Trienekens Conducts Emergency Drill With Fire and Rescue Department

KUCHING: Trienekens (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, together with the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD/Bomba) recently conducted an emergency drill at the Samajaya Free Industrial Zone that involved a simulated road accident and chemical waste spill.

A Hazmat team member decontaminating a ‘victim’ during Trienekens’ emergency drill

Trienekens’ Senior Manager of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE), Harris Michael said that while the company conducts annual transportation emergency hazmat (hazardous material) drills, this was their first time to do so with Bomba.

“All team members of Trienekens’ Scheduled Waste Operations unit are trained in decontamination procedures, use of personal protective equipment, toxicology and chemical properties basics, chain of incident commands, and how to contain and confine a leak. This drill gives our team the opportunity to utilise the skills they have learnt while doing the necessary physical work under the observation of professionals in the field,” he added, concluding that while the overall drill went well, there was always room for improvement.

Bomba’s Hazmat team entered the scenario to analyse the severity of the chemical spill and to rescue the injured before containing and decontaminating the site with the assistance of Trienekens’ own hazmat team.

“This exercise has been in the works for some time now,” Harris explained. “Hazardous waste is transported throughout the State nearly daily and we want to make sure that our personnel are prepared and equipped to handle any incident involving hazardous material.”

The integrated exercise, which also involved observers from agencies such as the Police, Department of Environment and Department of Occupational Safety and Health, was meant to give the participants a first-hand experience on how to properly communicate and play their respective roles when responding to such an emergency.

Senior FRD Officer, Mohd Sharir bin Abdul Halim, who closed the event, assured attendants that the Department is always ready to share knowledge in their area of expertise with other agencies. In thanking Trienekens for their efforts in emergency preparedness, he encouraged other agencies to engage in similar joint-exercises. To ensure their level of preparedness, capability and efficiency were up to the mark, such exercise needed to be conducted regularly, he added.