Always Be Prepared

You never know when trouble’s going to strike. Our June 2003 issue was being put together in the midst of Ontario’s second SARS scare, and everyone who coughed within earshot was looked at with derision, it seemed.

But just when everything was getting back to normal, the province was hit again with another emergency — the huge mid-August power blackout.

The blackout just didn’t shut down industrial production. Several companies experienced explosions and fires due to the loss of power and lack of control systems. It was weeks before some facilities recovered.

It all made our June cover feature even timelier. If you didn’t get a chance to read “Mayday! From explosions to SARS, there’s an emergency plan to get you through,” it’s not too late. If your facility struggled to cope with the blackout, pull out that issue from your office or around the shop floor. Find out who’s got it stashed. Because this article, by safety expert and engineer Simon Fridlyand, is a handy step-by-step guide to putting an emergency plan in place.

You can also find the article on-line at our website, www.mro-esource.com, under the Magazine Archives link.

Whether you had a good plan in place or not, we’d like to hear your stories about coping with industry’s biggest blackout since the 1960s. Send your notes by e-mail, fax or post to: Bill Roebuck, Editor/Associate Publisher, 1450 Don Mills Rd., Don Mills, ON M3B 2X7, e-mail broebuck@mromagazine.com, fax 416-442-2214.MRO