In any business there is a chance that an emergency will arise, which could have repercussions to employees, members of the public and potentially the environment in which we all live.
How a business and its employees react and deal with such a situation can make a significant difference to minimise any impact.
Recently we had an out of hours emergency, and we’d very much like to congratulate our employees who reacted quickly, professionally and calmly to a serious situation, working closely with the fire brigade, to extinguish a fire at one of our landfill sites.
The role of the fire brigade is well understood, but in situations such as this it is often the experienced team managing the site who step up to engage the fire alongside the fire brigade.
Quick response
After being notified by a member of the public the fire brigade was quickly in action to contain the situation. Our Site Manager who lives locally, arrived shortly afterwards and acted as Incident Controller with the fire brigade. At Hills, we have well defined protocols for dealing with this type of incident and our Site Manager worked with the fire brigade to agree on the best course of action in dealing with these particular circumstances. What was particularly impressive at this stage of the situation was the number of experienced Hills staff who volunteered to come in to help deal with the situation, including employees from other sites, who were responding to events reported locally on social media.
Expertise and teamwork
Following discussions with the fire brigade our Incident Controller and our machine operators (each with more than 15 years’ experience) then began to mobilise to put the fire out, with the fire brigade on standby to provide further assistance if required. The teamwork was excellent, with the fire brigade providing two-way radios and smoke detectors for our machine operators who would be responsible for moving inert material (soil) onto the location of the fire. Our experience has shown that this, rather than water, is the most effective solution for this type of situation.
Reducing risks
From a health and safety perspective our drivers operated from the safety of a sealed cab unit which helps to reduce the risk to our drivers. The weather is also a risk factor in these circumstances, as any change in wind could have put the drivers at risk, and have the vehicles catch fire, so constant vigilance was required to ensure driver safety during the entire operation.
Additional help
We should also thank some of our suppliers for their out of hours help, who quickly provided additional machinery, to further support the works being undertaken.
Monitoring and environmental impact
The fire brigade relinquished control back to our Incident Controller, two days after the fire was spotted and we then monitored the situation over the course of the rest of the week. Quick action by our team and the fire brigade meant that the fire was quickly smothered, minimising the impact to the environment and the local community.
Long hours
Due to the nature of the incident, we had some tired team members, and we are very grateful to our team members for the long hours they put in to handle the fire and for the personal time they gave up to deal with it.
Our loyal customers
In incidents such as these we must refuse access to the site for incoming waste and this has impacts to trucks turning up on site, so also had a team of people contacting customers so that they didn’t make an unnecessary journey. Customers have the option to take their waste to another site or delay the shipping until the site is re-opened. We are delighted to say that despite this inconvenience many of our customers returned with their waste when we re-opened, and normal operations were resumed at the end of the week, providing our normal high level of service to our customers.
Experience matters
Using experienced team members, and a good emergency plan means that incidents like this can be handled quickly and professionally, minimising the impacts to the environment, local communities and customers, helping to protect our own reputation in the process.
