BASF Aktiengesellschaft

Works Fire Service

Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

Presentation

Emergency planning in line with

Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

Wolfgang Suckfll,
BASF Works Fire Service, Ludwigshafen
+49/621/6023310
wolfgang.suckfuell@basf-ag.de

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

Introduction

The SEVESO_II_guideline requires an internal emergency plan for upper tiers

establishments. The purpose of hazard prevention planning which is required by the
SEVESO_II_guideline is
to avoid large scale accidents,
to minimize the major incidents effects on the people and environment by
providing a rapid emergency response and rapid warning systems
to optimize the company safety organization in terms of the organization structure
and technical outlay,
The basis of the planning is a safety analysis, in which the hazards involved in a
factory have to be compared to the corresponding safety measures. As an overall
concept comprising a large number of building blocks which is to be used to protect
the employees and other people involved, the hazard prevention planning extends all
the way from operating instructions or alarm arrangements through major incident
alarm planning.
The following text provides an explanation of the general WORKS-ALARM-ANDHAZARD-DEFENCE-PLAN in particular of the major incident alarm planning with
reference to the example of the BASF Ludwigshafen site, and provides an indication
of where these interact with official authority hazard prevention planning.

Works Alarm an Hazard Defence Plan (WAGAP)

(in German: Werks-Alarm- und Gefahrenabwehr-Plan WAGAP)

The BASF site in Ludwigshafen enclose 350 factories on an area of 7,2 km. There
are a lot of upper-tier and lower-tier establishments. According to Seveso-II-guideline
a general Works Alarm an Hazard Defence Plan for the entire site have to be drawn
up. The following list shows the index of this plan:
0
1

2
3
4

Application Area for Works Alarm and Hazard Defense Plans

Details of Works and Surroundings
1.1
Regional overview plan
1.2
Local overview plan
1.3
Overview plan of BASF at Ludwigshafen
Adresses of Public Buildings (Nurseries, schools, hospitals etc.)
Alarmplan for Major Incidents
Agreements related to Major Incidents
4.1
BASF Town of Ludwigshafen
4.2
BASF Town of Mannheim
4.3
BASF - Town of Frankenthal
Organisation of Works Hazard Defence Personel
5.1
Industrial Fire Department
5.2
Organisation work security
DP/W
5.3
Medical Department
5.4
Press
5.5
Fault clearing sevice file
Alarmplans (Infrastructure)
6.1
Floods

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
7

8
9
10

11
12
13

Energy
(Electricity, pressured air, nitrogen, steam)
Pipelines
Product- und run-off water recontainment
(purification plant and non-purification plant sewer plans)
Quench water supply (hydrant plans)
Harbour

Alarmplans (special mediums)

7.1
Natural gas within site
7.2
Ammunition discovery
7.3
PCB (clophene-transformers)
Catastrophy Protection Plans Towns of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim
Comunication Structure on Site
(Emergency lines, SOS Pilars, Hazard detection systems)
Information and Warning of Plants
10.1 Central Warning System
10.2 Direct Announcment (Buildings with direct PA-connection to Fire
Department)
10.3
PA-Vehicle (Information / Warning for Sub-Contractors)
10.4
Warning and Information System for Plants
(Warn- Alarm- and Emergency Signals)
Information for Authorities
(Special Notification form)
BASF-Guidelines and BASF-Regulations
Guidelines / general Regulations for Safety, Health and Environment
protection
Plant fault Practice Exercises

The WAGAP is the result of an emergency planning system which have a logical
structure.

Structure of the Company Hazard Prevention Planning

A hazard analysis in the works/factory must be a first step taken in drawing up the
alarm and deployment plan.
In this context, it is necessary essentially to answer two questions:
1. Could an incident arise in the factory/works?
2. What should be the procedure if the incident occurs?
In consequence of answering these questions regulations and alarm plans for the
employees and for the inhabitants outside have to be drawn up.
In principle, all the plans in the factory/works should be of uniform composition and
should clearly demonstrate a logically recognizable sequence of actions.
The same structure should be sought for all instructions in a factory/works.
In this connection, the following hierarchies can form the basis of the planning:

Operating instructions for an alarm or hazard incident

Alarm or fire precaution regulation according to DIN 14 096

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

Fire fighting plans according to DIN 14095

Alarm plan or alarm-raising plan according to German state fire precaution
legislation
Organizational plan for major incidents
Works-alarm-and hazard defense plan

A feature of incidents of all kinds is that measures and decisions (who is informed;
by what means) have to be taken quickly under time pressure and under the cloud of
what has happened.
Therefore, all plans have to be of brief and precise structure in order to be
sufficiently comprehensible even to constantly changing personnel, for example,
such as manual workers and employees of other companies.
The plans are to be drawn up, presented to and practiced with those potentially
involved, for example for the following incidents:

Fire
Explosion
Product leak
Accidents with many injured/dead
Technical assistance
Emissions
Floods
Extreme weather conditions
Discovery of a bomb
Bomb threats.

The structure of the hazard prevention plan thus offers the advantages of a
concluded arrangement, the individual stages (plans) of which are to be brought into
play by the factory or, for example, the works fire service depending on the extent
and nature of the incident.

Alarm-raising Plans / Alarm Plans

Building on the factory instructions for the event of an alarm, the alarm-raising or
alarm plans define the notification and alarm sequence in the event of incidents in
the factory. The form of these plans which is customary at BASF includes a list of
telephone numbers of specialist bodies or specialist staff which are competent to
deal with the incident.
The factory incident reports are made to the responsible locations
(works fire service headquarters) via the stipulated central alarm point of the
site/factory.
From there, the authorities, institutions, works specialist departments and staff who
have to be warned are notified immediately on the basis of the alarm plan.
(see Appendix 1)

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
The following principles are to be employed when drawing up an alarm plan at BASF
Aktiengesellschaft:
1. The alarm plans are to be worked out by the factories in cooperation with the fire
service and the working safety department. The validity and completeness of the
information is to be checked twice a year by the factory.
2. The possible incident site is to be surrounded by a circle which encompasses the
hazardous area. This area is the "Red Zone" or "Core zone".
3. The factory operations in the "Red Zone" which are affected by the alarm are to
be informed verbally of the nature and extent of possible danger, in an information
conference.
4. Factories in the Red Zone must compile directions (factory directives) for the
protection of their employees in the event of an alarm and have to work through
these directions in regular instruction sessions.
5. The factories and employees outside the building are warned together by a loud
horn (typhoon system).
Long 7 sec. blast
.......... .......... ..........
2 sec. pause
- Auditory warning systems according to DIN 33404 -.
6. The fire service warns other affected factories by an electronical Central Warning
System (CWS) and informs people outside, for example by means of
loudspeakers.
7. Where necessary, factories in the Red Zone install alarm systems in the building
in order to warn the employees, as well as wind direction indicators (wind socks)
at clearly visible points.
The basic principle is to attempt to draw up all the alarm plans in the works
according to a uniform, predefined model. This has the advantage that in the event
of a serious incident, irrespective of the cause, the alarm-raising procedure does not
differ, or only differs to an insignificant extent. The alarm plan of a factory should
include the following compulsory stipulations:

who raises the alarm

how the alarm is raised
to whom the alarm is raised
if appropriate, who has to be warned.

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

Major Incident Alarm Planning

On the basis of an agreement between BASF and the city of Ludwigshafen which
was first made as early as 1980, major incidents within BASF are dealt with
according to an organizational plan which was drawn up for this purpose. These
major incidents are characterized by extensive repercussions inside and/or outside
the works site. These include in particular events which require the population and
the public bodies to be warned or informed.
The organizational plan provides a number of committees for combating damage in
the works and coordinating the BASF units involved. In the event of an incident,
according to the organizational plan,
the Hazard Prevention Steering Committee (LAG) and
the Technical Operations Management (TEL)
assume responsibility for the tasks which are incumbent on BASF.

4.1 Alarm Stages

The BASF hazard prevention system works on the basis of a four-stage alarm
system. Specifically, a distinction is drawn between the following alarm stages:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Plant alarm
Minor alarm
Major alarm
Major incident alarm

(PA)
(MIA)
(MAJA)
(MAJACCA).

(see Appendix 2)
A matrix which specifies the following parameters:

and

number of people hurt

extent of the damage
whether or not it is known which BASF factory has caused the incident
disruption or hazards for people affected
effect in the factory, in the works or outside the works

is used to classify the different alarm stages. (see Appendix 3)

Factory alarms according to this matrix are characterized by minor damage, a small
number of injured and disruption to people affected in the factory. In the event of a
factory alarm, the incident is dealt with by the factory affected. In the event of
incidents of this nature, the works fire service is not called out.
Minor alarms are required if there is danger in a factory affected and if there is
disruption to people in the associated Red Zone (zone, 150 m diameter, around the
factory which is stipulated in the factory alarm plan). In the event of alarms of this
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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
nature, the works fire service is deployed and will carry out the damage prevention
measures in the factory and the Red Zone.
The major alarms stage involves a large number of injured, danger in the works or
disruption outside the works site. At this alarm stage, a Technical Operations
Management coordinates the damage prevention measures, this operations
management being composed of the BASF units which are required depending on
the damage situation, for example the environmental protection department, the
ambulance service, the medical service, site protection, and if necessary
representatives of the public fire service, and is headed by the works fire service.
The term major incident alarm encompasses incidents which:

or

1. in the event of a large number of injured cause a hazard within the

works or disruption outside the works
2. cause danger outside the works.

The structure and organization of the BASF units responsible for these alarms is
stipulated by the alarm plan for major incidents.

4.2 Alarm Plan for Major Incidents

The Major Incident Alarm Plan builds the most important part of our WAGAP,
because it describes the internal emergency responds management system an the
interaction with authorities and very important- with the local press.
(see Appendix 4)
The BASF works fire service is responsible for designing the contents of and
continuously updating the alarm plan for major incidents. An Organizational Plan
for Major Incidents forms the core of this alarm plan and is used to arrange
cooperation between the BASF committees involved and the responsible authorities
of the city of Ludwigshafen.
In the event of a major incident alarm, the plan provides for a Technical Operations
Management and a Steering Committee to be convened.
The membership and tasks of the Steering Committee and its individual members
are listed under classification points 2 and 3. The information contained in these
sections of the alarm plan (telephone numbers, addresses of the members of the
Steering Committee) are used by the works fire service in order to summon the
Steering Committee immediately in the event of an incident. On the other hand,
Section 3 (tasks of the Steering Committee) provides each member of the Steering
Committee with instructions concerning the tasks which he/she is to carry out (check
lists).
The members who are to be summoned to the Steering Committee also include the
heads of the divisions affected by the events of an incident. For this purpose, the
alarm plan includes a constantly updated list of the heads of the Operating Divisions
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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
(including the necessary information, such as for example telephone numbers,
private addresses, etc.).
The Steering Committee uses a series of working parties, to which BASF technical
staff and specialists are summoned on request of the Steering Committee, in order
to clarify particular specialist matters or in order to deal with particular tasks. The
membership of these working parties is given in Section 5 of the alarm plan, together
with the supplementary information required (how the people involved can be
reached).
In addition to these sections, the alarm plan includes important information for the
members of the Steering Committee, in the form of:

and

telephone and fax numbers of the official public authorities

responsible for damage prevention
technical facilities of the control room
(permanent meeting venue for the Steering Committee)
important internal telephone and fax numbers.

Finally, the composition of the Technical Operations Management which is designed

according to the nature of the incidents is appended to the alarm plan in Section 9.
The annexes to the alarm plan contain further information for the members of the
Steering Committee, such as for example the emissions notification plans which
have been agreed with the responsible authorities for incidents which involve
airborne or waterborne emissions.

4.3 Organizational Plan for Major Incidents

(see Appendix 5)
The organizational plan for major incidents constitutes the basis for cooperation
between the individual BASF committees in the event of a major incident.
In the event of a major incident alarm, the head of the works fire service is initially
responsible for coordinating the first hazard prevention measures. As the operations
manager in accordance with 25, Section 4 of the Land Protection, Firefighting and
Disaster Prevention Act (LBKG), he/she makes use of a Technical Operations
Management which, in addition to the specialist BASF units (e.g. works medical
service, air/water emissions monitoring department, work safety department, waste
disposal department), additionally may also (for example in the event of the public
fire service being deployed on the BASF works site) include representatives of the
public fire service.
The BASF units which are required to prevent hazards and to combat damage are
subordinate to the head of the works fire service or the operations manager, who is
thus responsible for combating damage on site and for providing information to the
responsible authorities of the city of Ludwigshafen.
According to the statutory provisions and the agreement between BASF and the city
of Ludwigshafen, overall management of hazard prevention may be transferred to
the Mayor of the city of Ludwigshafen (overall responsibility of the city of
Ludwigshafen). In these situations, the operational measures, for example, at the
BASF works site are carried out under the direction of the BASF operational
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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
manager under instructions from the overall management of the city of
Ludwigshafen.
On the basis of the organizational plan, the head of the works fire service is obliged
to inform the head of the Environment, Safety & Energy Functional Division as soon
as he/she is aware of the extent of the incident. In the event of major incidents, the
head of the Environment, Safety & Energy Functional Division will notify the head of
the Steering Committee of the incident, and the latter will decide whether the Hazard
Prevention Steering Committee is to be convened on the basis of the information to
which he/she has access.

5.4

Hazard Prevention Steering Committee

On the basis of the decision of the head of the Steering Committee, the Hazard
Prevention Steering Committee will meet in the steering room (meeting room in the
Environmental Monitoring department building) after it has been summoned. In
addition to the head of the Steering Committee, who in principle is the member of the
Board of Executive Directors who is responsible for the Ludwigshafen works, the
members of the Steering Committee include the following functional representatives:

and

the Head of the Environment, Safety & Energy division

the Head of the BASF AG Human Resources division
the Head of the Works Engineering division
the Head of the Operating Division affected by the incident
the Head of the Industrial Medicine department
the Head of the Emissions Monitoring department
the Head of the Public Relations department.

Furthermore, the Chairman of the Works Counsel participates in the meetings of the
Steering Committee as a personal member.
The fundamental task of the Steering Committee consists in the coordination of
all the units involved in an incident both with one another and with the works fire
service operations management. Furthermore, it ensures that normal operating
conditions are restored as quickly as possible. It is also responsible for providing
ongoing information to internal and external agencies. Furthermore, the Steering
Committee makes the decisions which are required for production at the
Ludwigshafen site and which may be necessary in the context of a major incident
(e.g. to shut down production processes or installations, to close down energy
supply grids).
To carry out these tasks, the Steering Committee uses various Working Parties
which it summons according to the particular situation of the incident. These working
parties operate under the management of a Coordinator for Working Parties.

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
The following working parties (WP), among others, may be activated:

and

Informing authorities and external agencies WP

Determination of the extent of damage/settlement of claims WP
Clearance and disposal WP
Toxicology WP
Ecology WP
Determination of the cause of damage WP
Law WP
Air/water WP
Industrial safety WP.

These working parties are made up of the experts and specialists working in the
BASF specialist bodies. By way of example, in previous incidents, the toxicology and
ecology working parties have been convened in order to provide further information
to the Steering Committee relating to the environmental relevance of products which
have been released.
The tasks within the Steering Committee are coordinated on the basis of a detailed
distribution of tasks in the alarm plan for major incidents. This alarm plan assigns
each member of the Steering Committee tasks according to his/her functional area.
For example, the head of the public affairs division has to carry out the following
tasks:
1.

Information for the works personnel

z through telex to the board of directors
z through the BASF Aktuell info bulletin available at the works gates
z through ZWS central warning system

2.

Dealing with representatives from the media

z set-up a meeting point outside the works grounds
z escort the media representatives to view the incident scene
(after the agreement from the emergency board has been given)

3.

Information to the emergency control and guidance board over the questions
asked by the press and reports in the news in radio and TV

The Steering Committee works in continuous contact with the Technical Operations
Management which has been set up by the works fire service. At specific intervals of
time, the head of the works fire service informs the head of the Steering Committee
of the current damage situation on site.

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

4.5 Technical Operations Management

The Steering Committee mentioned above, the Technical Operations Management is
composed of:

and

the operations manager

the heads of the functional divisions S1 - S4 (Technical Operations
Management staff)
one advisor from each of the authorities, services, factories, public and
private organizations directly involved in the hazard prevention
auxiliary personnel.

The Technical Operations Management Staff is adapted to the requirements of

function-oriented operations management depending on the particular incident
involved. In principle, the staff is divided into the following supervisory areas:
S1
S2
S3
and

S4

Personnel supervision, internal supervision, press and public

relations work
Establishing the position
Tactical planning, provision of orders
(where not provided by the operations manager), communications
supervision
Supplies.

The secondment of employees of the works fire service and representatives of the
public fire service of the city of Ludwigshafen to the staff depends on the following
deployment incident classifications:

and

1. Incidents without external effects

2. Incidents without external effects but with deployment of the public fire
services
3. Incidents with external effects but without the deployment of the public
fire services in the works
4. Incidents with external effects and with deployment of the public fire
services in the works.

The Operations Manager, when working in the Technical Operations Management,

is assisted by employees of the Operating Divisions affected by the incident and, if
appropriate, of the factories affected. This ensures that information which is specific
to the product, process or factory is available to the Operations Manager
immediately and at any time.

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF

4.6 Procedural Plan for Hazard Prevention

(see appendix 6)
The organizational units and committees which have been described above and
become active in the event of a major incident alarm are classified, at BASF, into a
Procedural Plan for Hazard Prevention which is valid for all the alarm stages.
On the basis of this procedural plan, incident reports are passed by external
agencies, BASF employees, the Environmental Monitoring department or the factory
(if the alarm is not a factory alarm) to the existing notification points of the works fire
service, the ambulance service or the Environmental Monitoring department. In the
headquarters of these units, the matrix which has been explained above is used to
make a decision concerning the classification of the hazard prevention into the alarm
stages. At the same time, the head of the Environment, Safety and Energy division is
informed, who in the event of a major incident alarm will notify the head of the
Steering Committee. If the damage situation demands, this decision-making process
can be shortened by the head of the works fire service summoning the Steering
Committee directly or by informing the head of the Steering Committee.
While initial measures for combating the damage are being introduced, the
notification points of the authorities responsible for hazard prevention are informed
immediately on the instructions of the operations manager of the works fire service.
On the basis of the immediate notification received, these authorities decide whether
to activate the official hazard prevention measures (e.g. information or warning for
the population) and inform the head of the official hazard prevention department
(under the overall management of the city of Ludwigshafen). If necessary, it is the
responsibility of the head of the official hazard prevention department to decide
whether to introduce measures in accordance with the disaster prevention plan.

Trainings

The paper of all these emergency plans is not worth to be written, if there are no
practical trainings and regular drills.
The problem is, that in case of an accident, you have .... lack of time, ... .lack of
equipment, .....lack of something else .........
But on the other hand, ...rapid response, ...professional handling and ...optimum
effects of measures are expected.
So it is necessary to organize and train as much as possible in advance. The aim is,
that every employee knows exactly what to do in the case of a minor or major
incident.

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
For practical drills we have got several levels of exercises for the employees:

exercise Action / Scenary

Participants
level
1
alert exercise to train the
plants employees
plants own technical an
organisational procedures.
2
Emergency shut down of
plants employees, monitored by fire brigade
the production
or safety department
3
Alert training
employees ,fire brigade (Minor or Major
(Fire, leakage etc)
alarm) and the others standard emergenca
abating unites.(medical,
security,environmental)
4
Major accident alert training employees, fire brigade and technical
(Fire, leakage, explosion
operations management. Many injured
etc)
people (extra players),
external forces
5
Steering commitee
Emergency response steering commitee,
exercise
working groups, other specialists, technical
operations mangagement
Every year the BASF carries out

2
exercises level 5

2
exercises level 4
approx 90
exercises level 3

4 to 6
evacuation exercises monitored by our Fire Brigade.

Weekly testing of the alarm signals, public address systems and central warning
system.

Communication with the neighbours

A further major component of incident management is communication between the

operating company and the autorities and to the public. By giving information in
advance about your plants and your emergency response measures to the residents
builds a confidential relationship between the Chemical industry site and the
neighbourhoud. In an event of a major accident alarm situation you need this
confidence.
Together with the cities of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim BASF and other chemical
companies in produced an incident booklet Major incident - what now, which is
distributed to all residents. The companies describes their factories and give
information about the names and dangerous properties of their products. In addition,
an information sheet (in several languages) outlines protective measures and action
to be taken in the event of an incident in the chemical industry.

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BASF Aktiengesellschaft
Works Fire Service
Emergency planning in line with Seveso-II-guideline / example BASF
If necessary the city of Ludwigshafen warns the inhabitants with
sirens around the BASF
information from local radio stations
announcements by loudspeaker
In agreement with the operating divisions and the Environment, Safety an Energy
Division the the Public Realations and Market Communications Department provides
press realeases
helplines
BASF TV
Videotext
Internet

Summary

The emergency management system described in this presentation with reference to

the example of the BASF site in Ludwigshafen, as well as the content and structure
of the plans, committees and staffs mentioned, have proven successful in the past
when used inside and outside the works site. The clear definition of areas of
interaction with those authorities of the city of Ludwigshafen which are responsible
for hazard prevention has allowed measures to be stipulated and carried out quickly
and correctly in the event of incidents arising.

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