On Monday morning, 23 September 2024, the ORLEN Unipetrol Group organised a regular emergency response drill at its production plant in Litvínov. This year, the exercise focused on responding to a fire on the oil tank’s floating roof. The Group conducts emergency exercises at all its sites to verify the practical preparedness of its rescue units and employees. Traffic on Road I/27 between Litvínov and Most, Road III/2541 from Horní Jiřetín, and Road III/0272 from Komořany was shortly restricted due to the drill.
“The regular emergency exercises help us effectively verify the rescue units’ readiness for action, the collaboration with the integrated rescue system teams, and the up-to-datedness of the operating and safety documentation. Each year, we focus on a different scenario to check our preparedness for various situations,” says Zbigniew Pawłucki, Vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of the ORLEN Unipetrol Group. He adds: “We always thoroughly assess and review the course of the mock drill and adopt measures to improve the efficiency of our response.”
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the only domestic oil processing company and a part of the state’s critical infrastructure. Both refineries of the Group – in Záluží near Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou – regularly organise tactical mock drills each year.
The practical exercise usually focuses on specific emergencies. This year, they tested the procedure to be followed in the case of a fire on an oil tank’s floating roof. The drill verifies the collaboration of individual units during the emergency and the technical preparedness of the equipment used in the real-life response. The drill also verifies the system of communication with external entities and rescue units.
The ORLEN Unipetrol Group is the largest refining and petrochemical company in the Czech Republic. It focuses on crude oil processing and the production, distribution and sale of vehicle fuels and petrochemical products – particularly plastics and fertilisers. It belongs among the key players on the Czech and Central European markets in all these areas. The ORLEN Unipetrol Group encompasses refineries and production plants in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou, Paramo in Pardubice, Spolana in Neratovice, REMAQ in Otrokovice, and two research centres in Litvínov and Brno. ORLEN Unipetrol also includes the ORLEN network of filling stations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. ORLEN Unipetrol is one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic in terms of turnover. It employs over 6,000 people. ORLEN Unipetrol is also a socially responsible company, particularly in the areas of supporting sustainable development, education, local communities and the environment. Its quality employee care is attested to by the prestigious Top Employer certificate which the Group received in 2023 and 2024 and by a host of national accolades. In 2005, ORLEN Unipetrol became part of the ORLEN Group, the largest energy company in Central Europe.