Safe Evacuation in Power Plants: How Far Apart Should Assembly Points Be?

Dear Friends,

Please explain how much distance should be maintained between one assembly point and another assembly point for safe evacuation in power plants.

I am not aware of any statutory requirement in this aspect. You may please check the Factory Act provisions and also in QMS like ISO. Logically, it should not be very far off for a person to go to the assembly point. The route to the assembly point should be safe. The idea is to gather all the people in a safe place. This is the priority. The second one is to extend any help at the scene of trouble. This is discretionary and is left to the Operation/Maintenance people.

Regards, V. Raghunathan

Assembly Point Requirements in High Hazard Industries

No such requirements are mentioned in EHS acts and rules. Practically, it is not possible!

For high hazard industries, a large number of tanks with tons of capacity are installed over kilometers. Oil and gas companies are spread across 100 to 1000 acres. In such plants, the hazardous area spreads around at least 1 km to 10 km.

For small to medium-scale industries, plants are spread over 5 to 50 acres. If the government prescribes any fixed distance, it will not yield effective results.

In practice, assembly points are created at four ends of the plant. Based on the wind direction, during emergencies, employees will evacuate from safe gates.

Dear Friends,

Practically, one person approximately occupies 1 sqm. So, if 500 employees need to be assembled, approximately 500 sqm of open space for an assembly point is required.

The location of assembly points should be selected in open air spaces with no buildings in the vicinity, no high-tension towers, etc., and not on internal roads.

Emergency assembly points should have a provision of emergency lights as well.