know how to approach a problem, how do you take care of risk if you don’t know what it is,” explains Jackson.

“The NOCs, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are adopting international standards and are addressing these issues, and their health and safety records are pretty impressive. This is through educating their staff and taking health and safety seriously from the top down.”

Both Clark and Jackson agree that the Middle East region is taking positive steps to improving their health and safety standards.

“Having recently done a tour of the MENA zone and Kazakhstan, looking across the board there is a great willingness form operators, legislators, service companies to be working in a safe and sensible working environment. The days of just pushing ahead no matter what the risks are long gone,” says Clark.

“I think the most important thing in the petrochemical industry is educating people, especially from a safety point of view. Hopefully the companies will employ decent training methods and programmes and bring the education levels up, and go for quality in terms of product instead of just buying the cheapest product off the shelf which may compromise your situation in the future,” concludes Jackson.

The unfortunate truth due to the nature of the industry, is an event will occur which will call into action the work of specialists, as well as emergency response units.

It is now up to the petrochemical companies to take responsibility and make the necessary steps in order to minimise the impact of such an incident.