Managing Emergencies
Emergency management requires identification of all potential emergency situations in the workplace, and establishing processes in place to manage them. Under the WHS legislation, a PCBU has a duty to prepare, maintain and implement emergency plans. This includes developing procedures that describe the organisations response to an emergency, an evacuation procedure, notifying emergency services, medical treatment and assistance, and effective communication to coordinate the emergency response to all persons at the workplace.
Examples of emergency situations include:
- Fire,
- Bomb threat,
- Flood,
- Confined Space Emergency,
- Violence / Armed hold up,
- Major Chemical spill, and
- Explosion.
The procedure should also cover frequent testing of the emergency procedures and the necessary information, training and instruction to relevant workers. Emergency plans must be maintained so that they remain effective.
The emergency procedures must be communicated to all workers and displayed in the workplace.
