Emergency Control Organisation Training Requirements

All facilities are required to be prepared for emergencies that may occur at their facility. An Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) is a team of staff members that have specialised training to respond to emergencies in facilities to ensure safety of occupants of that facility and its visitors, Prior to Emergencies, during an emergency and post emergency. It is vital to have a detailed Emergency Control Organisation training plan completed with 6-monthly skills retention activities set up to keep all involved ECO members up to date and competent.

For Emergency Control Organisation training, maintenance and even discovering the smaller details such as the number of wardens, we look to Australian Standard 3745 Planning for Emergencies for Facilities. This Australian standard outlines the minimum standard to meet with emergency management and emergency planning in all facilities in Australia.

Section 6 of AS3745 outlines training requirements. All members of the Emergency Control Organisation must be trained and have the skills and knowledge to be able to fulfill their role and responsibilities set out in the emergency plan and emergency response procedures.

Training for the Emergency Control Organisation should include but not limited to some of the following:

• Pre-Emergency Roles and Responsibilities
• Emergency Roles and Responsibilities
• Post incident Roles and Responsibilities
• Communication methods
• Responding to Alarms
• Emergency Response procedures
• Human Behaviour
• Building Characteristics and Emergency Response Equipment

When training your Emergency Control Organisation, the training should include assessments and exercises to ensure that the Emergency Control organisation can respond safety and effectively to ensure public safety.

At Workplace Emergency Management (WEM) we conduct Emergency Control Organisation training that is site-specific and tailored to all kinds of workplaces – including childcare, aged care, retail, and warehousing. This training is comprehensive and covers common emergencies that a business may come across. Workplace Emergency Management can help businesses to be compliant to legislation and Australian Standards to ensure worker safety, public safety, and compliance.