Beep, beep, beep, the siren sounded abruptly from the canteen at Badr camp. Promptly, chefs, helpers and people in the vicinity proceeded in an orderly fashion to the nearest emergency assembly point guided by the camp’s fire warden.

This episode took place at EWPL Project’s Badr camp in the west of Saudi Arabia, where an emergency evacuation drill was conducted. To prepare for the drill, the camp team sat with the PMT in the afternoon of March 19 in a simulation to discuss the organization, command, and coordination of the drill. At that night, the camp’s HSE superintendent conducted a meeting with the camp’s fire warden, nurses, flagman, and participating employees for arrangement and explanation.

Thanks to the meticulous preparation, the emergency evacuation drill was conducted successfully at 8 a.m. on March 20. When the alarm sounded, the camp’s fire warden immediately stopped his work and proceeded to the canteen to direct the evacuation. The head of the camp immediately contacted the camp’s first-aid station, and the flagman instructed the ambulance to rush to the scene... Everything happened in a prompt and orderly fashion. During the review, PMT recognized the effectiveness of the drill and the efficient collaboration between different job roles, and gave recommendations for improvement.

As the camps of the EWPL Project start to operate, more of such drills will be conducted to enhance awareness of safety and emergency response, in order to enable safe and orderly operation of the camps.