How prepared are you if a major disaster or emergency happens at work? Are your responses detailed and practiced? What if the emergency impacts more than just your business or place of work? Do you have the right strategies in place to ensure your communication and response is in line with the management systems of local, state and national emergency response organisations? In this episode, host Mark Reggers and Risk Management Professional, Andrew Stanbury discuss the finer details of emergency management, including the Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS), overarching principles that guide emergency management, flexibility, roles and the many aspects to preparing and responding to disasters and emergencies large and small.

Guest Bio:

Andrew Stanbury is a health, safety and emergency management professional with more than 25 years’ experience across many industry sectors in Australia. Early in his career, Andrew was employed by the State Emergency Service in Western Australia and, more recently, has provided emergency management consulting services to a range of Australian and global resource organisations, and organised crisis and emergency management exercises both locally and overseas. He has worked with regulators to develop national standards and codes of practice as a result of incidents and investigations to drive continual improvement in OHS and emergency management. Currently, Andrew works for the Western Australian Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety as a Special Inspector of Mines and Emergency Management SME.

LinkedIn Profile

In this episode, Mark & Andrew discuss the following:

• Is a disaster and emergency the same thing?
• How does Australia as a country take a proactive approach to emergency management?
• What is Australasian Inter-service Incident Management System (AIIMS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS)?
• The tiered management structure when it comes to emergencies.
  For a workplace and their emergency management system, what should be considered?
• Components of an emergency management system (understanding threats, planning, recovery and response)
• Risk management as applied in emergency management.
• Understanding threats; Planning, response and recovery.
• Working with emergency services
• What are the implications and the role for the OHS professional in emergency management?
• Where can the listeners go and get further information about emergency management and disaster planning?

Looking at critical elements that organizations in particular should focus on when planning and looking at their own risks, to ensure that they are effective and they are ready for emergencies, regardless of what they are. Those principles cascade down to organizational frameworks and processes and they drive risk assessment in organizations. Organisations need to understand their role in the broader picture and how they will interact with other agencies and other organizations, in the event of an emergency

Additional Resources:

• Podcast Transcript
• OHS Body of Knowledge
• OHS Body of Knowledge Chapter 36: Emergency Management
• Australasian Fire & Emergency Service Authorities Council
• Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
• Bushfire & Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre
• Safe Work Australia
• Australian Journal of Emergency Management (AJEM)
• ICS Resource Centre

Contact a 3M Safety Specialist at scienceofsafetyanz@mmm.com for more information.