Designing an emergency plan
If you are working at a site that's controlled by a separate company or principal contractor, you may find that they have an emergency plan or site safety plan that takes precedence over your own plan.
In this case, the over-riding plan will be presented to you at the safety induction session.
Every workplace needs to have a documented emergency plan. Do you work at an established site with buildings and boundary fences? Do you work in a bush operation that moves around different forest areas? Either way, you need a plan of action that can be implemented at a moment's notice in the event of an emergency.
The main purpose of an emergency plan is to provide a system for getting people to safety and bringing the emergency under control with the minimum of disorder or confusion. The plan should include the following documents:
- an evacuation diagram showing the emergency assembly area, location of fire fighting and communication equipment, and position of exits and other site features
- roles and responsibilities of personnel involved in the 'emergency control organisation' (ECO), such as a Chief Warden, Deputy Chief Warden, Area Wardens, Communications Officer, etc
- emergency response procedures to cover evacuations and the control of identified types of emergencies
- training arrangements for the ECO and other employees on-site, covering initial training and 'skills retention' (or refresher ) training
- the make-up and function of a specialist 'emergency response team' (ERT), if required, to control particular types of emergencies
- scheduled site inspections and emergency equipment maintenance.
For some businesses, the emergency plan is part of the general OHS Policies and Procedures Manual. However, for larger organisations there is often a separate Emergency Procedures Manual and/or a Risk Management Manual which contains the emergency plan.
Emergency plans for forest operations
If you are working in a forest operation, there will need to be a separate emergency plan for each new area you go to. For forests managed by government departments or large corporations, there is likely to be a template 'site safety and evacuation plan' which is completed in consultation with the managing body.
These sorts of plans generally include the following elements:
- name of compartment and description of boundaries
- name of site supervisor and name of on-site qualified first aid officer
- provision of mobile phone signals in the area
- two-way radio channels in operation in the area
- grid references for emergency evacuation meeting points
- provision for ambulances and/or helicopters, and contact numbers
- identified hazards and control measures used to minimise risks.
Learning Activity
Answer the following questions about your work environment and the emergency plan you have in place.
- Briefly describe your work environment. For example, is it an established facility or a forest operation? How many people work on-site? What sort of work is undertaken?
- Is your emergency plan in a separate Emergency Procedures Manual, or does it form part of the business's general OHS Policies and Procedures Manual?
- What are the main elements of your emergency plan? List the important category headings and other components.
Write down your answers and share them with your trainer and other learners in your group. You may wish to use group emails or a social networking site.
Compare your answers with those provided by your fellow learners. Are there elements in your fellow participants' emergency plan that would be a valuable addition to your own?