Contingency planning for bushfires – DPCD grants announced

Does your business or community have a plan in place in the event of a disaster?

Whether the cause for stoppage is due to economical, physical or industrial reasons, having a sound plan to get back to full operation, with minimal downtime can be the difference between being back in production with your competitors and being back in production before your competitors.

Contingency planning is the process whereby an organization plans for a catastrophic event such as a bushfire, flood, drought or industrial relations incident and creates an action plan. This contingency plan provides guidelines for both actions to be taken to minimalize losses and designates accountabilities for carrying out procedures to protect both plant and personnel.

This process can be exampled by farmers cutting the top off banana trees to allow them to weather the storm during cyclone Yasi (reducing production downtime by 60%) or something as simple as having a tried and tested emergency evacuation plans.

Regional communities also need to recognise their threats and develop plans to give themselves the best chance at properly dealing with natural disaster. It’s great to see that in response to the growing losses caused by bushfires each summer the government is stepping in to assist Victorians.

In recognising the need to prepare for our greatest threat to regional communities, the Department of Planning and Community Development has started a grants fund with a limit of $5M for communities to get together and prepare for the bushfires within their towns. Maximum amounts available are $30,000 for Community Safety projects and $100,000 for Community Network projects.

These funds are earmarked to be used for equipment (UHF radio, computers, sirens), safety promotional activities and training exercises. Many towns within the Greater Geelong district and South-West Victoria have been identified and encouraged to apply including Anglesea, Jan Juc, Aireys Inlet, Lorne and Barongarook.

Head to dpcd.vic.gov.au for more information.