Emergency planning – what you need to know!

Onsite emergency procedures should be developed in light of the risks inherent to the worksite and tasks to be undertaken and include all information which you will need in an emergency situation. This article outlines various situations and reference documents which should be used when planning projects and workplace emergency procedure development.

The first document which should be sought when planning for emergencies is the Australian Standard for emergency planning AS3745-2010: Planning for emergencies in facilities. This documents sets out the current best practice methods for emergency planning and outlines steps to achieve compliance.

Areas which this document will assist in include: emergency planning committees, emergency plan development, emergency response procedure development, purpose of the emergency control organisation (ECO), and best practice training requirements, emergency response exercise procedure and review guidelines.

Secondly, emergency procedures are required by the OHS Regulations 2007 (Victoria) for a variety of different tasks. These are required to be developed where any worker is entering a confined space or undertaking demolition work where asbestos is involved. It is also recommended best practice that businesses develop, undertake and review an emergency evacuation drill at least annually; these drills must be monitored by fire wardens and/or management and later reviewed. An emergency plan must also be developed for any major hazard facility and tested with the involvement of necessary emergency services no less than every three years.

SafetyMAP (the VWA approved Safety Management System Audit criteria) identifies a variety of areas of conformance with regard to businesses having compliant emergency preparedness and response procedures. These areas (SafetyMAP 3.11) include:

• Identification of emergency situations and procedures developed to mitigate such situations;
• Organisational allocation of responsibility for control of emergency situations;
• Employee training and practice in response to emergency situations is undertaken;
• Persons have assessed suitability, location and accessibility of emergency equipment;
• Emergency systems and equipment are inspected, tested and maintained (See: ESM below);
• Dangerous goods manifest is in operation;
• Organisation has assessed its first aid requirements, and has a first aid system in place; and
• Organisation has systems to assist employees exposed to critical incidents at work.

The third area which must be highlighted when planning for emergencies is Essential Safety Measures (ESM), as outlined by the Victorian Building Regulations 2006. These are your ‘fire and life safety items installed or constructed in a building to ensure adequate levels of fire and life safety over the life of the building’. These can come under areas such as building fire integrity, means of egress (to exits), signage, emergency lighting, firefighting services and many more. As auditors, SafetyZone consultants regularly see premises with non-working exit lights off or faulty smoke detectors. When managing ESM within your premises all businesses should implement a preventative maintenance schedule. This ensures that relevant checks are undertaken to ESM assets at required intervals by adequately competent persons.

The final area which should be reviewed when planning for emergencies is business continuity planning. Continuity plans are used by businesses to ensure infrastructure is maintained in the event of a major catastrophe. These outline the risks to the business, necessary preparations for stated risks and responsibilities of personnel to respond and recover if a crisis is to occur. These plans should be used as a practical step-by-step guide to recovery for a business and have proven to be the difference between success and failure of businesses after a variety of disasters.

When developing a Safe Work Method Statement for a project or task, emergency information should be included such as:

• Necessary communications equipment (i.e. two way radio or mobile phone);
• Necessary emergency rescue equipment required (i.e. Life jackets when working near water);
• A procedure for steps to be undertaken whilst on the phone to emergency services;
• Identifying workers onsite whom have first aid training (i.e. photo in tea room);
• Location of work to be undertaken (i.e. Site name, GPS Co-ordinates, Melways Reference);
• Contact numbers for relevant emergency assistance; and
• Any further relevant information such as specialist medical requirements of employees.

If you have any questions regarding emergency plans, emergency continuity plans or emergency risk assessment, why not give the SafetyZone team a call on 1300 123 647 or email safety@safetyzone.net.au