TCC GROUP 'ONSITE SAFE'

TCC GROUP 'ONSITE SAFE'
Driving in Refineries -Stay Alert

Driving in refineries and worksites presents a special set of circumstances for employees.there are of course the normal road rules and licencing regulations for driving on public thoroughfares...but on private roads such as those presented on sites the regulations,speeds and conditions may differ.an example of this is on the BP Kwinana Refinery site where particular speeds apply to various areas and a variety of mobile plant use various roadways.In general 30 kms is the rule for all inside refinery with some areas around canteen being 15kms.Workers must deal with bicycles,cranes of all sizes,scooters and various other plan being shifted around sites.areas have particular access rules that require operations and driver to site and signature a permit depending whether access is to units or over bunded areas near tanks and other live equipment.Pedestrians are placed in amongst this.Many roads in design haven't kept pace with their use by newere larger types of vehicles that werent present in the 50s initiated design.Some rules as cross walking have been foregone to allow large gas trucks more unimpeded driving ...at the expense of giving right to pedestrians at cross walks.This makes for quite a busy and at times confusing site and set of regulations.Many issues arise from simple speeding and not adapting to the conditions onsite.The consequences of not making changes to behaviours despite difficult conditions could be catastrophic.Of course road rules in sites and the logic around engineering controls always need to be reviewed and fed back to site managers to reduce hazards...but drivers must play there part to adapt to conditions that constantly change.particular to driving onsites is the vigilance that is required to avoid bumping and damaging expensive and hazardous plant&equipment.having someone spot for you and being aware of your environment are essential.Being aware of your own mental state (affected by fatigue,drugs alcohol,emotional upsets,anxieties ) as well as your vehicles condition is just as important.Having workmates t5hat will speak up and challenge/remind and monitor such things is important in the scheme of things.