Stolt Tank Containers and the Singapore Civil Defence Force: strengthening workplace safety
Stolt Tank Containers (STC) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) have joined forces to enhance safety for people and the environment in Singapore.
General Manager, Technical Services Department – APAC, Darrell Lee said: “When Mike Kramer (President of Stolt Tank Containers) decided to donate some of our used tank containers for training and educational purposes, I immediately thought of the Singapore Civil Defence Force. The memory of the hundreds of fire-fighters who lost their lives in the Tianjin port explosion was a stark illustration of what can happen without proper training. By familiarising fire-fighters with the safe handling of containers in emergency situations, we would be giving new life and a valuable purpose to this equipment.”
The Singapore Civil Defence Force is the main agency providing emergency services in Singapore. As part of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singapore, their role is to provide fire-fighting, rescue and emergency medical services; to mitigate hazardous materials incidents, and to formulate, implement and enforce regulations on fire safety and civil defence shelter matters.
The organisation consists of both operational and training divisions, including the Civil Defence Academy (CDA) which was custom-designed to house high-tech training facilities. At the CDA’s new training centre in Mandai, simulators, such as a tank ship and a petrochemical refinery complex, have been constructed for realistic training on marine firefighting, specialised urban search & rescue operations, and hazardous-materials mitigation. Pipelines in the CDA’s five-story petrochemical refinery simulator use liquefied petroleum gas to create fires for more realistic training purposes, and one of the donated STC tanks has been placed within the petrochemical refinery complex.
SCDF has taken a leading role in organizing and hosting international and regional meetings, as well as globalised exercises and training in Singapore. To help with these meetings and exercises, STC invited NCHO Engineering, a pioneer specialist in dry and bulk-liquid containers maintenance and repair, to work with STC on a model tank container specifically for display and external viewing.
The container constructed by NCHO is shortened with top outlet valves relocated to allow the tank to fit in the designated location for display. The stainless-steel barrel is cut on one side towards the lower end. The cut area is sealed with heavy duty tempered glass. All valves and parts are labelled. It enables direct viewing of the shell interior, as well as part of the steam panel without confined-space entry.
In addition, a two-day training session was conducted for SCDF’s officers to enhance their knowledge of bulk-liquid tanks. The first day of training took place at SCDF’s Mandai training site and the second day’s training was held at STC’s depot on Jurong Island, Singapore.
The sessions included training related to tank valves and parts, tank-container entry, tank leakage detection and cargo transfer, which Major Lionel Lee of the SCDF acknowledged as beneficial to his team.
While the donation of the tank and subsequent training has expanded SCDF’s knowledge of bulk-liquid containers, STC has also benefited from learning how to better share its knowledge regarding the safe handling of bulk liquid containers in a more engaging and effective manner.
Assistant Commissioner, Teong How Hwa said: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. SCDF is happy to work with a reputable company such as Stolt-Nielsen to collectively improve the safety and security of the chemical industrial sector.”
The cooperative efforts of Stolt Tank Containers and Singapore Civil Defence Force have helped to strengthen workplace safety for both people and the environment in Singapore, thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of all who participated.
For more information visit www.stolt-nielsen.com
10th April 2017
