A highly dangerous situation is imminent. You immediately prepare for action. But to determine which response is appropriate for safely defusing this situation, you need to know what kind of imminent danger is involved. For example, the emergency response to a fire differs from that for a gas leak. A good warning system makes all the difference. Did you know that a very smart monkey who is an expert at alerting his family and friends lives in the trees of Africa? This animal is a source of inspiration for us.
What the vervet monkey and our project have in common
The vervet monkey does not exactly lead a quiet and untroubled life in the trees of Africa. High in the treetops, it is easy prey for winged hunters. The savanna and forest landscapes are also populated by some bloodthirsty animals with good climbing abilities. Obviously, an attack from above requires a different escape plan than an attack from the trees. A moment of inattention can be fatal. But this clever little monkey doesn’t give in easily. When a threat is spotted, all the animals in the group sound the alarm, and they do so in a highly intelligent way. “Leopard!” in the vervet monkey’s ‘language’ is distinctly different from the ‘words’ for “eagle!” or “snake!” This is how the animal under threat knows whether to jump, dive or climb. At DWG, we helped our customer in the same way.
Full-coverage auditory alarm system
When you work with oils, gases and chemicals, you want to make sure nothing goes wrong. An existing customer asked DWG for assistance for exactly this reason. DWG was instructed to develop a full-coverage auditory alarm system to raise the safety level at the site. Different, distinctive warnings for fires, gas leaks, evacuation and other signals needed to be clearly audible everywhere at the site.
Let’s go!
When you are asked a question, one possible reaction is to immediately and instinctively leap into action, just as you would when threatened by some form of danger. We did the opposite. We took a further critical look at the customer’s issues in order to make an informed decision. Then we assessed the impact of the operation. And we also studied the applicable standards. The fact that DWG and the customer have known each other for a long time made the analysis process even smoother. We knew exactly where the main areas of concern lay. And now: time for action. DWG’s involvement in this project included supervision of both the hardware and software engineering required to modify the system, and initial commissioning.
No blind spots
The alarm needed to be clearly audible in all areas of the site. To make sure no blind spots had been overlooked, we patrolled every inch of the site with a decibel meter during commissioning. The test signals were activated via a PCS7 system at this stage.
By putting up RIO (Remote I/O) cabinets and preprogrammed klaxons at strategic locations on the site, we created a fully tested auditory alarm system that extended across all areas at the site. At present, just one further klaxon needs to be installed to get full auditory alarm coverage. The final klaxon will be installed and tested by the customer in the near future. To guarantee smooth progress, we meticulously recorded all the test phases in a document, complete with accompanying drawings and a functional software design. And that was just part of the deliverables. We also used a PCS7 system to integrate software for the alarm signals in the local processes. As a result, operators in the control room can also manually activate them when the situation calls for it. Are we as clever as the vervet monkey? We think so.
