"I must give full credit to the fire service - they saved the business."

Emergency management plan’s (EMP) importance are only realized when they are needed. How workers respond to an emergency, and what action(s) they perform subsequently can prevent injuries and fatalities. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the importance of emergency action plans:

A business boss has paid tribute to Staffordshire firefighters for saving his firm after they spent two days bringing a major blaze under control. Not only did fire crews work round the clock to tackle the blaze at Hixon metals recycling firm JBMI Ltd, they also ensured that damage to buildings and vital equipment was "minimal".

And the firm is expecting to be back up and running as usual by tomorrow, said the chief executive of JBMI Ltd.

"I must give full credit to the fire service - they have saved the business," chief executive of JBMI Ltd. said. The blaze was discovered on Monday morning in a storage bay containing aluminium and magnesium alloy waste awaiting recycling for use in the die-casting industry.

JBMI staff followed safety procedures by covering the waste metal with sand and then alerted the fire service and the Environment Agency, chief executive of JBMI Ltd. said.

At its height, up to 40 firefighters were battling the blaze, using a digger to carefully remove small amounts from the pile of metal and cooling the individual amounts using specialist foam.

Crews worked round the clock until Wednesday morning and have been carrying out checks on the smouldering remains of the metal since.

"They managed to contain the fire to the storage area, and the damage to the rest of the building is minimal," chief executive of JBMI Ltd. said. "One or two skylights have melted from the heat and there has been some damage to electrical wiring, but all the machinery and other equipment is intact and undamaged." We are just starting to assess the cost in financial terms, but we are just very thankful that no-one was injured.

"The fire service did a great job, and we have also been overwhelmed by the support we have had from other businesses on the industrial estate, who have all rallied round."

The cause of the blaze is still being investigated by the Health and Safety Executive, but is not thought to be suspicious.

Chief executive of JBMI Ltd.said it was the first incident of its kind in the firm's 34 years on the Hixon site. "Magnesium is flammable in its strip form, but not in solid block form, so this kind of fire is very, very unusual," he added.

Here is an earlier story

A fire at a metal recycling plant has been brought under control after more than 40 firefighters worked at the scene overnight. The blaze at the JBMI site, just outside Hixon near Stafford, involves 10 tonnes of industrial waste, which has to be cooled in small portions using specialist foam.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is likely to stay at the plant for the next few days. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Emergency services were called at 09:41 BST Monday.

Firefighters are using a digger to remove amounts from the pile of smouldering waste to make sure it is safe. Fire Station manager said: "This is going to be a long drawn out process because we are having to extinguish the fire section by section."

The Environment Agency has confirmed nearby watercourses have not been polluted by either the effects of the fire or the chemicals used to put it out.

Here is another earlier story:

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Staffordshire firefighters have spent the past 24 hours tackling a major fire at metals Hixon recycling firm JBMI Ltd and were still at the scene this morning.  The alarm was raised at 9.41am on Monday June 23 after fire broke out in a warehouse containing industrial waste at the firm's premises on Hixon Industrial Estate.

Around 40 firefighters from fire station across the county were called out to the incident, which occurred on the same day that the fire service was also dealing with a major blaze in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. The blaze involved 10 tonnes of industrial metal waste that caught fire inside an industrial unit. The unit had to be evacuated, along with a neighbouring office block. 

Fire Station Manager said: “Firefighters have tackled the fire externally through some large bay doors. We have used foam and sand to create a blanket over the fire."

Crews were at the site throughout the night to continue damping down after bringing the fire under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation but it is not believed to be suspicious.  The fire service is working with the Environment Agency in an attempt to prevent any run-off pollution to local watercourses. 

Here is another earlier story:

Staffordshire firefighters say it will take the rest of the week to finally put out a major fire at a Hixon industrial estate. Crews have worked through the night tackling the blaze at Hixon metals recycling firm JBMI Ltd . The alarm was raised at 9.41am on Monday June 23 after fire broke out in a warehouse containing industrial waste at the firm's premises on Hixon Industrial Estate.  Around 40 firefighters from fire station across the county were called out to the incident, which occurred on the same day that the fire service was also dealing with a major blaze in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. The blaze involved 10 tonnes of industrial metal waste that caught fire inside an industrial unit. The unit had to be evacuated, along with a neighbouring office block. Firefighters from Rugeley, Brewood and Cheadle were at the scene today.  They are using a digger to carefully remove small amounts from the pile and cooling the individual amounts using specialist foam.  Fire Station Manager who is at the incident said: “We are likely to remain at the incident for two to three days as this is going to be a long drawn out process because we are having to extinguish the fire section by section.”  The cause of the fire is under investigation but it is not believed to be suspicious. The fire service is working with the Environment Agency in an attempt to prevent any run-off pollution to local watercourses.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted several incident where workers failed to acknowledge the seriousness of a fire, resulting in a small fire growing large. In those incidents one assumes the workers assumed they “could handle themselves” and delayed notifying the local fire department. They were wrong. Any delay in notifying the proper authorities as per instructions in your plants emergency management plan can result in the fire growing larger and placing the workers in harm’s way.

The APSB commends the JBMI Ltd. workers for contacting the fire department immediately. The actions of JBMI to place sand on the smouldering fire prevented the fire from growing larger prior to the fire department arriving.

The APSB has spoken about how social media has affected our industry. This incident was unique where the social media of the fire department and government agencies were “tweeting” about the fire as actions were be taken to put it out. Here is one the numerous tweets:

All aluminium companies should have procedures in place to address social media postings of their company and/or plant. There have been numerous incidents where a small local incident becomes an international story because of a social media posting because of the inaction by the company mentioned in the posting.

The U.S. government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has a great document on Emergency Management Plans. It can be viewed here.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration has information regarding emergency preparedness and response. It can be viewed here.

The US Department of Homeland Security has some extensive information about emergency management plans. Which can be viewed here.

Here is a short video about emergency management plans. It makes some great points. The APSB wonders if you have an EMP for your home? If not, you should ask yourself why.

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