There are many emergency training courses available. Within companies, it is becoming more and more frequent that some of them are given to as many people as possible in order to reduce the risks and dangers. As Etraves is an industrial company, the risk of fire is not negligible. Even more so than the risk of accidents. This is why we follow the fire safety training with attention and interest and renew it as often as necessary. And this is what we have just done.
However, this year we have chosen to change our formula. Previously, all staff were trained in the use of fire extinguishers. For the sake of organization and clarity of everyone's missions, we wanted to better target the training. On this occasion, we called on a "fireman" trainer. He presented his training around 3 axes: first intervention team member, line leader and the Atex risk.
First response team member
This position is in first contact with the danger: the person who occupies it must therefore be calm, reactive and trained. Indeed, this person must be able to intervene almost immediately when a fire starts, fight against it and secure the area as much as possible. His action must allow an optimal evacuation and a more serene handling of the disaster by the firemen. Therefore, he must know the place well and use the appropriate extinguisher for the situation in question: the same type of extinguisher is not used for different fires.
Clamp and guide
These two posts are the mainstays of a fire alarm and must be manned by people who are familiar with the premises in which they operate and who have been trained. The guide must take charge of the people to be evacuated according to the most suitable emergency exits and accompany them to the assembly point indicated on the technical posters. The guide, on the other hand, must ensure that no one is left in the disaster area under his care. Once he is sure of this, he must go to the assembly point, discuss the situation with the guide and inform the emergency services, ideally on the spot or, if not, by telephone.
The two positions concerned, which are fundamental to the proper conduct of any fire alarm, must be occupied by people who are responsive, reliable and familiar with the various processes of the alarm, such as the location of safe evacuations, among other things.
The Atex risk
This part of the training includes the regulation and prevention of explosion risks in the workplace. This training aims to explain how to prevent the formation of explosive atmospheres (ATEX). This includes limiting the sources of ignition and implementing solutions to significantly reduce the potential and devastating effects of an explosion. Indeed, an explosion can quickly cost material and even lives. They are still too frequent in the industrial environment. Unlike a fire, which "takes its time" and can therefore be controlled if it is dealt with immediately, an explosion is instantaneous and causes a blast effect accompanied by flames and heat, which can be truly devastating.
Prevention and surveillance on a daily basis
Following this, the organization has improved and only fire evacuation exercises remain to be done with the firemen attached to our sites of Ercuis and Breuil le Sec. Of course, even if this training is very interesting, our teams hope not to have to put it into practice in real conditions. This is why it is imperative for us, on a daily basis, to optimize our work to avoid the risks of explosion incidents. This also involves constant work on ventilation, electrostatic charges, knowledge of the products packaged and the retention tanks... Perfect management of all these important points cannot totally exclude the possibility of a fire or an explosion, but it considerably reduces the probability of it.
