In the morning hours of Monday, 17 April, the regular incident drill took place at the production plant in Kralupy nad Vltavou. This year, it focused on a hypothetical leak of a propane-butane mix. The exercise had neither any effect on the environment in the vicinity nor did it restrict production on the site. The incident drills, whose purpose is to verify the efficiency of the incident plan in the ORLEN Unipetrol Group, take place regularly at the Group’s locations.
“The drills always have a theme through which we verify our readiness for various emergencies. For example, the objective of this year’s drill was to effectively verify the functionality of the internal incident plan following a leak of a propane-butane mix. Operational safety is our main priority; therefore, the drill process is always carefully evaluated after completion,” says Maciej Romanów, a member of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s board of directors.
“Besides internal regulations, we also verify the coordination of all participating units during the incident drills. We focus on safety intensively, and practical drills help increase the efficiency of all participating employees who can check their theoretical knowledge in practice,” says Pavel Ballek, director of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s refinery in Kralupy nad Labem, commenting on the drill.
During the drill, the abilities and skills of the intervening staff and all participating employees are tested together with verifying the internal incident plan. The training also tests the set-up communication between the company units and local authorities.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. It belongs among the key players on the Czech and Central European markets in all these areas. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo in Pardubice, Spolana in Neratovice, REMAQ in Otrokovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. Unipetrol also includes the Benzina ORLEN filling station network in the Czech Republic and a network of ORLEN outlets in Slovakia and Hungary. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became a member of the ORLEN Group, the largest multi-energy company in Central Europe. ORLEN Unipetrol employs almost 6,000 people and is active in corporate social responsibility. It seeks to promote initiatives that cultivate and support sustainable development, education, local communities, and the environment.