EmergencyWardens -E - news

Emergency Wardens e-news: Feb 2012

1

Editor’s Note

Editor’s Note

Silver Award for

Excellence

Major Gas Leak Case

Study

How Should you

R.E.A.C.T™ to Gas

Leaks?

Meet some of our

new recruits

F5M Training

Consultant wins

award for service to

the community

What do our Clients

say about our

services?

In this 7th

Edition This is the 7th Edition of our Quarterly Newsletter. Since its

inception, the newsletter readership has continued increasing

and judging by the feedback we receive, you must be enjoying

it!!

The newsletter is targeted at emergency wardens who undergo

training with our consultants. Our aim is to cement a community

of wardens Australia wide who can share their valuable

experience with each other. It is crucial to have engaged

wardens who feel valued as they are giving up their valuable

time and energy to a laudable cause: Life safety in their

buildings in case of emergencies.

Earlier this month,

An entire bus station on Callam Street, Canberra was evacuated

for about four hours when the driver of a bus smelled gas and

ordered commuters off the vehicle.

The bus company staff and the ACT Fire and Rescue attended

to the gas leak, while bus services were redirected to a layover.

A spokeswoman for Territory and Municipal Services said a loose

part of the gas fuel system on the roof of the bus had been

identified as the cause of the incident.

Gas leaks like the one describe above are unfortunately very

common. If we don’t R.E.A.C.T™ appropriately, the

consequences can be disastrous.

At First 5 Minutes, we have a dedicated team of Training

Consultants to train wardens on how to manage these types of

emergencies.

In this Newsletter, you will be able to read one of the scenarios

on Gas Leaks that we use in our training sessions as well as get

some details on how to R.E.A.C.T™ to them.

Source: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/gas-leak-sparks-emergency-bus-inspections-20130418-2i3dp.html#ixzz2RFKV1zdm

Jay Ramanah, April 2013

2 Emergency Wardens Australia: January 2013

Graeme

Hancock

wins Award

for

Excellence

Build an environment

where people are

encouraged to explore

innovative approaches to

their work.

For the first quarter of 2013,

Graeme Hancock, Training

Consultant from our SA/NT

Business Unit is the recipient

of the Silver Award.

Graeme received the award

for Excellence on the back

of continued commitment to

training as well as

exceptional work carried out

to support the newly

appointed Regional

Manager of the SA/NT

Business unit.

Graeme, Teaching how to use a water

extinguisher, Northern Territory, circa 2012

First 5 Minutes seek to reward

exceptional performance that

supports its values, strategic

goals and vision.

A Reward and Recognition

program was developed to

assist supervisors and managers

to build a culture of

Performance by incorporating

reward and recognition

activities into their

management practices as they:

Positively reinforce

excellence in behaviours and

performance,

Help build staff engagement,

and therefore increases job

satisfaction,

Lead to higher retention rates

of key staff

“Graeme has

stepped up

and is

assisting the

Regional

Manager with

ensuring all

areas of

training and

reporting on

F5M

compliance

are followed

through.”

Sam Thornton, Training

Consultant, SA

He is well respected by his

colleagues and has

contributed immensely in the

coaching and mentoring of

new consultants in the team

Graeme, Teaching how to use a water

extinguisher, Northern Territory, circa 2012

Unfortunately there can only

be one Silver Award for

Excellence winner per quarter

for the whole of First 5 Minutes.

However the following

employees were recognized

for their outstanding

performance in their

respective business units.

Matthew Lane (IT and

Design)

Rosie Samuels (WA)

Rachel Sattler (NSW)

Kevin Webster (QLD)

Robbie Robertson

(VIC/TAS)

Graeme (4TH from right) and his training

colleagues of the SA/NT Team.

3 Emergency Wardens Australia: January 2013

R- Response to a raised

alarm / Raise an alarm

Remain calm.

Raise the alarm and inform

people that they should

stay in place and not start

evacuating.

Dial 000 and inform about

the HAZMAT incident.

E- Examine

Identify the type and

location.

Identify a HAZMAT incident

with gas coming from

outside the building.

If possible, identify the type

of gas being releases

(Toxic, Flammable?)

A – Assess

Identify risks to life safety.

Identify source of gas leak and

direction of wind.

How much time is available for

complete evacuation v/s rate

of propagation of the gas

plume?

Is anyone in danger of a

medical emergency (Gas

inhalation)?

Who on site is competent to

deal with medical

emergencies while waiting for

ambulance to arrive? (CPR,

First Aid etc…)

Where are the AED kits and

First Aid kits in case they need

to be used?

Assess evacuation routes in

case we need to evacuate?

Assess building doors and

windows in case we have to

shelter in place

Assess plume propagation

regularly.

C – Control

If time is limited which is most

likely going to be the case,

latest research recommends

Shelter- in – Place (SIP) as the

safest course of action.

Close doors and windows and

air vents tightly.

Move people away from

doors, windows and any air

vents where gas could enter.

Re-assess plume propagation

regularly and allow

emergency services to assess

quality of air from time to time.

Instruct occupants to end SIP

when given the green light by

emergency services. T- Talk

Keep all wardens informed of

all decisions being taken

Keep informed of the situation

by liaising with Police and Fire

Services.

Keep occupants informed of the situation at all times.

Major Gas

Leak Case

Study.

Fire crews were called to

reports of a large Liquefied

Petroleum (LP) gas leak at

an LPG loading terminal and

storage facility near your

building.

A large marine tanker was in

the process of transferring a

load of LP gas to a shore

based storage tank when a

leak occurred in a relief

valve on the transfer pipe

work. Between 5 and 20

tonnes of LP gas are in the

pipe work. Forty fire-fighters

from eight surrounding

stations are attending the

incident and are

maintaining constant water

sprays onto the leak to

dissipate the gas cloud as

many tonnes of gas were

allowed to escape.

A two hundred meter

exclusion zone was

established around the site,

and your facility is located

just outside the exclusion

zone. Hazmat crews are

constantly monitoring the

surrounding area. Reports of

strong smell of gas are

coming from occupants of

the facility in which you are

a Warden.

How would you and your

ECO R.E.A.C.T™ ?

How to

R.E.A.C.T™

to Gas

Leaks?

4 Emergency Wardens Australia: January 2013

Meet some of

our new

recruits.

We lived in Biloela for 2 years

and Rockhampton for 3. We

had a baby 14 months ago

which made us realise how

much we missed home and

family so we moved back.

Lucky for me my old position

was advertised at First 5

Minutes at the right time and

they were super thrilled to

have me return

What do you like about your

work as F5M?

The friendly staff I work with,

being busy and challenged

and we can’t forget about

the lovely clients I get to talk

to on a daily basis.

What are your main

challenges for the year

ahead?

My main challenge is

balancing being a mum,

working full time and having

a husband who does fly in fly

out with his job. Life is

constantly busy but I

wouldn’t change what I

have for the world.

How do you like to spend

your free time?

Free time, hahaha that’s a

funny one!

SPOT

First 5 Minutes’

Learning

Management

System

Last year, First 5 Minutes

invested huge resources in

revamping SPOT into a full

fledge learning management

system using a platform called

MOODLE. Several courses

have been developed since

and thousands of users have

bought and completed the

courses.

The investment in our LMS is in

line with our corporate

objective to innovate in the

area of web enabled services

making F5M a true leader in

the area of emergency

management, training and

compliance services. We aim

to use the LMS externally to

augment the delivery of face

– to – face training.

What is a Learning

Management System?

A learning management

system (LMS) is a software

application for the

administration,

documentation, tracking,

reporting and delivery of

education courses or training

programs.

LMSs range from systems for

managing training and

educational records to

software for distributing online

or blended/hybrid college

courses over the Internet with

features for online

collaboration

Renee Campbell Admin Assistant – QLD

Who is Renee Campbell?

I am a fun, loving, energetic

mum who enjoys helping others.

I previously worked at First 5

Minutes approximately 5 years

ago. I left to follow my husband

to the mines in Central Qld.

Emergency Wardens e-news: Feb 2012

5

What do our clients

say about our

services?

Bob Howard, one of our Senior Safety

Training Consultant wins a national

medal for 15 years service to the

community.

Bob, while keeping his fulltime job with

F5M has served as a volunteer fire

fighter at Greenbank, a busy

volunteer fire station of the SEQ

region. The award was presented to

him by the Commissioner of the QFRS,

Lee Johnston & Hon Jack Dempsey

Minister of Police & Community safety

on 20th February 2013.

Good on you Bob!!

.

Neville

Western Australia

Hi Alicia,

Thank you first 5 minutes.

I noticed the changes at our warden training

earlier this month.

The improvement was noticeable to all.

It was the best warden training experience in over

10 years.

Thank you to all.

Julie

6 Emergency Wardens Australia: January 2013

We welcome your feedback and contribution to this newsletter.

Write to: Jay Ramanah, General Manager (People, Culture and Training) E: jay.ramanah@first5minutes.com.au

T: 07 33552855