Establish safe systems of work
Control Measure Knowledge
To establish appropriate safe systems of work, all personnel should have an awareness of the environment they are working in. If they encounter unexpected or unforeseen situations they should be equipped to identify hazards, make an individual assessment of risk and take appropriate action.
It is the responsibility of the incident commander to gain a detailed awareness of the incident and the hazards that are present. Dynamic risk assessment is the process by which an incident commander in a fast-moving situation will identify the hazards and risks to safety.
The incident commander should provide information about the hazards and risk to the safety of everyone involved in or responding to the incident, and the control measures and safe systems of work that have been put in place. This information should be communicated in an appropriate and timely manner to relevant personnel and other emergency responders.
Safety-critical information should always include:
- Location of the hazard area
- Details of the hazards and their location
- Details of access, egress and escape routes
Other information will be dependent on the type, size and development of an incident. Further details are provided within the guidance for specific incident types or for specific hazards.