Emergency planning Te whakamahere ohotata

Planning for an emergency

[Audio/Visual: Upbeat music starts playing with blue introduction screen with white business.govt.nz logo. The words “Plan for emergencies” appear on screen for a few seconds. The screen cuts to a profile shot of the male presenter against a blue background. He is wearing an ivory blazer over a white dress shirt.]

Natural disasters can happen at any minute. No matter where you are in New Zealand, it’s a good idea to have a plan ready to keep you and your team safe during an emergency.

Being prepared for a sudden disaster doesn’t just save lives and prevent harm, but can help your business to quickly get up and running again, and continue trading through hardship.

[Visual: the screen cuts to an office setting with six female employees sitting at their computers for a few seconds, then cuts to two women putting labels on jars.]

An emergency plan is a health and safety requirement, and not having one puts your business and the people in it at risk.

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No one expects you to be able to plan for every kind of emergency, but you should have a good idea of the risks you face at work, given your industry and location.

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If you have a team, talk to them about the risks they think are most relevant. We’ve mentioned a few, but a list of emergencies you might need a plan for are:

[Visual: “Health emergencies” shows up in bold white text on the top right of the screen. Below this, a bullet point list appears:

• Workplace incidents
• Chemical spills
• Medical emergencies
• Violent people
• Animal attacks.

This title and list then disappear and are replaced by a new title “Public health events”. Below this, a bullet point list appears:

• COVID-19 pandemic.

After a few seconds, this text is replaced by a new title “Utility failures”. Below this, a bullet point list appears:

• Electricity outages
• IT outages
• Water supply issues.

Health emergencies, like workplace incidents, chemical spills, medical emergencies, violent people, animal attacks, and public health events, like the Covid-19 pandemic. Utility failures, like electricity outages, IT outages, and water supply issues.

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When making a procedure plan, remember that emergencies often require you to be flexible. Think about strategies rather than rigid plans and save electronic and paper copies of what to do and when.

[Visual: the words “Electronic and paper copies” appear in the top right side of the screen in bold white text. Below this, a bullet point list appears:

• What to do
• When.

This text disappears after a few seconds.]

In your plan, be clear about:

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An assembly point: Decide on a safe meeting place that’s close to your premises. In a major crisis, staff will want to be with their families. 

[Visual: the screen cuts to a shot of a man on a building site looking at his phone. After a few seconds the shot cutes to a group of tradies on a job site talking to each other in a circle.] 

Make a plan for staff to leave, after you’ve accounted for all of them.

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Plan how to stay in contact, especially if you have staff that work offsite.

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Make sure to contact staff to let them know when and where to report to work. Plan for alternative premises or work arrangements if your workplace is unsafe.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a shot of a woman in an orange high-vis vest with the words “fire warden” on the back leading a group of employees out of an office building.]

Allocate staff wardens and make them responsible for counting all workers and visitors after an evacuation.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a picture of a St John first aid kit. The contents of the kit are in front, including plasters, ice pack, cotton swabs, scissors, tweezers, rubber gloves, gauze and wrapping tape.]

Have a procedure to handle injuries. You’ll need a first aid kit for minor injuries.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a woman in a black blazer scrolling through her phone. After a few seconds, the shot cuts to a nurse with a face mask performing CPR on a dummy.]

Identify the nearest medical centre or hospital for anything more serious, and find out if any staff members have first aid training.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a profile shot of the presenter on the left side of the screen. “Important contact details” appears in bold white text on the top right of the screen. A bullet point list appears below this:

• Staff
• Emergency services
• Clients
• Suppliers
• Insurance companies.]

Keep important contact details updated and handy. This includes phone numbers for staff, emergency services, clients, suppliers and insurance companies.

[Visual: the screen cuts to the Civil Defence website showing a map of local civil defence groups. There is a list of regions with civil defence groups:

• Northland
• Auckland
• Waikato
• Bay of Plenty
• Tairawhiti
• Taranaki
• Manawatu
• Whanganui
• Hawkes Bay.

The Hawkes Bay tab is open, cutting off the rest of the list and showing details of the Hawkes Bay Civil Defence group. After a few seconds, the screen cuts to a Facebook post from Auckland Emergency Management about cyclone Gabrielle accommodation support.]

You can also follow your local civil defence and emergency management group website and Facebook page to get information and assistance in an emergency.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a profile shot of the presenter. A title “Switch off” appears in bold white text on the top right of the screen. A bullet point list appears below this:

• Electricity
• Water
• Gas supplies.

This text disappears after a few seconds.]

You may need to switch off electricity, water and gas supplies if you suspect there’s a leak. Fires caused by gas leaks and electrical sparks are a risk after a natural disaster strikes.

[Visual: the screen cuts to an gas meter box on the outside of a building. The screen then cuts to an electricity fuse box.]

Make sure you or a designated staff member know when and how to shut electricity, water and gas off.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a profile shot of the presenter on the left side of the screen. A title “How will you contact staff” appears in bold white text on the top right of the screen with a bullet point list below it:

• Do they need help
• Keep them informed.]

As well as outlining what to do, your plan should include how you will contact staff to make sure they are OK, check to see if they need any help, and keep them informed.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a shot of a man in a wheelchair coming out of a lift. After a few seconds the screen cuts to the feet of a person walking with a white cane sweeping in front of them.]

Talk to employees with disabilities. Find out what assistance, if any, they require if there’s an emergency, and consider how to assist any visitors who have a disability.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a profile shot of the presenter on the left side of the screen. A title “Keep a bag of essentials” shows up in bold white text. A bullet point list appears below this:

• Emergency contact details.
• First aid kit.
• Emergency supplies.

This text disappears after a few seconds.]

Other tips to help you prepare for a sudden disaster include:

 

Keep a bag of essentials, including emergency contact details, a first aid kit and emergency supplies. Appoint someone to grab it if there’s an emergency.

 

[Visual: A title “Emergency supplies” appears in bold white text on the top right of the screen. A bullet point list appears below this:

• Water
• Blankets
• Rope
• Torches
• Radio
• First aid kit
• Dust masks
• Gloves.]

Emergency supplies can include water, blankets, rope, torches, radio, first aid kit, dust masks and gloves.

[Visual: the screen cuts to a shot of multiple people placing food tins, jars and bottles into a plastic tub.]

If you provide food for staff, you’ll still need to provide it in an emergency. Stock enough supplies for 24 hours.

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Once your plan is complete, practice it, and update it as your business grows or changes.

Schedule dry runs regularly — at least twice a year — but also throw in surprise drills. Discuss how these went and how you can improve, using different scenarios to cover fires, earthquakes and other hazards.

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People respond to and recover from emergencies in different ways. Rather than assuming how badly affected a person may be—

[Visual: the screen cuts to a shot of a man and woman sitting opposite each other in an office setting. They are talking to each other and taking notes.

Make a point of regularly asking about their wellbeing following a crisis.

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For advice on preparing for, and recovering from a disaster, and how to look after your people in an extended crisis, plus an earthquake preparedness checklist and more, head to the learning summary of this video.

[Audio / Visual: The music slowly fades out while a blue outro screen appears with the business.govt.nz logo in the centre of the screen. This logo disappears and the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment logo appears on the left-hand side and the Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa, New Zealand Government logo appears on the right-hand side.]

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