Safety from the bottom up

Plant hosts training session for emergency responders, neighboring site

Employees at our Hopewell, Va., plant trained for an incident scenario involving a tractor trailer losing control on a public highway, wrecking and spilling its hazardous cargo.

They teamed with the Local Emergency Planning Commission, the Crater Regional Hazmat Response Team and employees from another plant for Bottoms-Up training.

The session is part of our commitment to Responsible Care.*

The training begins, above, and the patched-up tanker, below.

Over three days, 82 responders, including 41 Ashland employees, received both classroom and hands-on training in recognizing different types of trailers and how to handle spills.

"This was definitely interesting training. The review of different type of trailers, and the fact that some of the tools and equipment we reviewed and trained on could be used at our site was very beneficial," said Terry Dixon, environmental technician and member of our plant’s hazmat team.

The main attraction was the Weavertown Environmental Group's Bottoms-Up trailer, which can be placed in numerous positions and can create simulated leaks from several locations.

"It was some of the best training I have ever received, from its classroom information, the sharing and demonstrating of tools to use to help stop leaks, and the actual hands-on training,” said Donald Hunter, Hazmat Team leader for the Hopewell Fire Department, who helped arrange the training.

"The joint training was well received by all parties," added Steve Spence, Environmental, Health and Safety manager at our plant. "It was a good chance for responders from all the different teams to share their approaches to incidents. Several of our responders have asked to continue these type of activities."

Our plant produces Klucel™ hydroxyproplycellulose, an industry-leading binder and tablet coating ingredient for pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements worldwide.