HSE Yarraville
Albright and Wilson’s Yarraville site is a licensed major hazard facility andoccupies approximately 2 hectares on the banks of the Maribyrnong River in the Melbourne suburb of Yarraville where the Company has been manufacturing for over 65 years. Although the area is predominantly heavy industry, there are residential homes within a 1km radius of the site.
The site is bounded to the south by Francis Street and Mobil’s Lubricants and Petroleum Terminal, to the west and north by the now mothballed chloralkali operations of Orica Australia, whilst the eastern frontage faces the river.
Production is worked on a 24-hour per day, 7-days a week basis, by 4 teams of 7 operators on 12-hour rotating shifts. The site employs a total of approximately 100 people.
Product Manufactured at Yarraville
Albright and Wilson’s Yarraville site is a major producer of phosphoric acid, technical and food grade phosphate and polyphosphates. Phosphates are versatile products which find application in such diverse industry groups as detergents, food products and processing, metal finishing, mining and mineral processing pharmaceuticals, crop care and water treatment.
Did you know that phosphates are present in all living organisms, animal and vegetable, and are continually required to support life? They are natural compounds that have been present in the earth’s ecosystem from the beginning.
Raw Materials Maufactured at Yarraville
The primary raw materials used for manufacture on the Yarraville site are yellow phosphorus, thermal phosphoric acid, soda ash and caustic soda.
Imported yellow phosphorus from China is packed in 200kg drums and shipped to Australia in containers. The drums are then transferred to the P4 Pad at Yarraville where they are stacked 4 drums to a pallet, 3 pallets high. The pad is kept under constant TV monitoring, plus it has video smoke detection and lightning protection systems.
Yellow phosphorus is a wax-like substance that is spontaneously flammable in air. In order to prevent air coming in contact with phosphorus during both storage and handling, each drum is packed with a layer of water on top of the phosphorus. Phosphorus melts at 44 degrees C, has a specific gravity of 1.8 (much heavier than water) and a pH of 7 (neutral).
Phosphoric acid arrives at the Yarraville wharf in bulk chemical tankers. The acid is pumped directly from No 6 Wharf into the bulk acid tanks situated at the eastern end of the site.
Soda ash is a finely divided white power manufactured by Penrice Soda Products Pty Ltd in Osborne, SA. It is delivered to the site in bulk bags or by road tanker.
Caustic soda is a clear liquid which is supplied in bulk
Safety Management System (SMS)
The Safety Management System implemented at Albright and Wilson’s Yarraville facility has been designed and developed
- To provide an accessible system of HSE management as required under the Major Hazards Facilities regulations
- To ensure that Albright and Wilson meets it duty of care to both its employees and the community
- To meet the need to identify, document and control all HSE risks in an effective manner
- To provide greater employee involvement and feedback in HSE management
Capturing Experience
By basing the SMS on the ATLAS system of procedures used by Orica, Albright and Wilson has gained the benefit of that company’s 20 years of dedicated HSE management. The ATLAS system is constantly monitored by a collection of stewards working across a wide range of industries, thereby enabling the SMS to continually advance the HSE performance at Yarraville.
The risk assessment process used for both the MHF and SMS utilises the experience of senior and long-serving personnel at Yarraville. In fact, over 100 years combined on-site experience was used to ensure that all aspects of the SMS were relevant and specific to Albright and Wilson and its HSE needs.
Delivering the Information to Yarraville Employees
The primary means of collecting, storing and displaying the information in the SMS is done via the Albright and Wilson Intranet, which is an internal website offering content and services to employees. The Albright and Wilson Intranet cannot be accessed by the general public.
Emergency Response Plan
Albright and Wilson has developed an emergency response plan that ensures all personnel are aware of their responsibilities and have received appropriate training should any emergency occur. In developing the emergency response plan, the company has consulted with both the emergency services and neighbouring facilities.
Albright and Wilson welcomes input from the community with regard to its ability to respond to on-site emergencies. If you would like more information about emergency response, please direct your enquires to HSE Questions.