The Qatargas Emergency Management and Security Services (EMSS) Department, in co-ordination with the General Directorate of Civil Defence, has conducted an unannounced emergency exercise to ensure the emergency preparedness of the company’s Doha head office.
The office, located in West Bay, is a 52-storey building that has offices for employees from both Qatargas and Qatar Petroleum (QP).
The company conducts regular exercises to ensure that effective safety and security measures are in place and will work properly in the event of an emergency. The latest exercise tested emergency notifications, safety of staff within protected lobbies, phased evacuation of personnel who are at greater risk, effectiveness of the rescue operations and medical aid, according to a statement.
The exercise simulated a fire on one of the floors and focused on safeguarding the occupants and recovery issues. The responders included staff from Hamad Medical Corporation, the Qatargas initial response team, Qatargas medical team and trained floor wardens from both Qatargas and QP.
The participants were not informed of the day or time of the exercise in order to test and simulate a real emergency and response scenario. The exercise allowed Qatargas to validate its plans and capabilities and identify areas for improvement. The company’s role in the exercise was to provide immediate response to individuals affected and enabled its incident command team and Civil Defence staff to train together and validate response procedures, the statement noted.
Randy Lee Stadler, Qatargas chief safety, environment and quality officer, said: “This exercise tested multiple elements of our emergency response plan, building on the capabilities we have developed over the past few years to respond to and manage emergencies.”
Hassan Jassim Abu-Khamis, Qatargas EMSS manager, said: “This exercise has proved to be an important medium for ensuring the safety-readiness of our company and an opportunity for us to work together with the Civil Defence to preserve the security and the well-being of our employees in the event of an emergency.”
Brigadier Hamad al-Duhaimi, Civil Defence operations director, said: “The Civil Defence is proud to work with Qatargas to promote safety and emergency response preparedness.”