OREANDA-NEWS. DTEK's emergency response centre held an emergency response drill to enhance its response capabilities.

 According to the scenario of the exercise, a large fire at DTEK Oktyabrs'ka coal enrichment plant (CEP) in Donetsk region killed a worker and injured another one. Operations at the plant were interrupted. The accident might also affect the neighbouring Bilytska mine.

 The task for the plant management and DTEK's corporate centre was to organise and supervise emergency response actions. During the three-hour exercise the company’s employees were trained how to respond in such situations, in particular: how to arrange immediate communications on the accident, set up the emergency response centres, cooperate with the municipal executive committee of Bilytske town and civil defence services to conduct rescue and recovery operations.

 “Such drills improve emergency response skills. If you do not have such skills it is difficult to assess the situation correctly and make right decisions in real life,” said the General Director of DTEK Oktyabrs'ka CEP Kostiantyn Kitam. “The actions of the State Mine Rescue Service, the State Emergency Situations Service, disaster medicine units, local authorities were effective and well-coordinated. In general, the actions of all exercise participants were given high scores.”

 DTEK Oktyabrs'ka CEP pays special attention to safety. In 2011, the company introduced an automated emergency early warning system. The same year, the plant commissioned an automated fire alarm system in the main production premises and at several belt conveyors. The investments in the above projects exceeded half a million Ukrainian hryvnias. In 2012, a video surveillance system was deployed. In 2013, the plant intends to expand the automated fire alarm system to the belt conveyor galleries.

 As reported earlier, in 2012, DTEK’s safety investments amounted to 616 million hryvnias, compared to 328 million hryvnias in 2011. Over the last six years (2007-2012), DTEK’s companies invested over 1.4 billion hryvnias in occupational safety.