TNCAER

Mitchell Gibbs of First Response Environmental made a presentation: “The Deadly Environmental Malibu Fire”. Mitchell showed a news video early on in the Malibu Wildfire. He talked about the mixed messages on evacuations, the 18,000 structures that were burned over 250,000 acres and the 89 lives lost. He said that most of the deaths were inside vehicles attempting to leave the area late. 250,000 people were successfully evacuated. First Response dealt with the clean up afterwards. He mentioned that Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) were available to help with evacuation, but were not recognized by local official and utilized.

Mitchell estimated that it cost $150,000 to clean up each house. LA County Fire and the US EPA paid for the initial clean up and teams like First Response complete the cleanup. Another issue during the fire was the decommissioned nuclear testing facility (Santa Susana Field Laboratory) where the soil was contaminated and nuclear waste was stored had been partially burned. After the fire, flooding and landslides were an issue since there was no vegetation remaining, 14,000 home were leveled and Pacific Gas & Electric & several insurance companies went bankrupt.

Mitchell wrote a book on the fire.

Sharon Walker of Vaughan Emergency Planning made a presentation called “Exercise Loco Motive”. This was the City of Vaughan’s annual exercise. The objectives were to practice: roles & responsibilities; emergency notification procedures; incident assessment & action planning; coordination, communication & interoperability; using Dashboard; implementing the Drinking Water Emergency Plan; identifying continuous improvements to plans & procedures; and compliance with the Emergency Management & Civil Protection Act.

The scenario was a tanker hit by a train which involved a derailment, fire, chlorine release, helicopter crash and drinking water issues. The exercise involved both CN and Alectra. The methodology was calling in with issues, with 2 shift changes and mock media briefings.

The lessons learned was that: communication was a strength; Dashboard worked well (a training session before the exercise worked); maps and GIS are valuable tools; training staff to keep their briefings short; and situational awareness.

What could be done better: need better audio visuals; drone view from above was great for mapping and video feeds; message; common maps approval needed; updating dashboard; mapping and video feeds further development; procurement form process; and streamline communication.

Recommendations: install audio-video systems in the EOC; purchase IMS colored vests; sections update procedures; investigate mapping software; develop more efficient public alerting; and on-going training.

Ryan Wheeler of Trans-Northern Pipelines made a presentation: “Improving Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness at Trans-Northern Pipeline Terminals”. He outlined several Trans-Northern exercises including an annual exercise in Trenton and 4 table tops. They prepare various emergency scenarios and review tactical response plans and share GIS data. Facility specific plans are undertaken to deal with loss of containment and fire scenarios.

Ryan mentioned several changes and upgrades including: working to upgrade fire pre-plans; outreach to smaller Fire Departments; adding 3rd party support services; foam & resupply resources; emergency product movements; and suppression equipment and response.

Trans-Northern did fire preparedness sessions at GTAA, Farran’s Point and Calgary Airport. In 2019, Trans-Northern plans to revise fire pre-plans and facility response plans, add sessions, add site visits for firefighters and identify different contractors and consultants. The Trans-Northern Notification phone number is 1-800-361-0608.

Sat Anand of Anco Chemicals made a presentation called “Ammonia Exercise”. This was on a Table Top Ammonia Exercise at Anco Chemicals. Sat overviewed ammonia’s properties. Office staff at Anco were asked questions about safety procedures. Sat outlined the scenario that there was a crack on top of a drum. He talked about the PPE requirements for ammonia.

Lisa Bolton of Sherrard Kuzz LLP made a presentation on cannabis in the workplace. Health Canada says that “Using cannabis or cannabis products can impair your concentration, ability to think and make decisions, reaction time and coordination. This can affect motor skills, including ability to drive. It can increase anxiety and cause panic attacks, paranoia and hallucinations.These effects can last 24 hours (or more).

Lisa described the 3 types of impairment: acute, residual and withdrawal. Acute impairment includes: perceptual changes, time distortion, euphoria-“high”, relaxed- “numb”, cognitive changes-memory and learning, attention and reaction time. Residual impairment includes: fatigue, comprehension issues, unclear mind, attention and reaction time. Withdrawal includes: anger, irritability, insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, anorexia and general malaise.

Lisa outlined the why employers should develop and implement a drug & alcohol policy including: providing a safe, productive workplace, controlling workplace activity, communicating standards of conduct, promoting consistent manager response and ensuring all employees are treated fairly and with respect. The scope of drug & alcohol policy should include all sources of intoxicating substances including alcohol, prescription & over-the counter drugs, cannabis (and related products) and Illegal drugs. Components of a drug policy include: detecting use, intoxication and response..

Hugh Fairweather of Safetyscope made a presentation that dealt with changes to OHSA, new offences, MOL proposals and clarification of Regulation 834. Under Section 66 fines have tripled and under Section 69 the MOL now has a year to lay charges. There were also changes to Regulations 213, 297, 860, 833 and 490.

Hugh talked about distracted driving under the Highway Traffic Act and chronic mental stress. There were also changes to the requirements for Workplace First Aid Kits under CSA Z1220-17.

Hugh also talked about future and proposed under Regulation 833–2018, clarifications under Regulation 834 for the construction, industrial and mining industries. And Hugh ended with a discussion on Tool Tethering.

Sat Anand presented at CANECT 2018 conference.

Topic: Best practices in building and maintaining an effective and responsive E2 plan.

• Prevention of, Preparedness for, Response to, and Recovery from Environmental Emergency (E2)
• Benefits of involvement in E2 planning
• Success stories & testing of an E2 plan
• Public Notification

Mike Doherty of E-Hazard / Blue Arc Electrical Safety Technologies made a presentation on Electrical Safety. He works at E-Hazard and chairs the CSA Z462 committee and worked for many years for Ontario Hydro. He talked about the CSA Z1600-17 standard and how it is essential when making recommendations to safety to use a standard rather than base the recommendation on your option. He said that Z462-18 just came out and deals with safety in the workplace and emergency management. CSA Z1600-17 which calls for companies to plan, do, check and act.

The key sections of Z1600 are: Scope, purpose & application; Reference publications; Definitions; Program management; Planning; Implementation; Program evaluation; Management review; and Annex A is on Guidance and Annex B is on conformity assessment tools.

He said that Program Management must have buy in from senior management, the program coordinator & program committee. Program Administration includes a program plan, policy, goals, objectives, integration, budget, records management and review. The elements of the Risk Assessment Procedure are to identify hazards, assess risks and implement risk control. Mike ended the presentation with a suggestion of using the term “Residual Risk” rather than Acceptable Risk.

David Clarke of FESTI made a presentation on the Incident Command System (ICS). He outlined the history of ICS. David explained why it is important to have an Incident Command System and it is necessary to correct communications first.

ICS is used to manage incidents and events. It is scalable where is can change size, type and complexity. ICS uses only 3 to 7 subordinates within a manager’s span of control. The unified command needs a commander, fire chief, police, transport, paramedic, and is some cases a provincial/state regulator. There is a need to use company experts (i.e., responsible agency/company) and emergency services.

David outlined the role of some of the key ICS command staff including: the Incident Commander oversees the incident; Safety Officer; Public Information Officer; and Liaison Officer.

The Operations roles are for the doers. They have expertise to deal with the incident and to contribute to strategies and tactics. The Planning of the incident response is done through the Incident Command Action Plan which can be changed on the fly as needed. Planning contains Resource, Situation, Document and Demobilization Units. The Logistics section includes units for: communications, medical, food, supply, facilities and ground support. David concluded saying that the Finance and Administration components include incident costs, financial considerations and procurement. Field Implementation includes preparedness, response recovery and mitigation.