Dealing with Incidents
Facility personnel who are expected to take offensive action in the event of a hydrogen release must be trained to respond appropriately to protect people and property. Training should be based on the specific system in place and should be coordinated with any facility-wide Emergency Response Plan(s).
An emergency action plan that describes incident procedures should be the basis for such training. The emergency action plan should include:
- Evacuation procedures, description of exit routes, and identification of staging areas for non-responding personnel
- An alarm system or other means for notifying employees, such as a public address system, should be identified.
- An alarm system (consisting of both audible and visible alarms) with distinctive signals used for each type of emergency is preferred.
- Practice drills should occur periodically to ensure that employees are familiar with the alarms and know instinctively how to respond. The meanings of the various signals should be posted in all operational areas.
- Procedures for employees who oversee critical operations during an incident
- Actions to be taken by personnel who initially respond to hydrogen leaks, spills, fires, and transportation emergencies
- Location of emergency response equipment
- Appropriate fire suppression response
- Establishing security
- Procedures to account for all employees after emergency evacuation is completed
- Procedures for employees performing medical and rescue activities
- The preferred means for reporting fires and other emergencies (including emergency phone numbers)
- Establishing and maintaining communications
- Preparing for possible media coverage
- Contact information for persons who can provide additional information or explanation of duties covered by this plan.