Staff determined to improve evacuation plan

Press, 30 December 1985, Page 1

Staff determined to improve evacuation plan

A chlorine leak on Friday evening has not affected the attendance at the Queen Elizabeth H Park leisure centre.

However, staff at the park are determined to improve evacuation procedures and the public address system at the centre in the wake of the leakage which sent 12 people to hospital for observation and led to public calls for a small girl, taken from the park by her father after being affected by fumes, to be taken to hospital. The 12 were all discharged after treatment. A hospital spokesman said there was no record of, the girl’s attending any Christchurch hospital. The. chlorine fumes leaked from a shed near the centre’s bumpa boats, where granulated chlorine was being diluted for use in keeping the boat pool clean. Ine chlorine has now been moved to the park’s dangerous goods store, where all chlorine for the Queen Elizabeth II pools is stored.

The park’s activities supervisor, Miss Elisabeth Dawson, said yesterday that removing the chlorine from the leisure centre was just a precaution. A dangerous goods inspec-

tor had visited the centre on Saturday morning and had said conditions — warm, humid and still — were ideal on Friday evening for the spread of fumes. The weather, coupled with the difficulty of keeping people away from the shed even when asked to move, had caused the problem.

Miss Dawson said the evacuation procedure for the swimming pool area in case of a gas leak was to get everyone out as quickly as possible and call the Fire Brigade. The dangerous goods store, where pool chlorine was stored in tanks, was by the plant shed; where there was good ventilation. A similar evacuation plan would" be developed-for the leisure centre. There were plenty of exits. “The problem is getting people to move. A P.A. system for the centre would help communication,” Miss Dawson said. She was not sure whether all chlorine would be stored in the dangerous goods shed in future. Big crowds had been at the centre during the holiday period, especially since Boxing Day. Attendances had broken records.