Tradebe UK
Tradebe Heysham employees took part in Exercise Hurricane, a Crisis Management simulation on Thursday the 13th of October. The exercise, which was organised by Lancashire County Council as the body responsible for emergency planning of CoMAH establishments, was designed to test the readiness and response of the Lancashire emergency services and took place at the Lancashire Constabulary HQ. This was attended by members of the Fire & Rescue, Police and Ambulance services in addition to the Health and Safety Executive and The Environment Agency. Tradebe Heysham are required to test the plan in this way every three years and committed a team of seven employees to the event.
The exercise provided an excellent chance for Tradebe Heysham staff to test the site’s emergency response procedures in a controlled environment. The scenario was challenging; the simulation of ‘cloud burst’ an emergency services call sign for a major incident, this one being explosion and fire, caused by the leakage of 28 metric tonnes of secondary liquid fuel next to one of the Heysham largest storage tanks.
It may have only been a simulation, but the scenario was approached with precision and careful planning by the Heysham team. Chris Holden and Laura Carter acted as Strategic Officer and STAC Participant respectively, liaising directly with the emergency services and offering situational advice. John Desborough took on the role of Tactical Commander, assisted by Derek Cottam and Wayne Dixon offering tactical support. Rob Chick played the role of Site Umpire, and Jack Hughes operated as the site’s Media Officer.
Chris Holden was enthusiastic about the benefits of simulations like Exercise Hurricane. “This has given us the perfect chance and method of testing our own emergency response procedures,” noted Chris, “and I’m pleased to see that we have such a group of professionals to call upon should we ever be faced with a real incident.”
