Cargill safety training: They know the drill

Loan Trinh carried a clipboard, a pen, a cell phone, a two-way radio, a cloth bag, a stack of rain-soaked papers – and probably several other items no one could see.

Still, it was business as usual last weekend for the unflappable manager of environment, health and safety at Cargill as she corralled about 50 people to play their roles in the company’s annual emergency safety drill.

“We actually do six drills a year,” said Trinh, “but one of them – this one – is with external agencies.”

The goal is to present potential real-life situations that could occur at the manufacturing plant that sits on U.S. Highway 218 in Blooming Prairie, and more importantly, the response to them.

To that end, Trinh uses more than 30 Cargill employees to enact the scenarios and invites personnel from the Blooming Prairie Ambulance Service and the Blooming Prairie Fire Department to enhance their own training.

It’s a job requirement for the employees at the site, which produces soybean oil and several other products by chemically bonding oxygen to unsaturated bonds in natural vegetable oils. The results are used in consumer goods like shower curtains, carpets, furniture, plastics and more.

Trinh, who was been with the company for 32 years, comes up with three scenarios every year, writing scripts for those who will play a role. If employees are not actors, they are drill observers – all with a goal of improved safety.

The emergency responders do not know the situation ahead of time, allowing them to learn in real-time what might be needed.

The first scenario last weekend involved a truck carrying glacial acetic acid, a typical raw material that would be delivered to the plant.

“As one of our employees was hooking up the hose to unload the acetic acid, there was a failure in the gasket of the hose,” Trinh said, allowing it to spray inside our facility.

Sparks from a nearby welder hit the chemical and started a fire – a situation that now needs not only the fire department but an ambulance, because the knee-jerk reaction of the employee unloading the acid was to close the shutoff valve on the back of the truck.

The “victim” in this case suffered chemical burns.

Everything – from the 911 call to the response of the 911 operator – is scripted by Trinh, and unknown to those playing the roles.

“It’s a lot of planning,” she said, in what may the understatement of the year.

In the second drill, an employee working on the second floor of the plant suffered a heart attack.

“It’s night time, so things are more secure,” Trinh said of the scenario’s timeframe.

Cargill employees resort to their own training as soon as they hear the details, moving to open locked gates and wave responders through.

This year, members of the Ellendale Fire Department also participated.

“You just observe,” Trinh told three employees in safety vests. “You have to do the drill critique, so for this scenario, you’re just standing back, watching what happens – right down to how the ambulance, how the fire department respond” and eventually effect the rescue.

“I’m looking for timeliness and effectiveness,” said Sam Hagen, of Owatonna, “and I’m looking for communication.”

Alexa Parish, of Austin, was taking photos in addition to being an observer. The photos will be used in future training.

“This is a continuous improvement (exercise), so we are looking for things that were done well, and where there are opportunities for improvement,” said Ricky Soto, of Blooming Prairie.

It’s effective, Hagen said, “because I definitely pick up on a few things each year. It helps build the general profile of safety.

“We’re very well prepared,” he said. “Loan does her job to the point where, honestly, I don’t think even any of the bugs here are going to be in danger.”