Setting Up an Industrial Emergency Response Team

For plant fire brigades, refinery / chemical / mining / utility emergency response teams, and large-site ERTs that combine fire, hazmat, rescue and medical capability inside a fence line, under OSHA / process-safety regulation. The emphasis is on safety-critical maintenance, serialized equipment with calibration, hazardous-work controls, shift handover and near-miss reporting.

1 — Department settings

Setting	Value
24-hour time	On.
Modules	Everything on including Maintenance (Readiness Pro) and Checklists.
Security policy	Enterprise preset; SSO with the corporate IdP; MFA for all; data classification Confidential.
Dispatch settings	Default statuses dispatched → Responding; unit status timers 3 min.

2 — Types

Type	Values
Unit types	Fire brigade engine, Hazmat trailer, Rescue truck, Medical unit, Foam unit, Utility.
Call types	Fire, Spill / release, Gas detection, Confined-space rescue, Medical, Evacuation / muster, Drill, Mutual aid (municipal FD), Standby (hot work).
Priorities	Level 1 (local), Level 2 (site-wide), Level 3 (off-site impact / mutual aid) — Level 3 = Emergency sound.
Certifications	NFPA 1081 brigade member, Hazmat technician, Confined-space rescue, Rope rescue, EMR/EMT, Incident commander, Forklift, Respirator fit test (expiry!).

3 — Groups, roles, statuses

• Stations: Main plant fire station, Tank farm, Warehouse with addresses and geofences per process area.
• Organisational groups: Day ERT / Night ERT (matching plant crews).
• Roles: Brigade member, Hazmat technician, Rescue technician, Medical responder, Incident commander, Safety officer, Control-room operator.
• Custom statuses: personnel — Available (on site) · Responding · On scene · Staging · Off site; units — In service · Responding · On scene · Out of service · Decon.

4 — Dispatch

• Calls from the control room via the Dispatch app or email import from the plant alarm system; text-to-call from operators.
• Run cards: Spill/release (Level 2 + Spill): Hazmat trailer ×1, Hazmat tech ×2, Safety officer ×1, Brigade engine ×1; Confined-space rescue: Rescue truck ×1, Rescue tech ×3, Medical ×1; station coverage minimum keeps one crew in the plant when a unit leaves for mutual aid.
• Protocols per hazard class with attached SDS and isolation procedures.
• Indoor maps of process buildings with hazard zones and muster points; occupancies per building with utility shutoffs, hazmat inventory and tactical summaries.
• Check-in timers: Hazmat exposure 20/30 min, PAR 15 min.

5 — Readiness (the core)

• Checklists: Rescue equipment weekly (Serialized equipment, critical items), Gas monitor bump test (Serialized, daily, numeric reading with passing range), SCBA weekly (witness), Safety audit (Group, monthly, photo on failure), Foam unit monthly — all with Create a work order on failure and Place equipment out for repair.
• Work orders (Readiness Pro): use Safety-critical and Hazardous work routinely — procedure, version, permit, isolation reference and qualified personnel are then mandatory; safety-hold release requires an independent reviewer; operations policy with spending thresholds and working-hours calendar; preventive schedules by meter (pump hours) and calendar (annual hydrostatic tests), with condition triggers on gas-monitor readings.
• Inventory: every gas monitor, SCBA, harness, rope and radio as a serialized asset with calibration / retirement date as expiry; spill supplies and foam as bulk with reorder points; controlled items (e.g. antidote kits) with witnessing; purchasing through site suppliers.

6 — Records (industrial pack)

From the Industrial Operations and Process Safety Pack: Operator / Control-Room Shift Handover (Quick entry, one per unit per shift) and Incident / Near Miss (Approval preset, HSE manager approves, restricted fields). From HAZMAT Response Pack: HAZMAT Release / Response. Add Exercise / AAR for drills and Run for every response. Investigations for significant events with chain of custody. Quality-review rubric on near-miss reports.

7 — Communication

• Chat: ERT channel, control-room channel, incident channels per event; urgent messages for muster.
• Notifications: Hazmat tech available < 2 → ERT lead; Equipment out for repair → maintenance.
• Workflows: Call created (Level 2+) → email site management + SMS the municipal FD liaison; Work order safety hold applied → Teams post to maintenance; Record finalized (Near miss) → export to the EHS system nightly.
• Weather alerts for wind (release modelling) and lightning.

First-week checklist

• All ERT members with certifications and fit-test expiry dates
• Every serialized asset entered with calibration expiry; expiration alert reviewed
• Gas monitor and rescue equipment checklists scheduled with work-order-on-failure
• Hazardous-work work order run through hold → release with an independent reviewer
• Shift Handover and Near Miss definitions published