Mike Tyson, the former prizefighter turned standup performer, is becoming the Yogi Berra of his day, generating quotable statements that are sprinkled throughout the Internet. His most popular quote, believe it or not, can be directly applied to emergency response planning in petrochemicals: “Everyone has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth.”
He is obviously talking about boxing, but the principle is the same. When pre-paring for a fight, Tyson built a plan to defeat his opponent. He usually succeeded because he practiced and perfected his plans, building the “muscle memory” he needed to duplicate what he learned in the practice ring when it really counted during prize bouts. Strengthening his muscle memory was key because, if his plan broke down, it enabled him to rely on his highly trained instincts rather than his original plan in order to prevail.
In emergency response, we prepare daily for our opponent: an incident that poses a threat to people or the environment. The equivalent saying in emergency response is: “Most people’s IQs drop by half during an emergency.”
Similar to a boxer, we need plant personnel to train via drills in order to build the “muscle memory” that will help them make the right choices when the site gets an unexpected punch in the proverbial mouth. Frequent and consistent drills that drive a continuous improvement strategy will build and strengthen muscle memory in the mustering process. This will ultimately improve the site’s readiness for the opponent, which always shows up unannounced. Unfortunately, emergency response leaders traditionally run drills infrequently because they tend to disrupt plant operations.
And therein lies the rub. Practice is most effective if it is frequent and consistent, so the more laborious site mustering drills (which take place once a quarter or less) have little value in training site personnel. Moreover, the turnover of contract labor in those intervals makes it even less effective, as a worker could be on-site for months without ever practicing a mustering event. Bottom line: Muscle memory isn’t built. There are less disruptive tests that happen more often, like testing notification systems and fire apparatus, so emergency drills need to become similarly less disruptive (faster and less complex) to achieve the same frequency.
‘Good enough’
I’ve written in the past that the process of mustering staff on-site in an emergency has traditionally been deemed “good enough” because the job got done, people were counted in an orderly drill, and the drill could be declared a success. Still today, in the vast majority of cases, the drills are performed manually and annually with paper, pens and radios, using a game of “telephone.” It’s historically been “good enough” to check the box that states, “We have a mustering process we test periodically.” But are the drills good enough to also check the box that says, “We are becoming more prepared because of the drills”? The answer is probably not.
Commit to muscle memory
I contend sites need to commit to building muscle memory in these important yet often neglected areas. It takes management support to authorize more frequent (no less than once a month) drills. To do this cost-effectively requires investment in technology to help the emergency response organization complete the drills faster while gathering important, real-time data that can be used to continually improve the process.
I’ve seen sites that drill once per week, and they are succeeding. Using a good electronic mustering system and a well thought-out process, sites are mustering between 1,000 and 2,500 people in 10 minutes, which permits them to drill weekly. Every time the drill takes place, the staff’s awareness of the process and the location of assembly points improve, making them more agile and ready for the real thing. Like a prizefighter, the plant is training to be prepared for the opponent.
It can and should be done because, like Iron Mike said, “It’s no fun to find yourself crawling around the mat, looking for your mouth guard.”
For more information, visit www.infrontusa.com or call (800) 256-2003.
