Common Sense – Fire!
Working in an industry and environment that has many high risks any opportunity to mitigate those risks to a level that is as low as reasonably practicable should be taken.
The two incidents referred to below occurred over the past weekend and with the appropriate care and attention (risk assessment) they could both have been avoided.
Nigeria
5 killed as kerosene-laden tanker explodes along Abuja-Kaduna expressway
It is well known that the roads in Nigeria are not the best in the world, that the drivers do take some great risks and inevitably incidents and accidents do occur, especially if there has been a ‘fuel scarcity’. A recent scarcity is being overcome by the delivery of fuel recommencing however some drivers, in their haste to make deliveries, are taking major risks and issues do happen.
India
Stored fuel does need to moved around from storage tank to storage tank and ways to minimise the risk should be taken. Transferring fuel when there is an electric storm in the area should be avoided. Various shut off valves and barriers for incident prevention should be in place. This particular incident in India could have been avoided with the correct intervention and with people assessing, realising and mitigating risks.
The takeaways from this are to Step back, Take 5, Assess a situation, Reassess the situation, Continue to monitor, ensure all people and equipment who are not needed around the operational area are removed to a point of safety.
A lot of this is common sense, but if Common Sense is that common then hopefully more people would have it.
Take care out there.