In case of an emergency
ALWAYS CALL 000 (TRIPLE ZERO) IF THERE IS AN IMMEDIATE DANGER TO LIFE
Purpose
This Emergency Management Plan provides details on how BigDog Support Services Pty Ltd and Scottvale Health Club Group (BigDog) will prepare and respond to emergencies. This is within consideration of effective planning processes to prepare, prevent, manage and respond to emergency and disaster situations whilst mitigating risks to and ensuring continuity of supports that are critical to the health, safety and wellbeing of clients. This policy is designed to be read in conjunction with the Continuity of Support Policy, should there be a disruption to a Clients rostered shift.
Scope
This document outlines BigDog Emergency Management Arrangements for the BigDog Administration Office at 3 Clifford Street, Toowoomba. This document covers all staff, contractors, Clients and visitors to the associated service.
Preparing for an Emergency.
Adequate preparation and planning can ensure a safe and effective process should an emergency occur.
BigDog strives to provide all employees, volunteers and clients with a safe and healthy working environment. The organisation implements specific workplace health and safety policies and procedures to reduce the likelihood that an accident or injury may occur at an office or in locations where it operates.
The Director has ultimate responsibility for safeguarding the organisation and its personnel, clients and visitors. It is the responsibility of the Director to ensure that emergency and evacuation procedures and facilities are established, maintained and reviewed regularly and that they are appropriate and adequate for the organisations identified needs.
It is the responsibility of the Director for ensuring that personnel have the appropriate training, information and instruction in emergency procedures and the use of emergency equipment facilities.
As part of its risk management processes, the organisation will do everything in its control to prevent injury or harm to individuals as a result of any emergency. To reduce the risk to personnel the Director will be responsible for providing a work environment where all personnel are trained and prepared for emergencies.
Emergencies may include:
• Fire
• Natural Disasters
• Flood, Winds and bushfire
• Bomb, Arson, Suspicious Mail or other personal threats
• Internal Lockdown
• Medical Emergency/Hazardous Materials
• Pandemic
To facilitate these policies:
• All staff are required to have familiarised themselves with the Emergency Management Plan for the associated site.
• All staff are required to complete Emergency and Disaster Management, as part of their induction provided through NGO Training Website
• All staff are required to follow the direction of the Incident Management Team
Key personnel
In case of an emergency please see Incident Management Team in Appendix 1 Table 1. Should the individuals not be present, the hierarchy will defer to reflect the corporate structure of the workplace. For phone numbers relating to various services please see Appendix 1 Table 2.
Emergency Evacuation Plan
See Appendix 1 Section 2 for copy of evacuation plan and meeting points
Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness
Each Client housed in a BigDog owned property has a Medical Book detailing the individual requirements of a Client. In conjunction with this document and Emergency Contacts listed on CareMaster this be part of their personalised Emergency Management Plan; this has been built in consideration of health advice and government fact sheets.
Emergency Supply Kit
A grab bag in each BigDog Building should contain all of the following emergency items.
1. Bottled Water
2. Food and Protein Bars
3. First aid kit
4. Battery operated torch
5. Client specific support items
6. Battery-operated radio, and other essential items
Emergency Plan
In the case of an emergency always first follow the direction of Emergency Services and Government Agencies.
At BigDog, we emphasize that no asset or material is worth more than a person’s life, ensure yourself and everyone around you is safe and removed from danger prior to attempting to mitigate a threat.
Issue/Risk Preventative Measures Response Plan
Fire
Flood, Severe Winds or Bushfire
• Installation of Fire and Emergency equipment
(Smoke alarms; fire extinguishers; fire hoses, first aid kit; fire and evacuation signage)
• Fire and Emergency evacuation plan and map
• Training for staff in using emergency equipment
• Regular testing and maintenance of fire and emergency equipment
• First Aid Officers
First Responder/Fire Warden
• Remove all Participants, Visitors, Contractors and Staff from Danger.
• Collect Emergency and Disaster Management Plan Folder and Sign-In sheet if safe to do.
• Complete Roll Call
• Notify Emergency Services if required.
• Notify Senior Management: Director, Operations Manager and Site Manager/Service Coordinator OR Afterhours Contact to assist.
• Collect Client Medication, Medical Book and grab bag if safe to do so and approved by Senior Management.
• Use fire retardant measures if safe to do so
• Log Incident in CareMaster to then be reviewed by Management Senior Management:
• Engage staff with Employee Assistance Program
• Organise alternate work arrangements for staff if required.
• Follow Continuity of Support Plan for affected Clients if required.
• All staff to monitor severe weather and flood warnings, particularly for staff travelling to family homes and outreach activities.
First Responder/Chief Warden
• Follow directions from emergency services personnel and emergency announcements.
Issue/Risk Preventative Measures
• Rescheduling of activities when warnings indicate
• Head office monitors and communicates severe weather warnings and cancels shifts for rostered staff in risk affected areas.
• Plan and source options for sandbagging sites due to ground level risks in any location.
• BigDog Properties regularly undertake cleaning of gutters and trimming of trees to mitigate risk of damage to property or person.
• Emergency Supply Kit in all BigDog Buildings
Response Plan
• IF SAFE TO STAY close all doors and windows, ensure anything that can move around or can become a projectile is removed or placed inside cupboards.
• IF UNSAFE TO STAY remove all Clients, Visitors, Contractors and Staff from imminent Danger.
• Communicate with Senior Management regarding an alternate unaffected location to evacuate to.
• Collect Emergency and Disaster Management Plan Folder and Sign-In sheet if safe to do.
• Complete Roll Call
• Notify Emergency Services if required.
• Notify Senior Management: Director, Operations Manager and Site Manager/Service Coordinator OR Afterhours Contact to assist.
• Collect Client Medication, Medical Book and grab bag if safe to do so and approved by Senior Management.
• Leave property secure.
• Log Incident in CareMaster to then be reviewed by Management
Senior Management:
• Engage staff with Employee Assistance Program
• Organise alternate work arrangements for staff if required.
• All incidents, escalations and threats – no matter how minor - logged in CareMaster System.
First Responder/Chief Warden
• Remove all Clients, Visitors, Contractors and Staff from Danger.
• IF INTERNAL TO BUILDING - Evacuate premises
• Follow Continuity of Support Plan for affected Clients if required. Bomb, arson, Suspicious Mail or other personal threats
• IF EXTERNAL TO BUILDING – move to secure internal room with no windows to outside. Call 000
Issue/Risk Preventative Measures
• Senior Management to review all reported incidents for assessment of possible escalation
• Training for staff in responding to heightened behaviours and emphasis on removal of themselves and others from situation.
Response Plan
• Collect Emergency and Disaster Management Plan Folder and Sign-In sheet if safe to do.
• Complete Roll Call
• Notify Emergency Services
• Log Incident in CareMaster to then be reviewed by Management
Senior Management:
• Engage staff with Employee Assistance Program
• Organise alternate work arrangements for staff if required.
• Follow Continuity of Support Plan for affected Clients if required.
Medical Emergency OR Hazardous
Materials
• All staff required to maintain up to date First Aid and CPR certification
• All staff trained in process to call 13HEALTH or 000
• Medication Fact Sheet for each Client in SILS
• Medical issues collected on Client induction
• First Aid Kit kept in all vehicles and BigDog Properties
• First Aid Officers
• Employee Assistance Program
First Responder/First Aid Officer
• Call 000 or ask a bystander to make the call
• Administer first aid and render CPR if required.
• Follow directions from Emergency Services
• Collect Medical Book (if available) and take affected person to Hospital if required.
• If with multiple Clients, do not leave them unaccompanied, contact head office if insufficient staff available to accompany Client to hospital.
• Notify Senior Management: Director, Operations Manager and Site Manager/Service Coordinator OR Afterhours Contact to assist.
• Log Incident in CareMaster to then be reviewed by Management
Senior Management:
• Engage staff with Employee Assistance Program
• Organise alternate work arrangements for staff if required.
• Follow Continuity of Support Plan for affected Clients if required.
Issue/Risk Preventative Measures
Pandemic
• Signage outlining universal hygiene practices to be displayed at the entry of offices and in bathrooms, kitchens, and other areas as appropriate.
• All staff are provided with appropriate PPE including hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer available in communal areas (reception, toilets, kitchen)
• Regularly cleaning of all communal spaces and BigDog owned properties
• All staff complete health and hygiene training.
Response Plan
Management to implement
• Follow all guidelines from current state health advice
• Where physical distancing cannot be maintained a weekly rotating roster will be implemented with some staff working from home and others in the office. Intensive cleaning will take place at the end of each week.
• Staff minimize physical contact with colleagues, children, and families. Face to face meetings will be held in exceptional circumstances only with appropriate risk assessment, universal hygiene measures/PPE, physical distancing and in an open space.
• Increase cleaning in all offices and provide products for staff to regularly clean high traffic areas such as doorknobs, desks, toilets and kitchen areas.
• Pandemic risk assessment to be conducted prior to contact with families, children or other visitors.
• Physical distancing measures will be implemented based on relevant health/government advice.
• Staff who have been identified as having close contact with a known person with a diagnosed illness will be requested to self-isolated in accordance with recommended by current state health advice
Supporting Documents
Policies
2.2 Risk Management
2.8 Continuity of Supports
3.2 Support Planning
3.4 Responsive Support
4.1 Safe Environment
4.5 Management of Waste
Forms
Disaster Management Plan
Disaster Prevention Checklist
Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness Workbook
House Audit
Information
Extreme or High Heat
Fire Safety Training Manual
Floods Resource
NDIS Legislation Amendment (Quality Indicators) Guidelines 2021 Version 4
Queensland Prevention, Preparedness, Response & Recovery Management Guideline
Types of Emergencies
Workplace Emergency Plan
NGO Training
Legislation
Emergency and Disaster Management
Child Protection Reform and other Legislation Act 2022 (QLD)
Disability Services Act 2006 (QLD)
Disability Services and Inclusion Act 2023 (Cwth)
Disaster Management Act 2003 (QLD)
National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cwth)
NDIS (Provider Registration and Practice Standards) Amendment Rules 2021
NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators
BigDog Support Services Pty Ltd (BigDog) is a registered NDIS provider and is required to apply the scheme’s practice standard and quality indicators.
The standards have been developed to create an important benchmark to assess provider performance and ensure that high quality and safe supports and services are provided to NDIS clients.
The four core modules are:
1.0 Rights and Responsibilities;
2.0 Governance and Operational Management;
3.0 The Provision of Supports; and
4.0 The Support Provision Environment.
The supplementary modules cover:
5.0 Specialist Support
5.1 High intensity daily personal activities.
5.3 Implementing behaviour support plans.
2.9 Emergency and Disaster Management
Each client’s support is overseen by robust governance and operational management systems relevant (proportionate) to the size, and scale of a provider and the scope and complexity of supports delivered.
Emergency and disaster management standard is intended to address the planning required by providers to prepare, prevent, manage and respond to emergency and disaster situations whilst mitigating risks to and ensuring continuity of supports that are critical to the health, safety and wellbeing of NDIS clients.
Delegation of Authority
Name
Courtney Carroll Director Authorise review and implementation
Ann Paull Secretary Company Secretary
Peter McGrath Operations Manager Ensure information dissemination
Monique Paull HR Lawyer Ensure compliance by workers
William Carroll WHS Officer Safety inspections and compliance
Process to Review Policy
This policy will be reviewed every twelve (12) months unless circumstances deem it necessary to review earlier. The review process will involve an analysis of the usefulness of the policy over the period of implementation and to note any changes which are required in order to improve the policy.
Questions which may be considered during the review include:
• Have there been any significant changes to relevant legislation?
• Is the policy being implemented?
• Are procedures being followed?
• Is the policy clear?
• What has changed that may prompt a change to the policy?
• Have particular stakeholders had difficulty with any aspect of the policy?
• Can their concerns be resolved?
If minor changes are made to the policy in wording or to clarify the intent, the version number will indicate this by adding a ‘point’ i.e. Version 1.1 indicates the original version with the first round of minor changes made. A significant change to the wording or intent of the policy will be indicated by a new whole number i.e. Version 2.0.
The following rules also apply in interpreting this policy:
• Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.
• A singular word includes the plural and vice versa.
• A word that suggests one gender includes the other genders.
Date V Details
January 2020 5.0 Formed part of 2.8 Continuity of Supports Policy (2.8.6)
January 2022 5.1 New policy 2.9 Emergency and Disaster Management to match NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators November 2021 Version 4
Emergency and disaster management practice standard applies to existing registered NDIS providers from 24/01/2022.
January 2023 6.0 Included Human Services Quality Standards and Child Protection Act and the term “Participant” is returned to “Client” to allow for policies to cover NDIS and Child Safety.
January 2024 6.1 Disability Services Act 1986 replaced with Disability Services and Inclusion Act 2023 and policy review process included.
Included Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness Workbook
June 2025 6.2 Processes updated to reflect best practice and new layout Scottvale Health Club included in policy Steven Paull has retired, responsible officers updated
