By Scott Waldhart, Safety Resource | Rothschild Mill
Having competent, well-trained hazmat and confined space rescue teams is vital for responding safely to emergencies at any manufacturing facility.
These teams at Domtar’s Rothschild Mill meet during the first part of each year to practice the skills they learned from their initial 40-hour training. Each team brings a different skill set to keep all employees and contractors at our mill safe.
Both teams have been recognized not only for their response to situations and issues here at Rothschild, but also for their commitment to keeping everyone safe when responding to incidents at the mill.
Hazmat Team
The Hazmat Team is mostly a reactive safety team that has technician-level training as well as Incident Command training. Their main purpose is to respond to all chemical leaks on mill property using the Incident Command process and focusing on four priorities — life, incident stabilization, environment and property. As much as the team is reactive, they still critique each incident and focus on ideas and opportunities to eliminate or limit another leak or hazmat incident.
Each practice session reviews the mill’s policies and procedures for addressing hazmat incidents, but the team also modifies those to make them more user-friendly and improve the response.
Since 1995, the Hazmat Team’s responses to incidents at Rothschild have been incredibly successful. While these responses may not have been perfect, each incident has provided key learning opportunities to improve safety at our mill.
Confined Space Rescue Team
The Confined Space Rescue Team is more of a proactive team. They primarily want to eliminate any hazards or issues before entering a confined space by checking the following:
- air;
- space (clean, flushed/purged);
- lockout procedure;
- equipment used to enter and exit; and
- ability of staff members to operate equipment, etc.
Team members are trained to rescue anyone from a confined space, tank or vessel at our mill; however, they would rather not have to rescue anyone if the proper planning and preparation are completed before the work is done.
The Confined Space Rescue Team is also Incident Command trained. Each year, they practice on the equipment and continuously find better, more user-friendly equipment to improve retrieval and extraction from each space. Each confined space is different, presenting unique hazards that need to be discussed and planned before any entry.
Team members are constantly asking questions, such as:
- How can we safely get someone out?
- Do we have the right equipment for rescue?
- What can we do to eliminate the risks?
- Is this entry necessary?
This team has been in place since 1999. One comment that continually comes up from outside contractors who come in for utility outages is: “We feel safer at Rothschild than most places where we work!”
The mill greatly appreciates the efforts of our Hazmat Team and Confined Space Rescue Team members. Their dedication not only enhances the safety of their colleagues but also strengthens the overall safety culture at our facility. Their contributions do not go unnoticed.
The yearly emergency team skill enhancement/practice at our mill is more than a compliance measure — it ensures that the response to any issue is completed efficiently, effectively and most importantly, safely.