On the morning of Tuesday, 3 October, a regular emergency drill was performed at the ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s production plant in Litvínov. It tested the efficiency and validity of the company’s internal emergency plan. This year, the drill focused on training the response to the leaking liquified ethylene. The drill did not exceed the confines of the company, but audible and visible signs could be heard and seen in the morning hours.
“The emergency drills, together with testing the operability of our emergency services, also allow us to verify the practical readiness of employees in the petrochemical part of the site. Thanks to these drills, we can verify how prepared we are for emergencies and optimise the procedures used within the internal emergency plan,” said Maciej Romanów, a member of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group’s board of directors.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the country’s only crude oil processor and is part of the state’s critical infrastructure. Tactical emergency drills at both Group refineries, in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, are performed regularly. During them, the effectiveness of the company emergency plan, the validity of the operational and safety documentation, and the interaction of all services when dealing with an emergency are tested.
“This year’s drill focused on training the response to the leaking liquified ethylene, which created a cloud moving down the wind. The exercises also included preventing the subsequent spreading of unwanted substances using steam and water screens and rescuing an injured operational employee. We also partly evacuated a Ethylene Unit within the site during the drill,” said Petr Králert, chief of the corporate firefighting unit at Litvínov, commenting on the drill.
As part of these regular emergency drills, the Group tests the refineries’ readiness for various emergencies. During the exercises, the collaboration of the individual services when dealing with an emergency and the technical readiness of the equipment used during a real emergency are also tested. The drills also verify the system for communicating with external entities and rescue services.
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. ORLEN Unipetrol also includes the ORLEN Benzina network of petrol stations in the Czech Republic and the ORLEN network in Slovakia and Hungary. ORLEN Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic in terms of turnover. It employs almost 6,000 people. ORLEN Unipetrol is also a socially responsible company, particularly in the areas of supporting sustainable development, education, local communities and the environment. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became part of the ORLEN Group, the largest oil refiner in Central Europe.