Emergency Preparedness & Response HSE- 08-08

 

 

Meet Requirements of OHSAS 18001:2007 Element 4.4.7

Emergency Preparedness is an integral part of an occupational health and safety management system. OHSAS 18001:2007 requires that procedures be put in place to both identify and respond to potential emergency situations.

What is an emergency?

According to the dictionary - it is an unexpected occurrence requiring immediate action.

One of the critical parts of being prepared for emergencies is the anticipation of the unexpected. One way of accomplishing this “anticipation” is to include it as an explicit part of your hazard identification and risk assessment processes. As you are identifying hazards, ask - “What if ….” The answer may surprise you

OHSAS 18001 Element: 4.4.7 Emergency Preparedness and Response

The organization shall establish and maintain plans and procedures to identify the potential for, and responses to, incidents and emergency situations, and for preventing and mitigating the likely illness and injury that may be associated with them. The organization shall review its emergency preparedness and response plans and procedures, in particular after the occurrence of incidents or emergency situations. The organization shall also periodically test such procedures where practicable.

The following emergency preparedness courses can be presented in three segments.

1. Emergency Basics

• Anatomy of emergencies
  
• Physical and mental preparedness
  
• First Aid, CPR and triage
  
• Specialists and their skills
  
• Communication skills
  
• Language skills, Cultural skills, Teamwork skills
  

2.Getting Ready

• Legal limitations
  
• Authority issues, isolated people
  
• Evacuations
  
• Food and shelter, missing persons
  
• Conflict and violence
  
• Crime continues in crisis
  
• Conflicts and corruption in crisis
  
• Makeshift emergency resources
  

3. Plans & Operations

Disasters take many shapes. Some are natural - and others manmade. Some are predictable and others are shockingly unexpected. Some may kill thousands of people. A crisis can take many shapes, and each type of crisis requires a set of reactions by emergency workers. Emergency planning cannot anticipate every scenario, but gets emergency workers and resources together quickly.

• Vehicle and airplane accidents
  
• Industrial and nuclear accidents
  
• Wars and terrorism
  
• Famines and droughts
  
• Plagues and epidemics
  
• Avalanches and landslides
  
• Storms and floods

Emergency preparedness, contingency planning, crisis management and disaster control are arts requiring clusters of sciences. Well designed emergency training and well exercised contingency plans save lives and reduce property damage.

Trained disaster workers can reduce a major crisis to a relatively minor event, and can reduce the time needed to return an emergency situation to normal. Ideal emergency workers are not only well trained but experienced; having discussed, practiced and exercised many accident and incident scenarios.

Customised Emergency Preparedness Training

Emergency preparedness begins with training, which can be customized for your organisation's unique needs. Do you want or need emergency preparedness training?

Contact us at: training@istecsafety.com