Litvínov, 21 June 2018 – An extensive emergency drill was carried out at the Unipetrol Group’s production plant in Litvínov on Monday to check the preparedness of intervention teams and staff for extraordinary events. During the simulated intervention at the steam cracker, firefighters practiced all the intervention activities and procedures and checked the functionality of the operational regula-tions and effectiveness of internal emergency plans.
“Similar drills take place several times a year at all our manufacturing sites, but this exercise was quite extraordinary in terms of its scope. It’s a practical training as if it were a real event. The drill verified the decision-making capabilities of the intervention commander and whether his orders were carried out. We’ll analyse and assess the effectiveness of the drill, and if we identify any areas that could be improved, we’ll further upgrade our emergency plans,” explained Tomáš Herink, Member of the Unipetrol Board of Directors responsible for safety. “The drill was an excellent opportunity for indi-vidual participants to increase their expertise and preparedness to intervene and test their responses in a stressful situation,” he added.
During the exercise, firefighters simulated quench oil escaping from a leaking pipeline. The conse-quences of leaking flammable substances did not extend beyond the manufacturing site’s boundaries. Regarding the character of the event, the first emergency level was declared and the Fire Rescue Service was called. During the training exercise, the commander ordered evacuation of part of the plant, and in coordination with other teams, closed the affected area. The emergency committee was summoned to a meeting and internal SMS alerts were distributed to residents of towns and municipalities near Unipetrol’s production plant in Litvínov – Záluží.
Firefighters also simulated the rescue and stabilization of an affected employee. At the end of the drill, individual stages were thoroughly assessed and all the circumstances that could affect the activi-ties of the intervention services in dealing with similar extraordinary events were identified. “The entire drill took two hours. It started with information being sent from the control room and ended after the emergency committee meeting. The safety drill was carried out as planned and we consider it a suc-cess,” said Michal Šulc, Unipetrol Group Safety Director.
The Unipetrol Group is the largest refinery and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses primarily on crude oil processing, distribution and sale of fuel and petrochemical products — particularly plastics and fertilisers. In all these fields, the group is a key player on both the Czech and Central European market. The Unipetrol Group includes refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo with the Mogul brand in Pardubice and Kolín, Spolana in Neratovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. Unipetrol also owns the Benzina network of petrol stations with 402 stations, which is the largest chain in the Czech Republic. Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic in terms of turnover. The group created revenue of over CZK 122 billion last year and employs more than 4600 people. In 2005, Unipetrol became part of the PKN Orlen Group, the largest crude oil processor in Central Europe.
Contact details:
Pavel Kaidl, Press Officer, telephone no.: +420 225 001 407, +420 736 502 520, e-mail: pavel.kaidl@unipetrol.cz