A comprehensive military risk management exercise was held at Northern Iron Ore. The training exercise took place at one of the plant’s facilities and was aimed at practising personnel response procedures for dealing with the consequences of military action under a complete blackout scenario.
During the exercise, participants practised coordination among all company departments while responding to several emergency scenarios simultaneously. According to the exercise scenario, the crash of an unmanned aerial vehicle and the dispersal of its debris resulted in a power outage at the plant’s facilities, an employee being injured, a fire breaking out near the fuel and lubricants storage area, and the discovery of drone wreckage on the production site.
An additional condition of the exercise was a complete blackout across the enterprise. In addition, during the exercise, the control team introduced further scenarios requiring participants to respond promptly, including the loss of power to pumping units, a fire in the fuel and lubricants storage facility, injury to another employee, and the discovery of additional drone wreckage.
Once the air raid alert had been lifted, personnel began mitigating the consequences of the simulated emergency. The medical team promptly located an injured conveyor operator who, according to the exercise scenario, had sustained a shrapnel wound while making his way to a shelter. The employee was provided with first aid, the bleeding was controlled using a tourniquet, and he was then handed over to an emergency medical team, which arrived at the scene within just five minutes.
At the same time, the fire response team localised the simulated fire near the fuel and lubricants storage area, ensured safe access for firefighting equipment, and guided emergency responders to the incident site. Additionally, the participants practised emergency response actions in the event of a fire at the fuel and lubricants storage facility and the clean-up of a simulated fuel spill.
A dedicated phase of the exercise involved practical actions to be taken upon the discovery of explosive objects. Upon discovering the drone wreckage, personnel promptly notified the dispatch service, organised the evacuation of employees, secured the hazardous area, and coordinated the arrival of specialist services in accordance with established procedures.
Particular attention during the exercise was given to practising response procedures under conditions of a complete power outage across the plant. The process and electrical personnel carried out the required operational switching, safely isolated the equipment using lockout devices, and strictly adhered to approved procedures. All operations were completed within the prescribed timeframes and without any observations.
The exercise involved employees from Ore Beneficiation Plant No. 2, the Paramilitary Fire Service Unit, the State Paramilitary Mine Rescue Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the medical service, the security unit, the plant’s dispatching services, and other departments. A total of 25 employees and representatives of emergency services took part in the exercise.
