Impala Platinum‘s Refineries will test its emergency alarm

Impala Platinum’s Refineries have been operating in Springs since 1968 and the local Springs community became familiar with the Friday alarm tests from this facility.

The refineries are governed by adhering to the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 and regulations.

These regulations include the major hazardous installation regulations, which have been in place since 2001 and were recently amended.

These regulations require hazardous establishments to have rigorous safety measures to prevent major incidents.

Part of the management of such an establishment includes a detailed emergency plan with training and awareness for employees, contractors, and visitors to the site, but also the neighbouring community.

There are various controls in place to reduce the impact during emergencies on site. The first focus is to prevent emergencies but when it happens, they must be prepared to react.

The refineries have two main emergency alarms. One is for plant evacuations which are oscillating, and this affects the personnel on-site only. The second alarm affects on-site and off-site people and is one continuous sounding alarm.

During a recent community forum, the community indicated they were not sure what the second alarm sounds like and requested it to be tested in the evening so that they could familiarise themselves with the sound of the alarm.

During the major hazard alarm, the reaction is to shelter-in-place, which means you move indoors (including your animals), and close the windows and doors.

This alarm will be tested on August 1 at 19:00.