Warehouse Emergencies

Despite these efforts toward a zero-risk environment, contingency plans must be formulated and communicated to all employees. Typical warehouse emergency programs include  

Chemical spill emergencies Medical-related emergencies. 

As the programs are being planned, a documented safety procedure must be developed. This is not a job for one person but for a committee or a group of individuals with special skills in emergency controls. 

When developed, the system must be tested, corrected, and tested again. The wrong time to consider emergency planning is during an emergency. 

Among the key points to include in the planning process are the following. 

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Sirens, loudspeakers, or alarms may be part of the warehouse emergency plan know what these signals are and what to do when you hear them. 

Warehouse Emergency Procedures for Fire, Chemical Spill, Medical, and Weather. A good emergency plan covers all of the possible events that could occur in a warehouse. It is very important that new employees understand the basic procedures to follow if a fire of any size breaks out, if a chemical spill occurs in a work area, if a medical emergency arises, and if a tornado, earthquake, or any other serious weather-related emergency arises. 

Emergency phone numbers for fire, police, ambulance, and hazardous waste spills are essential. They should also be posted by telephones, on the warehouse emergency maps, in facility phone books, and possibly on stickers placed inside hard hats. 

Be sure all evacuation doors and passageways are properly identified. Glow-in-the-dark signs can aid employees in darkened areas. Warehouse emergency lighting must be functional and periodically tested. In addition, doors must open outward so the area can be properly evacuated. Inward-opening doors can be a hindrance in an evacuation. 

All employees should be instructed on how to handle and respond to various warehouse emergencies. This form is intended to assist you in this effort. 

Operation includes nonual start-up, normal and emergency shutdown, and most activities performed by die production team. Whilst inlierently safe plant design limits inventories of hazardous substances, inherently safe operation ensures die number of individuals at risk are minimized. Access to die plant for non-essendal operational people such as maintenance engineers, post staff, administrators, quality control samplers, warehouse staff delivering raw material or plant items or collecting finished product, members of security, visitors etc., must be controlled. 

Several near misses have also taken place one occurred recently at the Sandoz plant in Basle, Switzerland, where a fire destroyed a warehouse next to a phosgene store. And in what must rate as anguis in herba - at the very least - reports have emerged that phosgene is being pumped from one chemical plant to another across central Toulouse, France. 

Hazard communication and personal protective equipment and emergency procedures training are addressed in Chapter 4. As with conventional warehouse operations, employees should be trained in safe lift truck operations, lifting and other procedures which are not specific to chemical warehouse operations. However, in a chemical warehouse, instructions on these routine functions should be tailored to address the unique hazards present in the chemical warehouse environment. 

If a warehouse owner or operator decides to have an emergency response team, the team should be trained, equipped, and drilled in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.156, Fire Brigades. ... 

Local population density and sensitivity, land use and environmental considerations should play an important role in the decision to build, use or continue operation of a warehouse for chemical storage. Local conditions such as high population density, nearby schools or hospitals, or highly sensitive plant and animal species can magnify the problems associated with a chemical release. Natural perils such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes should be considered as they may precipitate chemical releases. Exposure from nearby industries, such as warehouses, flammable liquid storage or processing facilities should be evaluated. Additionally, the potential for riot and civil commotion, the adequacy of emergency responders, and the adequacy and reliability of utilities such as electricity and water supply should also be addressed. 

Life safety in a chemical warehouse is best assured through control and mitigation of hazards. However, emergency evacuation remains an essential element in warehouse life safety. 

The means of egress from a chemical warehouse consists of those components that are necessary to provide a safe path of exiting for warehouse and non-storage area occupants. Due to its critical function, the safe path needs to be available for use under normal and emergency conditions. 

Use of inverter or generator back-up power for emergency lighting systems (especially for large area warehouses, where battery-powered bug-eye lights are not practical). 

As part of overall emergency preparedness, warehouse operators should conduct regular drills to ensure occupant familiarity with building exits and the paths of exit travel. These drills establish a routine which provides a higher degree of life safety for building occupants. 

Operations such as filling, dispensing and sampling should not be performed in the warehouse area. Provisions should be made for handling damaged or leaking containers. Section 9.6 addresses emergency spill response. 

In the event of a fire, fire detection and alarm systems allow for fire detection, early warning and evacuation of warehouse occupants and for alerting emergency responders and warehouse management. A fire detection and alarm system may also be utilized to automatically activate devices... 

The emergency plan should be designed to prevent injury to employees and other building occupants while minimizing exposures to the community. The plan should include a strategy to evacuate all warehouse occupants in the event of an incident that could adversely affect their health or safety. Emergency medical response and care should also be considered. 

Minimizing the risk to the surrounding population may require provisions for evacuation. Community evacuation planning is primarily the responsibility of local authorities and emergency responders in cooperation with warehouse management. 

Risk potential from outside of the warehouse, such as exposure to nearby high hazard operations should also be evaluated. Mitigating features, such as separation distance, fire walls, emergency response plans, and mutual aid programs should be considered in this evaluation. 

A designated emergency response coordinator in overall charge of the situation should be specified. Responsibility may at some point during an emergency be transferred to another individual, for example, from warehouse management to the fire chief of the local fire department upon their arrival on the scene. 

For incidents beyond the capabilities of the resources at the warehouse, appropriate outside agencies such as public emergency responders, environmental and emergency management agencies, remediation firms and mutual aid groups should be included in the plan. The need for an off-site emergency coordination and communication control center should also be considered. 

Employees should be instructed and drilled on when and how to evacuate and where to assemble after leaving the warehouse. An evacuation plan should include a person or persons assigned to ensure that all employees have vacated the warehouse and have been accounted for. Employee notification that an emergency condition exists could be done through the use of a public address system or the warehouse fire alarm system. 

A system of emergency notification should be developed that is both internal and external to the warehouse operation. The system should include a list of contact names and telephone numbers including the emergency response coordinator, members of the emergency response team, and company officials. This list should provide for 24 hour contact with alternate names for each position. It should also state under what circumstances these individuals should be contacted. 

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