RUBiS promoting fire safety at service stations

RUBiS continues to promote fire safety at its service stations islandwide with the hosting of annual fire safety training sessions. Upon completion in early October, training of the current cohort of service station teams will see well over 500 employees receiving basic firefighting and fire-safety training.

RUBiS’s retail manager, Wayne Wright, said the training sessions are mandated by the company, independent of any requirements from local industry regulatory bodies. “We include the firefighting training because our aim is to protect life first and property second. A fire that is out of control at a gas station can cause serious harm. Our training equips our teams to arrest the fire before it gets to a stage where it is uncontrollable,” he disclosed.

According to Wright, RUBiS is making every effort to keep employees’ and customers’ safety at the forefront of their business operations. “We are mindful of the current challenges as it relates to operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since we began operations in Jamaica in 2014, we have carried out these training sessions with our employees and retail partners at all of our locations across the island. This sees them benefiting from basic firefighter training, as well as live fire-safety demonstrations. They learn how to identify the different types of fires, the various types of fire extinguishers, and when and how to use them.”

TRAINING SESSIONS

The training sessions, held twice yearly, are led by Wright and retail area manager Damion Facey, who are trained and certified by the Jamaica Fire Brigade, with retail area managers Latoya Perry and Keisha McFarlane, who are also trained in firefighting and fire drill safety skills, helping to lead the theoretical and practical sessions carried out for the benefit of all RUBiS service station staff.

Facey also spoke to some instances where RUBiS’s fire-safety training has proven beneficial. “Some of the major causes of fires at service stations includes defective motor vehicles coming to refuel their tanks or in seeking assistance from service station staff in emergency situations resulting from mechanical issues.

“I believe RUBiS’s policy of utilising only qualified technicians at its Rockfort head offices and all its service stations, as well as this training, arms our teams with the knowledge to deal with any fire at the onset so as to prevent it from becoming uncontrollable or dangerous,” he said.

Fire-safety awareness is a critical component to the successful operations of any retail gas operation as the mismanagement of a fire could result in millions of dollars in damage, serious bodily injury, or loss of life.