Alyeska Pipeline Service Company's Response Training Program

Abstract

ABSTRACT In January 2000, the Alaska Statewide Oil and Hazardous Substance Incident Management System workgroup, convened under the auspices of the Alaska Regional Response Team (ARRT), submitted standardized spill response management guidelines to the ARRT These guidelines lay out minimum training needs of personnel in a variety of spill response positions including both those in the field and the Incident Management Team. These guidelines were established after extensive workgroup actions designed to comprehensively and accurately capture response information. This paper will examine these guidelines through a look at Alyeska Pipeline Service Company's Ship Escort Response Vessel System (SERVS) training standards and preparedness. It will show how SERVS and other Alyeska training requirements meet and/or exceed the recommendations of the ARRT-sponsored guidelines. The paper will explore the various avenues of training offered by Alyeska, including classroom instruction, on-the-job training opportunities available for employee development, and outside training classes/courses to which Alyeska has sent its employees. The paper will frame these discussions within a description of the minimum qualifications required for each position. As a key contributor to the guidelines, Alyeska Valdez Business Unit has used the guide to streamline its response training program. The training program set up by the Alyeska Business Unit compares very favorably to the statewide ARRT-recommended training levels by function and management level after an exhaustive review of our training processes. The paper will review how this training review process factors in prior work and training equivalencies into the Alyeska Valdez Business Unit program, promoting personnel assignment flexibility and efficiency. Through this discussion of the elements of the Alyeska Valdez Business Unit training program and a comparison of the program to the ARRT guidelines, the reader will have a better understanding of the tools required to develop a comprehensive spill prevention and response training program, while considering the inevitable pressures of resource and time constraints on that program.