Case Study: Santos Emergency Response and Security Services Contract

In late 2023, Fire and Safety Australia (FSA) was awarded a long-term contract from Santos to provide Emergency Response and Security Services in the Cooper Basin. FSA has now been on-site since February 2024 and has met 100% of all mobilisation KPI’s and 100% of all contract KPI’s to date.

FSA has achieved 15% Indigenous employment for this FIFO contract through our partnership with our First Nations certified supply partner, Iron Merge, and individual Indigenous traineeships. This is a significant Indigenous employment milestone for an Emergency Services and Security Contract across SA and QLD and is part of FSA’s and Santos’ commitment to growing Indigenous employment in the regions in which we operate. FSA’s Indigenous engagement program has seen a significant investment with Supply Nation certified partners in terms of specialist recruitment, Pre-Employment Medicals, and Project PPE provision.

FSA has maintained 100% staff coverage for Emergency Services Officers and Security/Communication Officers since contract commencement. The FSA Emergency Services team includes a combination of transitioning long-term Santos personnel who have joined FSA, and drawing on FSA’s extensive national team to mobilise and staff this contract.

Offering our team members opportunities to progress with FSA, is an important part of our staff retention whereby staff are given not only training opportunities but also the capacity to transition to other projects within the business and broaden their experience. This mixture of new and existing FSA staff also ensures that FSA’s core values are transitioned and instilled from day 1 of the project.

As part of the project mobilisation and after consultation with on-site teams, we transitioned from a 2:1 roster to a more balanced 2:2 roster. The feedback from the team was extremely positive. As part of our Quality Assurance processes, FSA has put all transferring incumbent staff and newly hired staff through our Verification of Competency (VOC) process, to ensure that all staff meet FSA’s stringent emergency response skill requirements.

FSA Security/Communications Officer Team- with FSA Electric Vehicle

FSA has a full-time combined team of 20 Emergency Services Officers and Security/Communication Officers working 2/2 rosters from Moomba and Ballera in the Cooper Basin, ensuring 24/7 coverage providing these critical services for Santos and the surrounding community. FSA has also purchased an Electric Vehicle ‘enclosed buggy’ which is used for crew transfers as part of our strategy to reduce our carbon footprint.

FSA has acquired existing Fire Appliances from Santos, and we have also deployed FSA Fire Appliances from our emergency response fleet to site. FSA assets employed across the contract include 5 Fire Appliances and multiple light vehicles to support our operations. This includes a Scania 8×8 Fire Appliance with a High Reach Extendable Turret (HRET), extending up to 20m, enabling fire suppression in hard-to-reach areas, with a significant onboard foam capacity. This vehicle was designed to meet the unique requirements of this remote site.

FSA Emergency Services Teams on-site with FSA Fire Appliances

FSA’s contract includes the provision of Fire and Rescue services across the entire Cooper Basin region, including Aviation Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) services across the Moomba and Ballera aerodromes. FSA has commissioned the build of 2 brand new Fire Appliances to support our operations for this project. This includes:-

I. P380 Scania ARFF Fire Appliance (ICAO Cat 5 Compliant) 8000L Tank, 4000LPM Pump and rated Monitor (Roof turret and bumper turret combined), 1600L Foam, 225kg Dry Chemical Powder hose reel), with extensive locker storage; and

II. Scania Urban Pumper/Tanker (ICAO Cat 3 Compliant) – 3000L Tank, 2000LPM Pump (equipped- Road Crash Rescue, Vertical Rescue, Confined Space Rescue, HAZMAT, Wildfire equipment, structural firefighting equipment).

All Fire Appliances have been extensively scoped to meet the requirements to operate in remote areas, including ICAO International aviation fire appliance standards.

These brand new modern Fire Appliances will provide Fire and Safety Australia emergency Services officers with the latest in technology to support our Fire and Rescue services across the Cooper Basin.

As part of our contract scope, FSA is providing nationally recognised emergency response and safety training through our Registered Training Organisation (RTO:22250) on-site in the Cooper Basin for Santos and local contractors. This service means that FSA ESO’s can train Santos staff and contractors in the field to limit downtime and to provide additional value.

I. P380 Scania ARFF Fire Appliance

II. Scania Urban Pumper/Tanker

FSA Emergency Services Teams on-site with FSA Scania HRET Fire Appliance

FSA’s vision is to be the industry leading provider of contracted Emergency Response, Medical, and Security services in the resources industry across Australia. In FY25 FSA will provide approx. 15,000+ shifts for Emergency Services Officers, Security Officers, and Paramedics to the resources industry across Australia, and train approximately 50,000 learners in Safety and Emergency Response training courses. FSA has now grown to a national team of more than 180 staff across Australia, expecting to reach 200 staff in the next 6 months.

This article was written by Tanya Cannon, a marketing leader at Fire & Safety Australia with 12+ years of expertise, driving industry-leading workplace safety training Australia-wide.