In every office, school, worksite or other workplace location where people gather to work or visit, WHS incidents and emergencies can strike at any time. Whether due to fire, threats, natural disasters, chemical spills, or other threats, a situation with the potential to cause harm and disruption requires a plan of action.
In the event of a threat to life, spaces must be evacuated, and everyone must leave immediately. This can be difficult to achieve and requires extensive tailored planning.
To help manage these potential risks, it is an essential part of health and safety to ensure that Emergency Management Plans (EMP), Crisis Emergency Management Plans (CEMP) and emergency evacuation diagrams are developed and implemented within the workplace. In fact, it is a requirement under the WHS Act and Regulations to maintain a safe workplace and by which implementing WHS documentation along with emergency management documentation would tick a part of that box. These WHS plans will help people manage emergencies in their workplace in an adequate manner, ensuring that all potential risks are accounted for and mitigate as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) which is a term commonly used in workplace health and safety (WHS).
The purpose of Emergency Management Plans
Emergency Management plans are a useful tool that organisations use to manage dangerous situations in and outside of buildings. They can be effective at helping people understand how to management the risk of a WHS incident/ potential evacuation event which is tailored to an organisation site.
The use of workplace health and safety documentation such as EMP’s and Evacuation Diagrams help set out clear procedures and protocols for specific roles in order to adequately manage emergency events within the workplace. Without the use of Workplace Health and Safety documentation, situations with the potential to cause serious damage or harm to people can cause concern for any organisation physically, financially and reputably.
Being prepared for situations like these requires thorough planning. It is knows that many who have been exposed to a workplace for a while will not understand or would be blind sided by certain risks and emergency events within the workplace. This is why it is essential to have an expert who is external to the business to provide a non-biased opinion within developing EMP’s etc.. These experts would include safety consultants such as Safetec Safety Solutions who are able to provide specialist safety consultants who can provide WHS consulting for all your workplace health and safety needs.
Why are EMP’s and Evacuation Diagrams Important?
Evacuation plans are essential for any organisation that requires members to work in close proximity with each other. While these plans can be helpful in other contexts, they are especially important in the context of disasters.
When a workplace disaster or other event causes a threat to a building’s structural integrity, people must leave the building immediately. The only way to do this safely is to follow the instructions in the Emergency Management Plan and by following direction within evacuation diagrams.
In addition to providing guidelines for safe exits in the event of a threat, evacuation plans can help prevent injuries. For example, the risk of injury in confined spaces is high, due to the lack of room for movement and potential gas exposures. This can present dangers to people’s health, as the risks would likely result in serious WHS injury or potentially a fatality.
What to include in Emergency Management
Workplace Health and Safety documentation such as Emergency plans should include information about roles and responsibilities of wardens etc., drill records, event procedures, potential media coverage, risk assessments and much more. This will help workers thoroughly understand how to act in the event of an emergency. This is half of the compliance. The other half is implementing it through drills etc. It is a great idea to get an external party such as Safetec who provide health and safety consultants with extensive knowledge and experience in all areas of Health and Safety, especially around Emergency Management. Having external safety consultants run through drills with a workplace will allow for a gap analysis to be developed along with a non-biased review about emergency preparedness along with an action report to implement further continual improvements.
Conclusion
Emergency Management plans and Evacuation Diagrams are essential for any organisation and are a requirement within the WHS laws. It is also essential for all employees to be aware of emergency drills and management through training weather online and/or face to face safety training.
An Emergency Management Plan is more than just a list of instructions. It must include vital information in regard to WHS emergency management and how employees should affectively conduct themselves in the unlikely event of an emergency. EMP are seen in all workplaces including, airplanes, restaurants, mine, and construction site and practically any and every industry a business is operating.
Emergency Management Plans and evacuation diagrams can and will help prevent injuries and fatalities so contact our specialist safety consultants today to see how we can help tailor a health and safety service to your workplace health and safety needs.
