RICHLAND, Wash. - EM Office of River Protection tank farms contractor Washington River Protection Solution (WRPS) is making it loud and clear that worker safety is its highest priority.
WRPS is installing a public address (PA) system to help notify workers in or near Hanford tank farms and direct them to safety during operational events. The PA system will supplement current communications methods, including two-way radios and cell phones.
“DOE and WRPS recognized that during potential chemical vapor events there was a need for a notification system that would complement our existing tools," WRPS Project Manager Bobby Nelson said. “We worked closely with operations, field personnel, and our vendor to select, modify, install, and program equipment that would best suit our needs in the tank farms."
The team has installed pole assemblies, wireless speakers and beacons, speaker cabinets, electrical and other associated equipment, and performed functional testing in eight of 11 tank farms located in 200 East Area, which is in the center of the Hanford Site. The system is operating in four of those eight farms and is expected to be operational in the other four farms in April.
Design and construction preparation activities continue for installing the PA system in several other tank farms, with installation activities scheduled to begin this spring. Hanford has 18 tank farms.
The PA system will be controlled from a centralized shift office, which will coordinate communications with field crews through text-to-speech or voice through computers. Text also will appear on industrial hygiene video screens located in active change trailers and roadside reader boards placed in strategic locations throughout the farms or farm access points along the roads.
“The PA system will be used as an additional method for timely notification to personnel working in and around tank farms," said Jim Lynch, ORP tank farms program manager. “This will improve operational communications and provide further defense in depth."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
