Software Simulation for Preparing Emergency Response Teams in Dealing with Incidents within the Gas Infrastructure

Rogage, Kay (2011) Software Simulation for Preparing Emergency Response Teams in Dealing with Incidents within the Gas Infrastructure. Proceedings of North East Asia - UK International Conference Study Tour on Adaptation for Safer Cities. pp. 12-13.

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Abstract

This research is working in collaboration with a UK gas infrastructure provider to conduct a collaborative study. It looks at an uncontrolled event that requires a response outside the routine that occurs as a result of transient work activity. The resulting response is required from multiple agencies: Emergency services, utilities, Local Authorities etc. Such category two responders are covered by various bodies as well as health and safety legislation: the UK Health and Safety Executive who are responsible for planning and prevention of major incidents under the Control Of Major Accident Hazards regulations 1999 (COMAH) and Pipeline Safety Regulations 1996 (PSR).

This legislation provides guidance for planning and prevention of major incidents. Therefore the above bodies must prepare emergency response plans, review and test emergency response plans with emergency response teams every 3 years and provide evidence of plans and testing to UK Health and Safety Executive. The testing can take different forms such as tabletop role playing exercises, which disseminate information about plan with other agencies and highlight amendments required to the plan whilst encouraging communication between agencies and highlighting issues to other agencies.

The research provides a case study of current industry practice for planning and preparing for incidents involving high pressure gas pipelines. It also investigates the use of software simulation in other industries and what use software simulation brings to conducting the exercises, through the use of multi-player activities conducted across multiple sites simultaneously as a training tool, providing opportunities to participate in exercises even if a participant can‟t attend the exercise on the day it is held. It provides an audit trail of attendees and exercise details for HSE and acts as a repository for multiple scenarios that can be altered overtime to reflect changes in the scenario environment. Software also provides the ability to pick scenarios from other exercises to make up a new exercise, saving time and money on developing new scenarios.

Simulation of Control/Command room scenarios is currently used by the military, medicine, emergency services, aerospace, flight, marine and automobile companies, all of which would have common elements, which are a multi-player role playing environment with exercises made up of scenarios using audio and visual resources in both 2D and 3D with the ability to record participant responses. Software therefore has the potential to preparing emergency responders for incidents involving the gas infrastructure.

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