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Greensburg / Decatur County Chamber Headlines:
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Honda Emergency Services Featured at February Safety Council
 Area safety associates gathered at Honda Manufacturing of Indiana to learn about Honda’s Company Emergency Response Plan and enjoyed lunch courtesy of Safety Solutions on February 25th during the first of the 2010 quarterly Decatur County Safety Council meetings.
Jeff Burke from Honda’s Safety, Medical and Emergency Services team outlined the detailed emergency plan for the facility which celebrated the production of the 100,000th Civic that same day.
“One of the things Honda looked at when looking at the site was the close proximity of emergency services,” stated Burke. Greensburg fire, emt and police services are just 2.4 miles away and the helicopter from Columbus is just 8 minutes away. “We designated 8 landing sites on our property for the helicopter,” included Burke, encouraging every industry to think about where a helicopter would be able to land on their property in an emergency.
A huge factor in Honda’s plan to “Always Be Prepared” included approaching the city about setting up a partnership with the Greensburg Fire Department similar to the arrangement Honda has in Lincoln, Alabama. The partnership which became official in May of 2008 provides that GFD personnel will be onsite 24/7 from 6am to 6am. Currently there are 12 trained firefighters who are also certified EMT’s in the program with a 13th staff person to be added shortly who rotate shifts at the facility with their shifts at the station.
“The biggest benefit is the GFD knows Honda’s systems well and can prevent problems or handle issues at the earlist stages to reduce emergencies,” stated Fire Chief Scott Chasteen. Chasteen encouraged all industries to regularly invite the fire department into their facilities to keep them informed to better respond to emergencies.
“The firefighters on call are very knoweldgeable of the processes and are trained as HAZMAT technicians which also helps us any where we respond,” pointed out Chasteen, explaining how training that they are able to do at Honda such as the upcoming confined spaces training, will benefit everyone in Greensburg.
The next meeting of the Decatur County Safety Council will be on April 28th and will be a presentation from IOSHA. There is no cost to join the council. For more information, contact Jennifer Sturges at the chamber at 812-663-2832 or execdirector@greensburgchamber.com.
Pictured: Honda associates and Greensburg Fire Department staff train at Honda’s Indiana manufacturing plant to deal with potential emergencies both at Honda as well as other facilities in Greensburg. (Photo courtesty of HMIN)
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