Management system guidance
8.0 Operation
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8.2 Emergency preparedness and response
Clause 8.2 requires your organization to establish, implement and maintain a process (or processes) to prepare for and respond to the potential emergency situations identified during hazard identification (see 6.1.2). The process must include:
- A planned response to emergency situations, including the provision of first aid;
- Training for the planned response;
- Periodic testing and exercising of the planned response capability;
- Evaluating performance and revising the planned response as necessary, including after tests and especially after real emergencies;
- Giving all workers the relevant information they need about their own emergency duties and responsibilities;
- Communicating relevant information to contractors, visitors, emergency services, government authorities and, where appropriate, the local community;
- Taking account of the needs and capabilities of all relevant interested parties and involving them, as appropriate, in developing the planned response.
Documented information must be maintained and retained covering both the emergency preparedness process(es) and the emergency response plans themselves; retained records provide evidence (for example drill and incident records).
Identifying potential emergency situations
Emergencies can arise from natural, technical and man-made events, and can happen inside or outside normal working hours. Typical scenarios include:
- Fire and explosion;
- Release of hazardous substances or gases;
- Serious injury or sudden illness requiring first aid or medical treatment;
- Structural collapse or failure of lifting equipment;
- Entrapment, including rescue from confined spaces or work at height;
- Electrocution;
- Severe weather, flooding or earthquake;
- Loss of utilities affecting life safety systems;
- Workplace violence, security threats and pandemics.
Identifying credible scenarios requires detailed knowledge of your operations, processes, materials and working practices. Useful sources include your hazard register and risk assessments, safety data sheets, COSHH assessments, incident and near-miss records, equipment manufacturers, maintenance personnel, insurers and the emergency services. A walk-through of the site during normal operations, talking to workers on each shift, often reveals scenarios that desk reviews miss.
Emergency response plans
Emergency response plans are written instructions for use during an emergency. They should be proportionate to the size of the organization and the hazards present, and typically include:
- Emergency organization, roles and responsibilities (e.g. incident controller, fire wardens, first aiders);
- Contact details for key personnel and external emergency services;
- Raising the alarm, safe evacuation, assembly points and accounting for everyone on site, including visitors and contractors;
- Arrangements for first aid and access to medical assistance;
- Specific response actions for each type of emergency;
- Arrangements for people with disabilities or other specific needs, e.g. personal emergency evacuation plans;
- Information on hazardous materials stored on site and their locations;
- Internal and external communication arrangements;
- Site plans showing exits, fire-fighting equipment, isolation points and hazardous areas;
- Training, testing and review arrangements.
Share relevant parts of the plan, including site layouts and hazardous materials information, with the emergency services so that responders are aware of the hazards they may face.
Training, testing and review
Everyone with a role in the plan needs training, and all workers need to know what to do when the alarm sounds. Test the plan through evacuation drills, table-top exercises, first aid scenarios and rescue exercises, varying the scenario, shift and time of day. After every test and every real emergency, evaluate how the response performed and revise the plan where gaps are found. Without testing, weaknesses may only come to light during a real emergency.
Worker consultation and interested parties
Under 5.4, non-managerial workers must be consulted on emergency arrangements. Involve workers, contractors, neighboring businesses at shared sites and, where appropriate, the emergency services when developing the plan, and consider the needs and capabilities of each group – for example visitors unfamiliar with the site or workers whose first language differs. Communication of emergency arrangements is also covered in 7.4.
You should seek and record evidence that potential emergency situations have been identified from the hazard identification process; that documented emergency plans exist and include first aid provision; that responders and workers are trained; that the plans are tested periodically and revised after drills and actual emergencies; that relevant information has been communicated to workers, contractors, visitors, emergency services, authorities and, where appropriate, the local community; and that interested parties were involved in developing the planned response.
Our ISO 45001 templates include an emergency preparedness procedure and emergency plan forms.
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