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Emergency Response Plan: Yara Dallol Potash Project, Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
Emergency Response Plan: Yara Dallol Potash Project, Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
January 2015
LIST OF ACRONYMS 2
DEFINIITIONS 1-1
1 INTRODUCTION 1-1
Employees – full time and part time employees of Yara Dallol BV (i.e. –
salaries paid directly to individuals by Yara Dallol BV).
First Aid Injury – injury at work requiring first aid treatment only, before
the injured person resumes normal work.
Restricted Work Case – injury at work that does not lead to absence from
the next scheduled work period, because of alternative job assignment.
Security Breach – incidents which are illegal acts, intended to harm Yara
Dallol BV’s personnel, property, operations, transport or other interest.
Site – refers to the area in which the Yara Dallol Potash Project operates,
including processing plant, evaporation ponds, tailings management area,
solution mining area, staff living quarters and the section of the Port of
Tadjoura under control of Yara Dallol BV.
This ERP provides an outline to ensure that systems are in place so as to react
and appropriately manage unwanted outcomes. This ERP has been developed
to address the general requirements associated with efficient response to these
unwanted outcomes.
Yara Dallol BV will use this framework ERP to develop an operational plan
based on identified hazards.
The development of this ERP has been guided by the Yara Dallol BV Health,
Environment, Safety, Quality and Product Stewardship Policy, as set out in
Box 1.1. This Policy is a high-level corporate statement of intent and
establishes the principles to be followed in the management of environmental
and health & safety issues.
COMPANY COMMITMENT
Yara Dallol BV’s aim is to establish sustainable growth and the creation of shareholder and
societal value. Yara Dallol BV affirms to their stakeholders, including employees, customers and
the public, it’s commitment to continuously improve and reach standards of excellence in
Health Environment, Safety, Quality and Product Stewardship through their operations.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Yara Dallol BV will manage their business in a life cycle perspective. In its operations Yara
Dallol BV will contribute to eco-efficiency by continuously improving energy consumption and
reducing waste, emissions and discharges. Waste that is generated will be handled and
disposed of safely and responsibly.
Yara Dallol BV will design their products and develop product applications to have the
minimum adverse effect on the environment throughout their lifecycle.
Injuries and occupational illnesses, as well as safety and environmental incidents, are
preventable, and Yara Dallol BV’s goal for each of these is zero. Yara Dallol BV will encourage
their employees to adopt a healthy, safe life-style for themselves and their families.
Yara Dallol BV will be prepared for emergencies and cooperate with local authorities to
establish and improve their emergency preparedness.
1.1.2 Objectives
Fire
Flash Flooding
Chemical/Fuel Spills.
This ERP should be read in the context of the Environmental and Social
Management System (ES-MS) (discussed in Chapter 13 of Part I of the ESIA),
which has been structured to provide a vehicle for the integrated management
of the suite of management plans described in Part III. These plans have been
designed to address a broad range of social and environmental risks.
It is recognised that the ES-MS and associated plans are living tools that will
be constantly updated to accommodate changing circumstances.
The ERP links with the Spill Prevention, Control and Containment Plan,
SPCCP (Annex F in Part III). The SPCCP has reference with respect to the
development of emergency response processes that are associated with spills
and associated management within the Project and associated activities.
Moreover, this ERP links with the following existing Yara Dallol BV
plans/procedures -
Yara Dallol BV has an existing Medical Evacuation Response Plan (MERP) for first and second
phase evacuation that has been developed and is managed by International SOS, and entails the
movement of the patient from the patient handover point to the nearest level of upgraded care
or the definitive medical facility. The MERP addresses medical emergencies only. It does not
cover other types of emergency planning, such as fires disaster response, environmental issues,
etc. Planning for second phase medical emergency evacuation links directly with this ERP and
must be considered as a follow on process to the Evacuation Procedure discussed in Section 4.6.
PLEASE NOTE
Yara Dallol BV has an existing Emergency Evacuation Pocket Guide (V1.0), which explains
preparation and reactive procedures that need to be taken in the event of an emergency
evacuation (such as civil unrest, terrorism, etc.). These evacuation procedures are associated
with getting personnel out of the Project Area and (if necessary) out of Ethiopia. Planning for
first and second phase emergency evacuation links directly with this ERP and must be
considered as a follow on process to the Evacuation Procedure discussed in Section 4.6.
PLEASE NOTE
Yara Dallol BV has an existing procedure (TOPS 0-01) that describes Yara Dallol BV procedures
for registration and reporting of accidents and near misses, security breaches, environmental
emissions and permit breaches and employee absence due to illness.
Moreover, Yara Dallol BV has set out a procedure (Yara TOPS 0-02) that describes the
requirements for investigation and follow-up of accidents and near miss incidents.
This ERP has been developed so as to compliment and makes reference to the requirements set
out in these two procedures.
A summary of the legal requirements and standards relevant to the ERP are
presented below.
IFC PS 4 aims to avoid adverse impacts on the health and safety of affected
community during the project life from both routine and non-routine
circumstances. Furthermore, the standard ensures that the safeguarding of
personnel and property is carried out in accordance with relevant human
rights principles and in a manner that avoids or minimises risks to the affected
communities.
Emergency resources.
With respect to this Plan, Yara Dallol BV has the responsibility to provide
emergency response services and to structure and coordinate emergency
response procedures for the Project, ensure that specific emergency
responsibilities allocated are organised and undertaken and ensure that
employees and contractor third parties are trained and aware of all required
emergency procedures.
The roles and responsibilities within Yara Dallol BV for the implementation of
the ERP are presented in Table 3.1.
Following completion of detailed design for the Project and prior to updating
the ES-MS system, Yara Dallol BV will develop a hazard identification risk
assessment programme, which will involve a baseline risk assessment of the
Project, from construction through to decommissioning/closure. This risk
assessment will aid in thorough risk identification. This risk assessment
programme will be repeated to take into account non-routine tasks, new
Project activities and changes made to the existing process.
An incident is any occurrence that has caused, or has the potential to cause, a
negative impact on people, the environment, property or production (or a
combination thereof). It also includes any significant departure from standard
operating procedures. The reporting and investigation of all potential and
actual incidents that could have a detrimental impact on human health, the
natural environment or property is required so that remedial and preventive
steps can be taken to reduce the potential or actual impacts as a result of all
such incidents.
Environmental incidents;
Incident with injury of people;
Incident with property damage or loss of production; and
Security breach.
The actions resulting from any formal or informal investigations will be used
to update this ERP.
Major Severity 1 Major Severity 2 Medium Severity 3 Medium Severity 4 Minor Severity 5
ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENT
Accidental release of Release with serious short Release with the potential for Release with no apparent Minor release without
hazardous material, liquid or term environmental impacts short term local impact. environmental impact. environmental impacts or
gas to air, water or ground negative publicity.
with serious long terms National media coverage Local media coverage. Permit breach without legal
environmental impacts. charges.
Clean-up cost or legal Permit breach with the
International Media penalty in the range of 1 to potential for legal charges.
Coverage 10 million Euros (or 1.5 to 15
million USD).
Clean-up cost or legal
penalty of more than 10
million Euros (or more than
15 million USD).
INCIDENT WITH INJURY OF PEOPLE
Fatality Lost Time Injury with a Lost Time Injury without Restricted work case. First aid injury
serious injury consequence serious injury consequence.
(resulting in permanent or Medical treatment case.
long term disability)
Fire
Flash Flooding
Chemical/Fuel Spills.
Fire – an event where an object or objects are ignited by a source and burn
with a flame or where smoke is visible.
Flash Flooding – flash flooding is common in the area of the Project and is
an event where non-perennial rivers (viz. the Musley River) flood during
high rainfall flash flood events in the western highlands.
The purpose of these procedures is not to detail exact measures for every
scenario as this is known to be impractical. Response personnel must be able
to develop in situ the specific response strategies for individual scenarios,
whilst relying on the generic guidelines and support measures described in
this Plan.
4.5.1 Fire
All persons located in the area in which the fire is located must be
evacuated. Evacuation must be carried out as per the Evacuation
Procedure (Section 4.6).
All doors and windows of buildings and vehicles that are in the immediate
vicinity of the fire must be closed.
The fire must be contained with the correct extinguisher ONLY by those
trained to do so.
Those requiring assistance must be assisted and first aid must be rendered
ONLY by those trained to do so.
Those confined to an area where there is smoke, must move under the
level of the smoke and cover their nose/mouth.
The following proactive actions must be carried out to understand the risks of
flash flooding for the Project:
All key equipment must be raised above (or away) expected flash flood
levels.
Yara Dallol BV will ensure that Proactive measures to prevent flooding will
not be in contravention to the requirements as set out in the ESIA and
associated water, biodiversity and social management plans.
Emergency Procedures
In the event of a flash flood onsite, the following emergency procedures will
be implemented:
All equipment must be safely shutdown and all electrical equipment must
be isolated.
All staff must be aware of the possible escape routes prior to the emergency
situation. Always assure safety of the assembly point prior to evacuation. The
procedure associated with an evacuation event is detailed below:
All staff appointed as Evacuation Officers must assist with the evacuation.
All personnel onsite must follow the instructions of the Evacuation Officer.
Evacuating personnel must stay calm and must not panic. Panic can
spread and cause unnecessary chaos.
Evacuating personnel must always keep left along the evacuation routes.
Visitors that are not familiar with the evacuation procedure must be
assisted.
The evacuation officer must be the last one to leave the area.
All personnel onsite must report directly to the allocated assembly point.
Personnel must not leave the assembly point until it has been deemed safe
to do so.
The Health and Safety Manager has been tasked with the responsibility for
auditing the Project and implementation of emergency response procedures
associated with all phases of the Project. The execution of emergency drills
will be included in Yara Dallol BV’s emergency response procedures. These
will include the following:
Fire Drills;
Flash Flooding Drills;
Aggressive (armed) Attack Drills;
Medical Drills;
Chemical / Fuel Spill Drills; and
Emergency Evacuation Drills.
Changes as a result of the trend analysis and identified areas for improvement
will be implemented following the Project’s change management system as
required.
4.8 TRAINING
Firefighting;
First Aid;
Emergency Evacuation; and
Medical and Environmental Emergencies.
Monitoring reports against the Plan will be reported by the Yara Dallol BV
Health and Safety Manager and Environmental and Social Manager. These
reports must within five working days of month end be registered on Yara
The following KPIs will be measured and used to evaluate the Project’s
performance with respect to its stated objectives and commitments:
Provide ERP relevant Emergency Response Drills Implementation of Health and Safety
training monthly emergency Manager
response drills for
relevant personnel
Report on emergencies Carryout the appropriate internal and Review of all incidents Health and Safety
external reporting / accidents reports Manager