Using Your Crystal Ball

Does your size-up typically look beyond the moment you arrive? With a good working fire, this may be an obvious part of a response. But what about for those responses where we arrive and believe there to be no fire? If nothing is burning, is there really anything to size-up?

While a good size-up should give us a clear picture of what we have and what we need to do to mitigate the situation, we must also consider the events that we may or may not actually see happening, as well as those that may or may not still occur as an incident progresses. It doesn't take a crystal ball to look into the future -- just a willingness to admit that even when we believe nothing to be happening, things can still happen. And when it comes to large properties, like factories or industrial facilities, a good pre-incident survey and planning activity can help take specific hazards into account prior to a needed response.

An industrial explosion occurred in a Pennsylvania metals plant late Friday evening, killing one and injuring a number of others. Reports stated that police and fire officials arrived shortly after the explosion, finding no fire. Reading through the news coverage today, one thing in particular has caught my eye....

Read more at: http://www.notjustanotherfire.net/2015/03/28/using-your-crystal-ball/

For additional information on pre-emergency planning and inspection of manufacturing and industrial facilities, attend my pre-conference workshop at FDIC International in Indianapolis on Monday, April 20.