Emergency Drills in the Workplace

How Often Do We Need to Conduct Emergency Drills in Our Workplace?

Every workplace is different in terms of the nature of the work, the types of risks and hazards that could affect that workplace, the size of the facility, the number of workers and differing occupancies of the facility.

A proper risk assessment of a workplace by the Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) will identify the types of emergencies that might affect the workplace.  Once the risk assessment is completed the EPC can look at control measures to eliminate or otherwise manage the risk of these emergencies.  This will also include developing an Emergency Plan with procedures to be implemented in response to these emergencies when they do occur.  

The preparation phase of emergency response is as important if not more important than the actual response to the emergency.  Having well developed and facility specific response procedures in place to be followed during an emergency response is essential. 

But wait, do the procedures really work the way they should and does the Emergency Control Organisation (ECO) and workers generally know how to implement the procedures?  If we can’t say yes to these questions, the procedures may not be worth the paper they are written on.  So, a workplace needs to train its ECO and staff to be able to implement the procedures AND those procedures do need to be tested and reviewed to make sure they work effectively for your situation. 

AS3745:2010 Requirements

Now, AS3745:2010 and its amendments provides compliance requirements around planning for emergencies in facilities.  This standard includes the requirements for emergency response exercises. 

Generally, workplaces should have a program of site-specific emergency response exercises which are developed in collaboration with the facility owners, managers, occupiers and employers to determine the effectiveness of emergency response procedures, ECO actions and occupant’s response.  This needs to be done when emergency response procedures are first developed and then on an ongoing basis. 

Evacuation Exercises

The initial emergency response exercise will be an evacuation exercise.  Depending upon the nature of the workplace, size of the facility, number of buildings or storeys, this could be done as partial evacuation exercises leading up to a full complete facility wide evacuation exercise.  

The aim of the emergency response exercises is to have all workplace occupants participate in at least one emergency response exercise per year consistent with the nature of the facility and its identified emergencies.  All occupants of a facility shall take part in the exercise, unless they have written exemption from the EPC or ECO for when the exercise is conducted.

Do We Only Have to Run EVACUATION Exercises for Our Workplace?

 The answer is no.  Emergency response exercises need to reflect and be consistent with the size and nature of the workplace and the identified emergencies that may affect your workplace.  An emergency evacuation response due to a fire in a facility is only one type of emergency. 

Through your risk assessment of your workplace, you have probably identified other types of emergencies that may be equally or more of a risk to your workplace.  For example, gas leaks, bushfires, medical emergencies, missing persons, personal threats, internal/external threats.  As a workplace, you probably want to be confident that your ECO and occupancy is able to and will respond effectively when these emergencies occur.

The EPC for a workplace/facility should therefore develop an emergency response exercise program that enables the testing of all the specific emergency responses applicable to the facility.  The workplace could run evacuation exercises, lockdown and shelter-in-place type exercises, medical response drills, missing person response exercises.  If it enables the workplace to be confident in their ability to respond to these facility specific emergencies, then the exercises should be included in the program.  

There are some factors that may indicate a need to conduct more frequent exercises to meet the workplace needs.  This could include casual staff arrangements, frequent staff turnovers, flexible work arrangements, risk level of particular types of emergencies, vulnerabilities of the occupants of a facility.

There is also some specific legislations and organisational policies which provide for higher level of programmed emergency response exercises.  For example, in Education and Care Services there is a requirement to be conducting specific monthly and quarterly exercises to test response procedures.

So, all workplaces should develop an Emergency Response Exercise Program that meets their specific needs and addresses the identified emergencies that may affect their workplace.

At WEM we are able to help you assess your specific needs, advise on exercise programs and assist in the running of those response exercises. Contact our friendly team today!