Emergency procedures vital to community groups
How will your organisation stay in operation in the event of a disaster? How will you access information about your staff and volunteers, your beneficiaries, and your supplies and assets, in order to maintain continuity and keep operating?
The Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 requires all employers to plan for an emergency situation. Employers must have emergency procedures in place and ensure that employees know these procedures.
A lesson learned from the earthquakes in Canterbury has been the importance of keeping electronic and hardcopy backup files of essential information.
Workplaces became inaccessible and organisations that didn't have staff contact details were unable to check their immediate safety and wellbeing.
In many cases, organisations were unable to resume normal work because essential data was lost.
The Department of Labour and the Environmental Protection Authority have designed a set of simple forms to help you identify and manage your emergency procedures.
Their emergency procedures templates for general workplaces cover: natural disasters, fire, chemical spills, LPG gas leaks, CPR and first aid.
Download the Emergency Response charts at: http://www.epa.govt.nz/Publications/ERMA-Flip-Chart.pdf (PDF document, 299 KB)
You can download and print as many templates as you need, and - together with your staff and volunteers - work out the most appropriate procedures and who should have responsibilities for them.
You must also ensure that all staff and volunteers know about your emergency procedures, including where you will keep relevant information, and where emergency equipment is stored.
* Reproduced from the Charities Commission newsletter, September/October 2011.