Emergency response plans are a vital component for businesses, particularly in the energy sector where facilities often handle hazardous or explosive materials, making these plans a stringent regulatory requirement. In crisis situations, it is imperative to accurately locate all employees and ensure that any visitors, contractors, or vendor partners are also safely evacuated.
Regulatory and duty of care mandates require companies to have effective emergency protocols that include knowing precisely who is on-site and ensuring everyone can exit safely and quickly. Additionally, it is crucial that all personnel at the facility are informed of and adhere to emergency guidelines.
Challenges facing emergency response in energy facilities
Many petrochemical plants still use classic, paper-based systems for crisis response, which can be inefficient and risky
The American Chemistry Council's 2021 Guide to the Business of Chemistry highlights that approximately 80% of the United States' petrochemical supply is produced in Texas and Louisiana, with Texas leading the nation's chemical production at a value of $117.5 billion. This underscores both the economic importance of these regions and the significant security risks they face.
Many petrochemical plants still use traditional, paper-based systems for emergency response, which can be inefficient and risky. These manual methods of notifying, mustering, and accounting for personnel during emergencies can lead to costly delays and errors. The lack of integration between site access control and visitor management often necessitates time-consuming manual reconciliation during evacuations or drills.
Security staff typically print lists from access control and visitor management systems and manually cross-reference names to account for personnel, a process that is both time-intensive and prone to mistakes.
Innovative solutions for emergency management
Everon is collaborating with petrochemical facilities in the Houston area to enhance their emergency notification systems with innovative and economical solutions. Customers have noted Everon’s professional service and dedication to meeting their needs. The company's proposed solution comprises three integrated technologies:
- Cloud-Based Access Control: This system enables easier implementation and cost-effective entry, providing logs of all badged personnel on-site to the mustering system for emergency accounting.
- Visitor Management System: Facilitates electronic pre-registration and management of visitors, offering visibility during emergencies.
- Mustering Software and Card Readers: These tools streamline the management of emergency events, enabling electronic mustering, unit accountability, and Emergency Response Team (ERT) readiness.
This integrated system allows cloud-based access and visitor management logs to automatically inform plant operations of on-site personnel numbers through the mustering software. Portable mustering units with card readers are deployed for quick validation of badge reads at fixed muster locations, supplemented by warning lights and speakers at plant entrances for emergency alerts. The software directly takes data from access control and visitor management logs, allowing operators to efficiently manage evacuations based on accurate personnel counts. Emergency events can be initiated swiftly, significantly reducing the time needed to confirm evacuees' safety.
Implementation and customer feedback
Everon prioritises safety and compliance in all installations, achieving a record of zero injuries or lost-time events during its projects in Houston-area petrochemical plants. According to one client, "Our previous method of pen and paper was very inefficient and antiquated. Everon's solution with our emergency response protocol gives us the cutting edge in technology. Not only does it allow us to become well-organised and systematic, but safer."
Emergency response drills are now conducted in minutes rather than hours, providing immediate visual confirmation of personnel safety. Digital reporting of employee attendance and the ability to deploy mass notifications to both the plant and local communities are among the system's major advantages.
Another client commented on their satisfaction, saying, "We are extremely satisfied with our choice of Everon as our life safety partner and are currently working with them to update analog cameras in our plant, as well as advance our infrastructure to bring other innovative security, health and operational monitoring technology solutions to our facility."
Having an emergency response plan is essential for businesses of all sizes, across every industry. But in energy facilities, particularly those dealing with hazardous or explosive materials, it becomes a crucial, and often strictly regulated life safety requirement.
In an emergency, not only is it critical to identify where all employees are located, but also that any visitors, contractors, or vendor partners are all accounted for and safely evacuated. When an alarm sounds, duty of care requirements and regulatory requirements dictate that companies have protocols in place to effectively respond to an emergency and know precisely who is on-site and that everyone can exit as quickly and safely as possible. Equally important is making sure that everyone at the facility is aware of and follows emergency guidelines.
Challenge
According to data compiled in the 2021 Guide to the Business of Chemistry from the American Chemistry Council, “Facilities in Texas and Louisiana produce 80 percent of the nation’s primary petrochemical supply, and Texas chemical production tops the nation by far, with chemical shipments valued at $117.5 billion, representing a major portion of the region’s economy, but also the potential for significant security risks and challenges.”
Some petrochemical plants use a traditional, paper-based mustering solution for emergency response scenarios. These manual methods of notifying, mustering, and accounting for personnel can result in costly, potentially dangerous inefficiencies during an emergency. Site access control and visitor management processes are also typically stand-alone and do not communicate with each other, which forces manual processes to log and reconcile individuals when mustering during an emergency response evacuation or a required emergency drill.
To do this, chemical plant security staff typically prints the logs from on-site access control and visitor management systems, then crosses off the names of individuals from the lists when they are accounted for manually. Each list is reconciled on its own and by hand. This outdated process can take hours to complete and holds a potentially high risk of error.
Solution
Everon is working with various Houston area petrochemical plants to update their emergency notification systems with innovative, cost-effective solutions. According to these customers, Everon provides comprehensive solutions to fit their needs, and maintains a level of professionalism and dedication to service excellence that other companies too often fail to meet.
One solution Everon has proposed to combat this problem across chemical plant facilities consists of three integrated technologies that include:
- Cloud-Based Access Control: An access control system that is cloud-based may be easier to implement and have a lower cost of entry. This system provides a log of all badged personnel on site to the mustering system for accounting of personnel during an emergency.
- Visitor Management System: This system allows visitors to pre-register and be managed electronically when they come to the plant while providing visibility in case of an emergency.
- Mustering Software and Card Readers: These provide seamless management of emergency events, including electronic mustering, unit accountability, and ERT readiness.
Access control logs from the cloud-based system
With this solution, access control logs from the cloud-based system and visitor management logs can automatically tell plant operations how many people are on-site through the mustering software. A number of portable mustering units were commissioned with card readers, which allow for quick and easy confirmation of badge reads from fixed muster locations. In addition, warning lights and speakers were also added at plant entrances to alert personnel to emergency events.
The mustering system’s mustering software takes the information directly from the access control and visitor management logs and communicates directly with the plant operators. This allows them to manage the entire emergency using the software, starting with an accurate count of who is in the plant and then quickly and easily managing individuals as they safely exit. Emergency response events can be initiated with the click of a button and significantly improve the amount of time needed to accurately count the number of people evacuating the plant.
Installations are consistently performed with personal safety in mind. Everon believes that no work is worth doing if it’s not done safely and in full compliance with governing regulations and standards. No recordable injuries or lost-time events were recorded during any of the projects completed by Everon at any Houston area petrochemical plants.
Results
According to one client, "Our previous method of pen and paper was very inefficient and antiquated. Everon's solution with our emergency response protocol gives us the cutting edge in technology. Not only does it allow us to become well-organised and systematic, but safer."
Emergency response drills at each petrochemical plant are now completed in minutes, not hours, and emergency responders receive visual confirmation when everyone is confirmed as safe. The plants consider having digital reports of employees that are on- and off-site at the plant a major bonus, along with the ability to deploy mass notifications between the plant and local communities.
Said another client, "We are extremely satisfied with our choice of Everon as our life safety partner and are currently working with them to update analog cameras in our plant, as well as advance our infrastructure to bring other innovative security, health and operational monitoring technology solutions to our facility."
