Coronavirus – COVID-19

How are you going?

There is no doubt that the outbreak of COVID-19 has hit the entire world very hard. Australia is still on the upward part of the curve and we are unsure when this will reach it’s peak and start the downward movement. By all accounts, China has begun their recovery, and this certainly gives us hope for the short-term future.

Australians love to refer to our country as the Lucky Country. Certainly, in this instance our geographic location is an advantage over our northern hemisphere friends. Whilst the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, they are nowhere near the numbers some countries are experiencing in Europe. Although every fatality from this disease is a tragedy, our numbers in this regard remain low. Our medical facilities are advanced and well prepared, and our Government is taking action and reviewing these actions on a daily basis.

Our team at Workplace Emergency Management want to put a call out to all Australians and we wish you, your families and your workmates the very best during this unpredictable period in our history. Please stay safe and healthy and look after each other.

How are we going?

At Workplace Emergency Management, we have taken measures to continue the important work that we do as a provider of an essential compliance service. The requirements under AS3745-2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities and AS4083 -2010 – Planning for emergencies in healthcare facilities do not have a COVID-19 clause. Therefore, we felt it was our responsibility to find a way to keep businesses who are “business as usual” stay compliant with the relevant standards.

Many businesses will have their doors open but are likely experiencing a reduced workload. Other businesses may have a large increase in workload and have had to employ a large number of new employees. For other businesses, the COVID-19 outbreak may have brought training and compliance shortfalls to the top of your priority list. Whatever your situation, COVID-19 does not have to be your reason for slipping into non-compliance. Workplace Emergency Management is ready to help you avoid this.

What are we doing?

Workplace Emergency Management have strategies in place to help all businesses manage their AS3745-2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities and AS4083 -2010 – Planning for emergencies in healthcare facilities requirements:

• Emergency Management and Fire Warden Training – every facility must have an Emergency Planning Committee (EPC), Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) ie. Warden structure that is appropriate to your facility. Members of the ECO must undergo training or skills retention at least every 6 months and all facility occupants must undergo training at least every 12 months. Workplace Emergency Management consultants are all qualified Fire Safety Advisors, and all have experience working for one or more Emergency Service. We take our Emergency Training very seriously and we know we have a responsibility to our clients to continue to provide this training despite the COVID-19 outbreak. We have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to develop our programmes to be delivered by video conference or via our online portal.
• Video Conferencing – our Video Conferencing sessions are run just like we were there with you. The content and duration do not change, and we can still customise our sessions according to your requirements. We do a live feed to your team using Zoom which is supported across multiple devices. Our consultant will send invites to your nominated participants or coordinator and they can join in from any location, ensuring social distancing requirements are maintained. At completion of the training, Attendance registers and training reports will be sent to the EPC or nominated representative.
  
• Online Learning – our online learning option allows your team to undertake the training at their own pace. If the current environment does not allow for all of you team to be available at the same time or if COVID-19 has put your team under a lot of time pressure, this could be the perfect solution for you. We currently provide self-paced learning for the following topics.
  • General Occupant Emergency Response
  • First Attack Firefighting
  • Fire Warden
  • Childcare Emergency Response

  

• Emergency Plans – every facility must have an Emergency Plan in place. Our consultants can facilitate your site-specific emergency plan by phone consultation. We can conduct phone conference call with your Emergency Planning Committee and develop the content of your plan during this consultation. Nobody knows the layout of your facility nor the types of emergencies that can affect you better than you. Once we have finished the consultation, we will prepare a draft and send it to you for review. Following your review, amendments will be made, and you will receive your final version soon after, ensuring that your facility remains compliant with Section 3.1 to 3.4 of AS3745-2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities.
• Emergency Planning Committee Meetings – every facility must conduct an Emergency Planning Committee Meeting which may include minutes, reports and specialist advice at least once per year. Our consultants are qualified to facilitate your EPC meetings and provide specialist advice. This can be done by teleconference or by video conference. There is no requirement that members are in the same room. Our consultant will facilitate your meeting, take minutes and provide a copy to every member of the EPC, ensuring that your facility remains compliant with Section 2 of AS3745-2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities.
• Emergency Planning Committee Meetings – every facility must conduct an Emergency Planning Committee Meeting which may include minutes, reports and specialist advice at least once per year. Our consultants are qualified to facilitate your EPC meetings and provide specialist advice. This can be done by teleconference or by video conference. There is no requirement that members are in the same room. Our consultant will facilitate your meeting, take minutes and provide a copy to every member of the EPC, ensuring that your facility remains compliant with Section 2 of AS3745-2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities.
• Evacuation Diagrams – Evacuation diagrams are an important part of your emergency preparedness and emergency education. Facilities should display evacuation diagrams that provide emergency and evacuation information. Evacuation diagrams are valid for 5 years and must be updated at the end of this 5-year period or whenever your facility changes the layout of the building or the location of the emergency equipment. Our skilled draftspersons and consultants have been providing evacuation diagrams to facilities for over a decade. Our process involves marking out your facility and the layout. This can initially be done using existing floor plans or exiting evacuation diagrams. At some point in the process, our consultant will need to visit your site, and this can either be done under strict social interaction guidelines or at a time when the COVID-19 virus is under control. If we are unable to visit your site before this, we can develop draft diagrams discuss the process until an actual site visit can be undertaken. This will ensure that your facility remains compliant with Section 3.5 of AS3745-2010 – Planning for emergencies in facilities