The recent weather conditions that various areas of Australia are being affected by i.e. floods, bush fires and cyclones, highlight the need to review Company emergency response plans to ensure they are comprehensive and effective. Often when going through the emergency response planning process it is easy to stop at assessing and planning for fire and evacuation. In Queensland specific obligations to plan for, manage and train workers in fire and evacuation response are defined and enforced by the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) but this does not extend to other types of emergencies. As employers, however, there is still an obligation to identify hazards, assess risks, implement controls to reduce the risks and monitor the effectiveness of those controls to ensure your workers are not exposed to risks from these types of events.

Identification and assessment of hazards should include external hazards such as:

• Climatic events i.e. bush fire, cyclones and flood;
• Security risks i.e. terrorist activities, civil unrest, bomb threats; and
• Third party risks i.e. hazards presented by adjacent properties or traffic on nearby roads.

In addition to implementing and monitoring risk controls it is crucial that emergency response plans are in place for when risk controls fail. Things to consider:

• Ready access to up to date emergency or disaster information;
• Who will make the decision to close facilities or send workers home and when they will be made;
• The risks to workers travelling home (Workers Compensation may apply to injury sustained when travelling home in an emergency);
• How you will communicate with your workers i.e. are contact details up to date;
• How business continuity will be maintained i.e. working from home arrangements, temporary office facilities;
• Security of facilities during closures;
• Medical treatment options;
• Training for ensuring the above; and
• Communicating all of the above.

A well planned and effective roll out of responses to emergencies reduces the stress, disruption and health, safety, environmental and financial impacts of such events.

The following websites provide up to date information to enable your organisation to be aware of, and plan for external hazards and risks:

Queensland Government State Disaster Management Group

Australian Travel Advisory

Emergency management in Australia

Brisbane City Council