The Iona facility is classified by WorkSafe Victoria as a Major Hazard Facility under Victorian legislation. These facilities are sites that store, handle or process hazardous chemicals and dangerous goods, including petroleum products that meet a legislated threshold requiring classification as a major hazard facility.
While incidents at Major Hazard Facilities are uncommon, they do require a rigorous approach to process safety. To prevent an incident occurring, workers and management at the Iona facility focus intensely on operating a safe workplace, protecting each other from harm and ensuring up-to-date procedures are in place to contain and control an incident should one occur.
It is important to note that no major incident has occurred at our Iona plant since it operations commenced over 17 years ago and we have an excellent safety record – something we are all very proud of and work hard to maintain.
What types of incidents could occur?
Gas plant incidents, while very rare, can include fire, explosions or the release of hazardous chemicals. In these instances, workers and management at Iona would immediately activate their Emergency Response Plan to ensure the incident is rapidly brought under control.
Preparing for possible incidents
Strict health and safety procedures are in place at Iona – and are regularly tested and reviewed – to ensure serious incidents do not occur.
Emergency response exercises are also held to ensure all workers and management are well prepared for an emergency or incident on site. These exercises can include the Police, the Community Emergency Response Team, Ambulance and the Country Fire Authority.
Past exercises indicate both workers on site and local emergency support crews are well trained in what to do in the case of an emergency.
Iona safety record
Only one Lost Time Injury has occurred at Iona and we continue to strive for improved safety at site through continuous identification of hazards and improvement in processes. A Lost Time Injury is when a worker must take time off from work as a result of an injury.
This achievement highlights Iona’s dedication to maintaining a safe workplace and is an impressive achievement that places our safety record well above industry standards.
