Today I went on another training course, the subject of which was Fire Safety, or Firefighting, or something like that.\u00a0 Again, it was a Russian Federation requirement that I attend.<\/p>\n
Those who work in an ordinary office environment\u00a0are not required by law to attend this course, but for those people who will be working on a live\u00a0oil and gas\u00a0facility – as the LNG\u00a0plant at Prigorodnoye is about to become in the next week or so – attendence is compulsory.\u00a0 So\u00a0a load of us\u00a0had to go on this\u00a0fire safety\u00a0course.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the course did not address\u00a0firefighting in oil and gas facilities.\u00a0 Instead we were told a lot about fire safety, firefighting, and evacuation plans in an office environment, which\u00a0left us all wondering why the course is compulsory for oil and gas workers but not office workers.\u00a0 Anyway, we now all have our little red books which\u00a0certify us to put out\u00a0a major\u00a0blaze on an LNG\u00a0storage tank with\u00a0the little\u00a0powder fire extinguisher which you have in your kitchen.\u00a0 Or maybe it doesn’t.<\/p>\n
Like my last training course, this one\u00a0consisted mainly of somebody reading out the relevant Russian law line by line as somebody else translated.\u00a0 Only\u00a0the translator was late, so the first few minutes of translation was done by me, who is perfectly able to stand around a billiard table or barbecue pit\u00a0ordering large vodkas and orange juice whilst\u00a0making idle conversation\u00a0with\u00a0the locals, but\u00a0is\u00a0far from competent to translate such\u00a0lines as “this fire extinguisher features an internal gas canister under pressure\u00a0which propels the powder down the nozzle.”<\/em>\u00a0 Fortunately, the translator turned up before I told the class that the instructor was encouraging us to play with fire extinguishers for fun.\u00a0 One interesting thing I learned was that any classroom with more than 20 people in must have two exits.\u00a0 Our class of over 20 people were taught this in a room with just one exit.<\/p>\n Lastly, we all went outside to a patch of grass where a metal tray had been laid down\u00a0into which\u00a0a lady wearing a polyester\u00a0office suit and high heels poured some flammable liquid.\u00a0 Then a bloke\u00a0dressed head to toe in combat fatigues and sporting a big Cossack moustache lit the stuff and\u00a0the trainees had to don a child-size rubber coat, a giant-size helmet, and put\u00a0the fire out using a half-empty fire extinguisher which Noah had tried fitting on the\u00a0Ark but had been told\u00a0that second-hand fire extinguishers which had gone rusty did not conform to the relevant Heavenly standards of Ark construction and operation.<\/p>\n All in all, a productive morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today I went on another training course, the subject of which was Fire Safety, or Firefighting, or something like that.\u00a0 Again, it was a Russian Federation requirement that I attend. Those who work in an ordinary office environment\u00a0are not required … Continue reading