EM5 - Testing and Exercising Emergency Plans

Purpose

To determine the approach, management components and resources that is applied to the management of risk at an aquatic facility.

Emergency Exercise Program

A site specific Emergency Exercise Program should be developed in collaboration with occupiers, employers and key volunteers (and key visitor groups if applicable) for an aquatic facility to determine the effectiveness of the emergency plan.

Typically an Exercise Program should be incorporated into the Workplan of the Emergency Planning Committee.

The context of the aquatic facility should determine the type and time interval between emergency exercises requirements for an aquatic facility however all areas of the aquatic facility should participate in an emergency exercise involving an emergency evacuation at least once per year.

The Emergency Exercise Program should include the following:

1. A multi-year training and exercise schedule including the type of exercise
2. Annual Training and Exercise Planning Workshop
3. A current list of Emergency Exercise stakeholders
4. An Exercise Budget
5. Accountabilities and Responsibilities for the Emergency Exercise Program
6. A description on how Emergency Exercises will be observed, evaluated and how lessons for improvement will be incorporated into the emergency plan and its various components

Planning for Emergency Exercises

When planning for Emergency Exercises at an Aquatic Facility, the following should apply

• Exercises should be realistic and consistent with the Risk Management Plan and Emergency Plan
• Objective and outcomes for the emergency exercises should be developed
• Procedures, capabilities and/or resources which are being tested or exercised should be identified
• A project management approach should be used that considers timelines, milestones, resources and budgets for the planning, conduct and review of the exercise
• Procedures for real emergencies or incidents/injuries to participants (i.e. No Duff) should be identified and communicated
• Strategies should be developed to prevent and manage any unscheduled public, media or emergency service response to the exercise
• Scenarios should be realistic and consider specific contexts such as weather, staffing, available resources, date/time, aquatic users, events on at the aquatic facility
• Evaluation tools (checklists) should be developed and/or obtained in accordance with safety and operational procedures / capabilities and/or operating instructions specific to the aquatic facility

Conducting Emergency Exercises

When conducting Emergency Exercises at an Aquatic Facility, the following should apply:

1. The Start and finish of the exercise should be clearly communicated to all participants, actors and observers
2. All participants, actors and observers should be briefed prior to the exercise commencing in terms of the scope, rules and safety precautions of the exercise
3. Observers / Evaluators should be used to record the actions of staff undertaking the emergency exercise
4. A debrief should occur with players, actors (if appropriate), observers and exercise facilitators

Reviewing Emergency Exercises

When reviewing Emergency Exercises at an Aquatic Facility, the following should apply

• Observation checklists and debriefed notes should be collected
• Observations and summaries should be analysed and recommendations developed
• A draft After Action Report inclusive of an improvement plan should be developed
• Comments should be sort and discussed from Exercise Planning and Evaluation members

In significantly larger size exercises a final report and improvement plan may be produced and its implementation tracked through the Emergency Planning Committee.

Continual Improvement

To achieve the greatest benefits from continuous improvement, the owner or operator of an aquatic facility should ensure that continual improvement activities span across all elements including process, capability, behaviours, tools and templates used to manage emergencies.

The owner or operator of an aquatic facility should prioritise the initiatives that are identified in the testing, exercising and actual execution of emergency plans and ensure they are included within the Emergency Planning Committees work plans for the aquatic facility.

The owner or operator of an aquatic facility should also ensure that performance indicators support the continual improvement of the emergency plan to enable improvement to be measured.

These initiatives and decisions from the continual improvement process should be documented and should lead to improvement in the organisations management of risk and emergencies.

References

• AS 3745 – 2010 Planning for Emergencies in Facilities
• Managing Exercises - Australian Emergency Management - Commonwealth of Australia