EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROCEDURES: PREPAREDNESS AT WORK
Rob McDonald
Founder of #GSD Safety, has over 25 years experience as a workplace health and safety consultant.
When it comes to workplace safety, you probably spend most of your time focused on injury prevention. This makes complete sense as, if you can stop incidents from happening, it will go a long way to keeping your team safe.
The only problem is that, even with the strictest compliance measures in place, emergencies can still happen – and it’s critical you know how to respond when they do.
This is where emergency response procedures can be invaluable, providing clear guidelines on what to do when something serious goes wrong.
Why do you need emergency response procedures?
Under the Work Health and Safety Act, all workplaces are required to have an emergency plan in place. To comply with Australian Standards, this document must fulfil a range of minimum requirements (set out in AS 3745-2010).
But more than just being a legal obligation, emergency response procedures allow you to plan for otherwise uncontrollable events.
They establish safety protocols that will help minimise the risk to your people, your customers, and your business. They also provide a structured approach to preparing for emergencies, making sure everyone involved understands what will be expected of them.
What kind of workplace emergencies should you plan for?
Emergencies come in a variety of shapes and sizes. While the biggest risks will depend on the structure and nature of your operations, there are some common workplace emergencies that every business should be prepared for if they occur.
These can be broken into four broad categories.
1. Natural emergencies
These are emergencies created by natural forces, like:
These events can be the hardest to prepare for and predict, and can often have the most existential impacts on your business.
2. Civil emergencies
These are emergencies created by social factors, like protests, strikes, or even broader societal issues (e.g. rioting). The industry you are in can influence the likelihood of one of these events affecting you, and how serious and long-lasting the impact could be.
For example, if you were a manufacturing or distribution company during the COVID pandemic, you would likely have been more severely impacted more severely than other industries during the same period due to the sudden increase in demand for your services.
3. Operational emergencies
These are emergencies created by workplace processes or infrastructure, like spills, leaks, and electrical issues. These events are unfortunately quite likely, though the risk can be significantly reduced by a strong safety culture. These events also tend to be easier to plan for, as they will usually be smaller in scale.
Other factors, like the age of the building, can also make them easier to prepare for, as you’ll know if your building is deteriorating and can plan for refurbishments before large-scale faults force you to make costly ad-hoc repairs.
4. Personal emergencies
These are emergencies created by your team members, customers, or visitors, like medical incidents or acts of physical violence. These events are also quite common and tend to be harder to prevent than operational emergencies.
This is due to the unpredictability of people, especially customers, who you have limited control over unlike your employees who you can train.
Incidents involving people can also be quite embarrassing and traumatic for those directly involved, and often need to be managed sensitively.
Having tailored safety protocols is essential
It’s important to note here that emergency response procedures need to be tailored to the specifics of your business. As part of this, you should consider the unique threats your operations and people face, and plan accordingly.
If you have previously completed a risk and safety assessment, this can help inform which emergencies you should develop response procedures for, and provide a robust emergency response plan to help you.
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What does a robust emergency response plan look like?
While exact safety protocols will vary between businesses, there are a few key elements every good emergency response plan should have.
A chain of command
This should provide a detailed overview of who is in charge in different emergency situations. Having this clearly defined will help reduce confusion and streamline decision making in a crisis.
Key roles
This should name those who will be responsible for undertaking key activities (e.g. managing communications, coordinating medical assistance, etc.) in different emergency situations. If possible, back-ups should also be identified for each role to ensure coverage in the absence of key team members.
Emergency equipment
This should detail the location and availability of key equipment (fire extinguishers, defibrillators (AEDs), emergency shutoff switches, etc.). Knowing where these items are can speed up response times and make it easier for emergency service personnel to assist.
Evacuation procedures
This should provide details of when to evacuate, the alarms to use, the emergency exit locations, and the congregation points. It should also define how emergency drills will be used to test key systems and allow team members to practise the evacuation process.
Communication protocols
This should outline how important information will be shared during emergency situations, including what will be said and which channels will be used. This should also cover how to manage communications with staff, emergency services, and the media (if required).
How do you implement emergency response procedures?
For your emergency response procedures to be effective, your team members need to develop, own, and champion them. You also need to implement them correctly and deliver a program of activities to keep them front of mind.
Regular updates
Australian Standards state that you should review your emergency response procedures at least once a year. This allows you to ensure they are still relevant and reflect the current state of your business, and the current state of compliance legislation.
Wide publication
Your team members need to be able to easily access your procedure documentation, including in emergency situations. Details of key elements (e.g. evacuation procedures) should also be made available to anyone visiting your workplace.
Periodic practice
Emergency drills provide a practical reminder of key elements of your procedures and help your team mentally prepare for a real event. They also allow you to test, and potentially further refine, your documented processes.
Ongoing training
Regular reminders are required to keep safety practices front of mind for every member of your team. A comprehensive training program also helps to build a safety culture within your business, which should assist with risk mitigation.
Need help preparing your business for an emergency?
If you do not have safety expertise within your business, you should consider engaging a qualified consultant to guide your planning activities.
As experienced workplace health and safety professionals, GSD Safety are experts in preparing emergency response procedures. Our team can help you evaluate your business’s unique risk profile, develop a comprehensive suite of tailored response procedures, and manage training and implementation.
To organise your free WHS assessment, call us on 1300 473 723 or contact us online.