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EMS Auditor to the Rescue!
In my youth I was, along with many young boys (and maybe even some girls), a casual reader of the fantasy comics in which the dynamic hero always triumphed over adversity. This was usually achieved by taking huge risks, flying through the air at great speed and quashing the enemy against impossible odds. Without any of these rare aerodynamic attributes, reckless nerve and the ability to act calmly under all kinds of pressure, I sometimes wonder, in the course of my work, if there is the opportunity for an EMS auditor to perform a similar miracle. Maybe not, until I read through one of the many reports that has been issued so far relating to the largest explosion disaster in peacetime Europe - Buncefield.
It was a surprise to me that the event could possibly arise from an industrial ‘accident’. The sheer scale of the event was stunning and the fact that no deaths occurred was equally amazing. For me the most interesting point concerning the post-event analysis was contained within a Safety Alert issued in July 2006 which related to the maintenance of the high-level safety devices that are designed to provide an alert to a high level of liquid contained within a tank. The high level alarms were tested by raising a switch in order to simulate the high-level situation and to demonstrate that the alarms were working properly. On completion of this test, the switches should be returned to the normal position and locked in place using padlocks provided as part of the equipment, as specified in the appropriate manufacturers instructions. The Safety Alert went on to state that failure to do this can lead to the switch being made inoperative during normal operating mode even though it would give the appearance of functioning normally when tested.
So could you, as an EMS auditor, have been in a position during a routine periodic audit of such a fuel depot, to recognise that this issue could lead to such a catastrophic event?
The aspect evaluation assessment may actually divert the auditor from this audit trail. It is a large fuel depot and any fuel leak would be regarded as a very serious event. However, the likelihood of such an event occurring may have been considered to be so small, that the resulting risk / impact rating re-enforced the view that sufficient controls were in place. Audit them thoroughly. Consider how the fuel could escape – either by leaking pipes or holes in tanks, or somehow overflowing the tank during pumping operations. The latter could be caused by blockages or inactive or faulty alarm systems. The testing of these alarms is carried out according to procedures, so the auditor should carry out detailed investigations in this area.
In my view, the real skill of the EMS auditor lies in the selection of relevant areas to audit (those with the potential to cause harm and damage), the way in which the auditor follows lines of questioning and the degree to which the auditor understands how these types of catastrophic event can arise. The work of the EMS auditor continues in real life - while Superman lives in fantasyland!
John Marsden (FIEMA)
info@marsden-international.com
John is an independent management system auditor who works for a number of international certification bodies.
