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In facilities management, there’s nothing more dangerous than assuming that disaster could never strike in your facility. Safety regulation is all about considering every contingency, so you can be as prepared as possible in the case of an emergency.
Often, the facilities team will play a significant role in keeping facility users safe during the case of an emergency. Knowledge of the facility, and its critical systems, means facilities teams have unique insights that can be incredibly beneficial in developing emergency plans and in responding to emergency situations.
Often, the facilities team are the only ones who will know how critical systems, such as water and electricity, operate within the building. When it comes to putting together emergency plans, it's critical to not wait until it's too late. A failure to plan for a specific scenario is a plan to fail, should that situation arise.
Keep everyone in the facility as safe as possible during an emergency by ensuring your emergency plans cover these key areas. This is not a comprehensive list, but if you’re just starting to put your plan together, use these considerations as a starting point.
Emergency plans should define responsibilities of key people, such as fire wardens. Those individuals should be aware of, and well-versed in exactly what they need to do in an emergency.
Contact details for emergency services should be displayed in workplaces in an accessible location. In Australia and New Zealand, most people are familiar with 000 and 111, which connect to emergency fire, ambulance, and police services.
Emergencies that don’t necessitate these emergency services should be included in your internal plan for lesser instances. Services for minor emergencies, like local medical services, emergency trades, fire and security system services etc. should be readily available for key players.
Certain emergencies will require the facility to be evacuated to keep facility users safe. It is important to note that evacuation plans are not a one-size fits all approach.
Evacuation procedures should consider different types of situations and hazards and define the safest method for quick and safe evacuation in each. Part of the facilities team's role is ensuring those routes are well maintained and accessible at all times, free of debris and obstructions. For example, if one department is using a fire escape as additional storage, the facilities team will be the one to step in and deter the behaviour.
Failing to account for different situations can compound an emergency. For example, if you have one evacuation path relying on fire stairs, but there is a chemical hazard in that stairwell, an alternative pathway needs to be identified.
Remember to consider differently abled people in your evacuation routes. Someone in a wheelchair for example, can’t easily get down fire stairs, but still needs to be able to evacuate in case of fire.
All workplaces should have suitable fire equipment that is well maintained, regularly checked, and tested. Fire protection equipment needs to be accessible, and clearly labelled for the type of fire it is for.
Fire protection and safety equipment needs to meet specific legislative requirements and codes. This can involve regular testing of safety systems and keeping protection kits up to date and within expiry.
Ensure there are no obstructions to accessing the equipment, and ensure sufficient staff are trained in how to use the equipment.
Extreme weather conditions can be scary and dangerous, and it is important to have contingency plans in place for when these occur. In extreme weather events, communication is key to an effective emergency plan.
Your emergency plan should include details on how to receive information from emergency services, and how to disseminate that around the facility. The plan should also include information like safe spaces within the facility and evacuation routes.
Additionally, a communications plan needs to be created for emergency situations, and expectations around that plan managed. Ensure there is a clearly defined chain of command for emergencies, with relevant people given authority to do what they have been tasked to do.
In the case of extreme weather conditions, it is useful to have a defined communication plan. Letting facility users know when, and how often, to expect updates, and delivering on those expectations.
Your emergency plan should include information on first aid equipment and information on who the trained first aid officers are. Always ensure that first aid equipment is stored in an appropriate, accessible area. Often, the equipment in these kits has associated expiry dates, necessitating scheduled checks to ensure equipment is in-date.
Having a plan in place is a great start, but if that plan isn’t practised, there’s no guarantee it will work when an emergency occurs.
How often different scenarios will need to be trialled will depend on your facility and the needs of the organisation. If there are external factors that might influence the likelihood of a specific emergency happening, make sure you increase the frequency and/or intensity of plan practises.
For example, facilities in regional or bushland areas may want to run additional fire drills coming into summer, when these types of events are more likely.
Your responsible persons, first aid officers, fire wardens etc. should undergo regular training to keep their skills up to date. These responsible parties are often the ones that hold everything together in the case of an emergency, so they need to have confidence in their skills and abilities.
When it comes to putting together emergency plans, it's important to consider every scenario. While there is always the hope that the worst won’t happen in your facility, it’s wise to consider worst-case scenarios and associated outcomes.
The worst-case scenario is anything that results in loss of life, but also consider outcomes such as reputational damage and legal ramifications.
All too often we hear about situations in the news that are completely inconceivable, that we hope “would never happen here”. The worst-case scenario is that the situation deemed “too ridiculous to consider” comes to fruition and the team is left without any guidance whatsoever.
When starting to consider what situations should be covered in emergency plans, remember the realm of possibility is bigger than you think. While there’s probably no need to plan for alien invasion, if you’re in a flight path, a plane crashing into your facility, while improbable, is not impossible.
When considering different scenarios to plan out, it makes sense to start with the ones most likely to occur. For example, if your facility is in a tropical area, it makes sense to prioritise plans for cyclones and floods, before some of the less likely disasters such as earthquakes.
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