A natural gas site can be a hazardous place for the uninitiated, especially for emergency services responding to an accident at a well site.
To help give emergency services in the area the tools they need to be safe, Encana hosted the first presentation of an emergency services well site orientation aimed at RCMP, fire departments, and ambulance personnel.
“The idea for the presentation was to bring awareness of the risk present at Encana work sites to our first responders. We identify all the hazards and risks they might encounter,” said Duane Bolin, Encana Safety Coordinator and volunteer firefighter.
“If you have people who don’t really have any exposure to oil and gas work sites, they’re walking in blind.”
Bolin outlined a few of the risks that could be present at an Encana site.
“The big one is a hazardous atmosphere, so there could be a natural gas or hydrogen sulfide leak, which could lead to an explosive atmosphere. High pressures and temperatures can also happen on site. A lot of our facilities have a lot of high power electrical lines,” said Bolin.
Constable Tom Bowden, Munson Fire Chief Steve Wannstrom, Dalum firefighter Junior Jensen, Encana Safety Coordinator and Drumheller firefighter Duane Bolin, and Drumheller Fire Chief Bill Bachynski get together to learn about safety and the hazards that could be present at Encana work sites.
This is the first session Encana has held in Drumheller.
“We’ve involved emergency services for training exercises before. That’s where we got the idea that maybe some weren’t as well-versed as we’d like,” said Bolin.
In addition to teaching about the risks that could be present at a work site, it was also an opportunity for Encana staff and emergency personnel to get to know each other.
“It’s good for us at Encana to assist our emergency responders. For me, it’s great to get to know the other responders, because usually the first time we meet them is at an incident,” said Bolin. “It’s good to have an activity like this where we can meet on a common ground and get to know each other and learn how we can compliment each other when responding to an incident.”
