Royal Holloway University of London

Transcription

1 Royal Holloway University of London Major Incident Management Plan September 2009 The College Internal Emergency Telephone Number is: 444 Page 1 of 23

2 Contents Section Item Page 1 Introduction General Mission Statement Reason for plan Objectives Types & Levels of Major Incidents (Table1) Phases of Risk Management Incident Control Managers Pack Main function/roles of the services/agencies involved Communications and log keeping Command, control and co-ordination Welfare Initial Response and Interactions General Declaring an Emergency Initial Action Incident Management Centres Responsibilities and Communication General Team Members (Table 2) Roles and Responsibilities (Table 3) Incident Management Team Recording information Senior Staff Responsibilities Staff responsibilities and designated persons Support/Reserve Personnel Publicity and Media Communications Departmental Contingency Plans Training and Testing Evacuation and Rest Centres General Evacuation Procedures Emergency Accommodation Arrangements Runnymede Borough Council Rest Centres Friends and relatives...23 Page 2 of 23

3 APPENDICES Planning/Prevention/Risk Assessment/Mitigation. A. Definition & Evaluation of Risks..... B. Principal Risks to the College... C. College-wide Risk Register... Preparedness/Procedures/Exercise & Training. D. Major Incident Management Guidelines E. Runnymede Borough Council Emergency Plans E1. Civil Contingencies Plan. E2. Communications Contingencies Plan... E3. Welfare Contingencies Plan... E4. Operations & Logistics Contingencies Plan. F. Arrangements for dealing with Meningococcal Disease G. Student Occupations H. Procedure for dealing with Radioactive Spills I. Bomb Threats Emergency Procedure J. RCS Contingency Plan Response/Operations (This Plan) K. Communications Contingency Plan. L. Major Incident Structure M. Incident Control Managers Pack.. N. High Risk Buildings/Departments N1. Students' Union Risk Register. N2. Biological Sciences Emergency Procedures. N3. Earth Sciences Emergency Procedures... N4. Physics Emergency Procedures. N5. Psychology Emergency Procedures... O. Building Plans..(Separate folders) Recovery P. Recovery Phase Actions.... Evaluation & Revision Q. Document Revision.. R. Lessons Learnt Report Template.. S. Incident Management Centre Inventory Page 3 of 23

4 This plan has been endorsed and signed by the following persons: Chair of Council Sir Andrew Burns:.. Date:. Deputy Principal Professor Rob Kemp:.. Date:.. List of copied members: Chair of Council Deputy Principal Vice Principal (Planning & Resources) Vice Principal (Research, Enterprise & Communications) Director of Facilities Management Deputy Director Client Environment Deputy Director Client Services Assistant Director Client Services x 3 Head of Security Services College Secretary Health & Safety Advisor Interim Director of External Relations Director of Finance Director of Human Resources Director of Information Technology Director of Library Services Director of Royal Holloway International Academic Registrar Internal Auditor Students' Union President Students' Union General Manager Deans x 3 Faculty Managers x 3 Review History: College Insurers Page 4 of 23

5 1 Introduction 1.1 General In Appendix A of this document we show the Colleges approach to risk definition and evaluation and in Appendix B we list what risks have been identified following this process as the Principal risks to the College. The severity of Incidents and how they should be dealt with are further defined in Section 1.5 below. It should be noted that this document: Seeks to address incidents which have an immediate impact on the physical environment in which the College operates its business. Financial, legal, academic and other issues are dealt with elsewhere. Does not accommodate for nuclear or bio-terrorist attack, or acts of God, where the entire region would be devastated. Reflects the changing environment and requirements of RHUL. Therefore, the Plan requires the continued allocation of resources to maintain it and to keep it in a constant state of readiness. Is based on the availability of secure sites and back-up resources. The accessibility of these, or equivalent back-up resources, is a critical requirement. Can still be activated even in the event of a borough wide disaster (i.e. severe weather etc). However due to external resources being prioritised in regard to the wider community the response parameters may be jeopardised and as such the scope of this Plan is limited. 1.2 Mission Statement The College has determined that it is critical to its ongoing success that it institute and maintain a Major Incident Management Plan that will enable it to continue operating even in the face of a disaster or any other incident that could disrupt its normal procedures. Achieving a good Incident Management posture will enable the College to meet its obligations to our students, customers, partners and suppliers, and to meet all possible and relevant laws, regulations and best practices. The College will maintain the best possible level of service, appropriate to its business, while continuing to protect the relevancy, integrity, security and privacy of all information it possesses. The plan that follows is the result of investigation, analysis and documentation of the policies, procedures and capabilities that is required to fulfil our responsibilities even if an incident occurs. Page 5 of 23

6 1.3 Reason for plan The Major Incident Management Plan is issued for information and guidance for all officers of the College who may undertake roles and responsibilities in the response to a major incident. The plan should be regarded as a functional document, and read in conjunction with appendices A through to S. All senior officers should familiarise themselves with the above documents. All officers expected to undertake emergency roles should be confident that they have received the training and resources to enable them to carryout their role. The Risk Management Committee includes the following in its Terms of Reference To develop a contingency management and disaster recovery plan and put in place all necessary arrangements to ensure it could be successfully implemented in necessary. 1.4 Objectives To ensure:- The aim of the Plan is to provide a generic overview to the College response to any major incident, as defined in Table 1 below or otherwise unidentified. The College s policy and procedures regarding major incidents are carried out. To ensure the safety of staff, students and the local community. Once identified quick and suitable responses are made to every incident and / or threat to the well being of students, staff and visitors. Human, physical, financial and information assets of the College are protected. Business continuity requirements are quickly identified and implemented. Transparent communication with the College s stakeholders and other interested parties. That the College can demonstrate that it is maintaining responsible and effective control of any incident and that such management will enhance its credibility and reputation. The management of the incident is reviewed after the event to learn from actions taken and improve procedures. A regular updating and testing of the plan is conducted to ensure all information and procedures are correct and applicable. Raise awareness throughout the institution regarding risk management and its necessity. Page 6 of 23

7 1.5 Types & Levels of Major Incidents (Table1) Type of Incident Natural emergencies e.g. subsidence Severe weather conditions eg excessive rain, snow, wind, ice, extreme cold, extreme heat. Fires Flooding Civil Disorders Water, Gas or Electricity Supply Failure - > 1 working day Explosions Local Can be managed locally. Minor structural damage. No evacuation necessary. No building damage. Some staff absence. Minor disruption to normal activities. Minor damage to rooms. No relocation necessary. Minor damage to rooms. No loss of equipment or documents. Little or no disruption. Disruption to normal campus activities. Some staff absence. Affecting < 10% properties. Little / no disruption. Small localised blast causing small controllable fire. Can be isolated. Minor Existing emergency procedures. Minor structural damage. Evacuation & limited relocation necessary. Minor building / Serious damage to normal activities. Significant staff absence. Medium damage, loss of some accommodation, teaching or research facilities can reorganise to cover internally. Little loss of information. Medium damage to rooms & equipment. Some damage to documents. Remedial work and some relocation necessary. Serious disruption to normal activities. Significant staff absence / inability to use facilities. Affecting 10-30% campus but no sensitive sites. Minor disruption. Small to medium blast, minor damage & fire. No release of toxic/flammable substances. No injuries. Major Activation of the IMT. Major structural damage. Evacuation & relocation necessary. Serious building damage. Serious disruption to normal activities. Significant staff absence. Relocation necessary. Major damage, loss of Hall of Residence, or teaching & research facilities. Significant information loss. Relocation necessary. Major damage to rooms, equipment & information sources. Serious disruption to use of facilities. Prolonged serious disruption to normal activities and significant number of staff unable to use facilities. Affecting >30% campus inc sensitive sites. Serious disruption. Medium /major blast, with injuries, major damage & disruption. HSE interest. Page 7 of 23

8 Type of Incident Medical Epidemics / Pandemics Chemical release / contamination Biological incident Escape, spillage, or contamination Radiological incident Loss of source, spillage, fire, flood, theft, lack of containment Computer system failure- > 1 day Death of student/staff or multiple serious injuries Adverse Public Interest Local Can be managed locally. Disruption to normal campus activities some staff absence. Minor & contained. Low risk to persons. Minor & contained. Low risk to persons. No threat to personnel. Limited disruption. No threat to reputation of College. Affecting < 10% campus. N/A. Interest by local Press only. Minor Existing emergency procedures. Serious disruption to normal activities. Significant staff absence. Minor & unconfined. Medium fire / toxic or corrosion risk. Minor pollution risk. Fire Service, HSE & EA interest. Minor & uncontained. Medium infective/toxic risk. HSE interest. Risk to personnel/property. Possible threat to reputation. Risk of prosecution. Risk isolation/evacuation of building. HSE & EA interest. Affecting 10 40% campus but no sensitive sites. 1 death / several injured. Local press interest. Regulatory investigation. Possible prosecution. Significant local interest Press and other media. Major Activation of the IMT. Meningococcal, SARS, Legionella, Avian Flu or Swine Flu outbreaks, or similar. HPA, SHPU interest. Major & unconfined. Major fire / toxic or corrosion risk. Fire Service, HSE, EA and HPA interest. Major & uncontained. High infective risk. HSE and HPA interest. Risk to personnel/property. Isolation/evacuation necessary. Serious disruption to normal operations. Threat of prosecution & to reputation. HSE, EA and HPA interest. Affecting > 40% campus inc sensitive sites. Complete and prolonged failure of any one of 9 systems. Multiple death or injury. Regulatory investigation. Significant adverse media interest. Possible prosecution. Extensive Regional / National interest Press and other media. Please also see the levels of incident defined on page 3 of the Runnymede Borough Council Civil Contingencies Plan. 1.6 Phases of Risk Management The five phases of Risk Management can be described as: Page 8 of 23

9 Planning/Prevention/Risk Assessment/Mitigation o Locate, identify and prioritise potential risks. o Includes any activities that prevent or reduce an incident occurring, or reduce the damaging effects of unavoidable disasters. (Appendices A to C) Preparedness/Procedures/Exercise & Training o Includes those activities that prepare for actual emergencies o Includes plans or preparations made to save lives or property and help the response and rescue service operations. o Some members of the Incident Management Team are already familiar with certain aspects of emergency response as part of their normal duties whereas the normal work of some staff may be very different from their role in the event of a major incident. The Risk Management Committee needs to ensure that training is provided for all staff who may be required for an emergency response. A large part of emergency planning training can be categorised as awareness training. All levels of personnel from directors at strategic level, heads of service and managers at tactical level to "front line" operational level staff need to be made fully aware of the demands which a major incident can put upon resources and staff so they can appreciate the need for pre - planning. o Once produced plans need to be validated to ensure they work. Exercises also ensure that training of key personnel has been successful. This can be undertaken via seminars or table top exercises without the need for full field events. (Appendices D to J) Response/Operations o Includes actions taken to save lives and prevent property damage and to preserve the environment during a major incident. The response phase is implementing this plan. o Contact details, roles and responsibilities o Interaction with other organisations involved e.g. emergency services, Runnymede Borough Council. o When an emergency occurs the expectation is that the Incident Management Team will be able to respond more effectively because of the work previously done on developing emergency plans and training and exercising these plans. o It is important for the Incident Management Team to observe what is happening during an emergency so as to ensure adjustment to plans where this would improve any future response. Learning lessons from incidents as well as from training and exercises is a critical activity. (Appendices K to O) Recovery Page 9 of 23

10 o Efforts begin when the emergency is over (immediate threat to life, environment and buildings), recovery is usually in two stages short term and long term o Includes actions that assist the College in returning to a sense of normality after a disaster. (Appendix P) Evaluation & Revision o Includes wash up meeting, completion of lesions learnt report and revision to any plans and procedures in light of observations made during an incident or training events. (Appendices Q to S) 1.7 Incident Control Managers Pack Appendix M of this Plan consists of an aide memoire for the Incident Control Manager (ICM). This includes a list of actions for initial response, a checklist to ensure further escalation of an incident is prevented and contact telephone numbers for staff and services which may be required. The ICM Pack and this document will be used in conjunction in the event of a major incident. Due to the confidential nature of the contents of the Pack only the members of the Emergency Response Team (see Section 3.2) will receive a copy containing the full details, in addition to the copy in each of the Incident Management Room(s) (see Section 2.4). 1.8 Main function/roles of the services/agencies involved This section defines the initial roles of and interactions between the three main agencies potentially involved in a major incident the College, the emergency services and Runnymede Borough Emergency Control Centre. College This document is not a substitute for the procedures but is to be utilised once an incident has been judged to be major or the Emergency Response Team believe the incident could escalate to become major (Section 1.5, Table 1). The College has in operation several emergency procedures, see Appendices F to J and N. These outline the correct steps and communication procedures regarding the detection and subsequent actions when dealing with an incident. Fire and building evacuation procedures (both in and out of office hours) will, in the first instance, be followed irrespective of the classification of the incident. Emergency Services The emergency services main role will most frequently be to save lives and secure the scene of the incident. Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is responsible for rescuing survivors. Surrey Ambulance Service (SAS) is responsible for treating casualties and taking them to hospital. Many major incidents are also possible crime Page 10 of 23

11 scenes and Surrey Police will control the scene until it can be returned to normal use. Runnymede Borough Once a major incident has occurred on campus the appropriate emergency services will be contacted. The co-ordination of all agencies at the scene (Tactical Command) is usually the function of the Police. The Police Incident Officer controls the responding agencies. Once on site this senior officer would assess the situation in conjunction with senior managers and specialist advisors. If it is deemed to be a major borough emergency, or if the senior officer feels he cannot cope with the resources at his disposal then he will contact the Runnymede Borough Emergency Control Centre. The Borough Emergency Team will then liaise with appropriate council departments and services to supply sufficient support for the incident. At this stage an Incident Liaison Officer (ILO) will be dispatched to the scene. His duties are to provide a direct link between the Borough Emergency Control Centre, Tactical Command and the College s Incident Control Manager. He will provide the Safer Runnymede Emergency Centre with requests for resources or actions, and assist with planning and delivering the local authority response. The activities of the ILO will primarily be after the initial response and in the next two stages of the emergency (consolidation / stabilisation and recovery). If the campus emergency impacts beyond Runnymede boundaries then the Surrey County Council Emergency Planning Unit will take over and coordinate the responses and requests from the various boroughs involved. However the communication as far as the College is concerned will be through the original channels. In summary there are only two necessary contact points within the Runnymede emergency plan. 1. Safer Runnymede Emergency Call Centre (although contact will be mainly by the Police Incident Officer) 2. Incident Liaison Officer (the borough representative on site) For a diagrammatic interpretation see Appendix L. 1.9 Communications and log keeping Communication is critical in the event of a major incident, and all members of the Incident Management Team should ensure that contact with the Incident Management Centre is maintained on a regular basis in order that records can be kept and that the External Relations department are able to keep relevant communication channels updated as required. In addition, logs should be kept at all sites remote from the Incident Management Centre such as rest centres. See Section 3. Page 11 of 23

12 1.10 Command, control and co-ordination Command and control for the College response will come from the Incident Management Team, led by the Incident Control Manager either the Director of Facilities Management or in his absence the Health & Safety Advisor. In addition there will be an Emergency Response Team who make the initial decision if an incident is major and in turn whether to convene the IMT, and a Site Incident Team (SIT) who visit the site if necessary and if permitted by the Police Incident Officer. See Section Welfare The College recognises the need to ensure that all affected personnel are given appropriate support and information in the responsibilities of the Incident Management Team and in particular the Operational Advisors. This should cover both people immediately affected on site as well and friends and relatives, and therefore address rests centres, call centres and information points in addition to a counselling service and provision of advice. See Section 4. Page 12 of 23

13 2 Initial Response and Interactions 2.1 General This section lays out the initial response sequence and actions in the event of a major incident occurring. Further points of action are listed in order in the Incident Control Managers Pack (Appendix M). 2.2 Declaring an Emergency The detection of any accident, incident or event, which could impact on the normal operations of the College, should be communicated to the Duty Security Officer by ringing 444 on an internal line or and appropriate emergency procedures initiated. In the case of local incidents (Table 1, Column 2) the member of staff managing the incident should inform the relevant Head of Department (or Deputy), who should assess the severity of the incident and its possible consequences. If, with consultation with Head of Security (and Emergency Services if applicable) it is deemed unlikely to escalate beyond this level then control of the incident can be done locally. Where an incident is deemed to be minor (Table 1, Column 3) by the senior departmental representative, then the Director of Facilities Management, Deputy Director Client Environment and College Secretary will be informed of the incident immediately, and of the decision to manage the incident locally. With the exception of the Physics department who have a specific procedure, fire and building evacuation procedures (both in and out of office hours) will, in the first instance, be followed irrespective of the classification of the incident. Details of call out numbers are available to members of the Incident Management Team, College Security and are contained within the Incident Control Managers Pack (Appendix M) Where an incident is judged to be major (Table 1, Column 4) by the senior departmental representative then the Director of Facilities Management, Deputy Director Client Environment and the Health & Safety Advisor will be informed of the incident immediately. 2.3 Initial Action If, following consultation with Security and (if necessary) Emergency Services it is confirmed as a major incident, then a decision is required regarding the need for an Incident Management Centre and contacting the remainder of the Incident Management Team (Table 2). Page 13 of 23

14 The decision to set up an Incident Management Centre (IMC) rests with the Incident Control Manager (ICM) and the other Emergency Response Team members (Table 2) (in consultation with the Deputy Principal and College Secretary if deemed necessary). This will depend on their assessment of the threat to the well being of students and staff, damage to property, disruption to operations or damage to reputation. In the event of the Police Incident Officer (who will be onsite as a result of the emergency services being called) deeming the event to be a major borough emergency, or if they feel they can not cope with the resources at their disposal, he/she will contact the Runnymede Borough Emergency Control Centre. The Borough Emergency Team will then liaise with appropriate council departments and services to supply sufficient support for the incident (Appendix E). 2.4 Incident Management Centres Target time for mobilising an IMC: 30 minutes during normal working day 60 minutes at all other times Locations of IMC s: Principals Meeting Room Founders Building RHUL Egham TW20 0EX Ph: (FE13) Fax: (Switchboard) Fax: In the event of the main campus being rendered inaccessible: Huntersdale Board Room Huntersdale RHUL Callow Hill Virginia Water GU25 4LN Ph: (H1-01) Fax: Page 14 of 23

15 3 Responsibilities and Communication 3.1 General This section seeks to address the issues surrounding the management of major incidents and lays out the Colleges approach to the various elements involved and where responsibilities lie for the members of the three teams listed below. 3.2 Team Members (Table 2) Emergency Response Team PRIMARY SECONDARY Director of Facilities Management College Secretary Head of Security Services Security Operations Manager Deputy Director Client Environment Maintenance & Services Manager Health & Safety Advisor Deputy Health & Safety Advisor Incident Management Team Director of Facilities Management Health & Safety Advisor Deputy Director Client Environment Maintenance & Services Manager Health & Safety Advisor Deputy Health & Safety Advisor Deputy Director Client Services Assistant Director Operations Head of External Relations Press & Communications Coordinator Director of Information Technology Customer Services Manager Appropriate Dean or Deans of Faculty Deputy Dean/s (dependent on area affected) Students Union President Students Union General Manager Administration Manager (FM) for secretarial support Executive Assistant to the Director (FM) The above list provides a core group anticipated to be required for all incidents. More specific Incident Management Teams are listed under procedures for specific incident types Site Incident Team Deputy Director Client Environment Maintenance & Services Manager Head of Security Security Operations Manager Health & Safety Advisor Deputy Health & Safety Advisor Appropriate Head(s) of Department Deputy Head(s) of Department Appropriate Technical / Scientific Building Superintendent Manager(s) Page 15 of 23

16 3.3 Roles and Responsibilities (Table 3) ROLE Incident Management Team Incident Control Manager (ICM) - to manage the overall incident. Activate Major Incident Management Plan Instruct Security to contact remaining IMT members and other relevant persons Open Incident Management Room(s) Brief IMT & allocate responsibilities Establish communications with Site Incident Manager (SIM) With team, agree statements for Press and Media With team, agree statements for staff, students and interested parties Agree suitable precautions / actions with relevant specialist advisor / service Agree level of external resources / assistance for SIM Brief Principal, Vice Principals Organise secretarial support and regular reports on situation and developments (Reports to be circulated to relevant persons) Media / Press Advisor - to manage communications Keep College management informed during incident With ICM agree briefing details and frequency With legal advice prepare statements and reports for Media Set up Press Room for the Media Manage Press communications Advise interviewees Co-ordinate campus communications (agreed responses etc) Operations Advisor/s - to provide operational and procedural support for the ICM & SIM Liaison with Emergency Services Liaison with relevant Utilities Liaison with relevant Departments & support services Liaise with Insurance Company and Local POSITION - Director of Facilities Management - or Health & Safety Advisor - Head of External Relations - or Senior Press & Communications Officer - Remaining members of the Incident Management Team. Page 16 of 23

17 Council Organise preliminary assessment of repairs / recovery actions Liaise with Health & Safety Advisor Organise supplies etc for on site personnel and services Emergency Payments/Accounting administration of emergency expenditure allocation of codes and monitoring of expenditure, management of any disaster fund. Emergency Sign production Establishing safe havens. Consider any transport requirements. Welfare services counselling and trauma support, call centre and information points. Ascertaining support staff availability and liaising with relevant Team members to establish rotas. Ongoing business Site Incident Manager (SIM) - to provide site management of the incident Damage assessment in conjunction with Client Environment Remedial actions (including salvage) Site security requirements Access to premises Provision of maps / building plans (available in Incident Management Room(s)) Liaison with Emergency Services on site Emergency equipment requirements (in conjunction with ICM) They will be required to provide regular updates to the Emergency Control Centre with regard to progress at the scene. Scientific Adviser/s Liaise with regulators (EA, HSE, NRPB, HPA, SHPU etc) Liaise with hospitals, council bodies Brief SIT on developments, circumstances and best practice of incident Administrative support - recording events, decisions and general admin support - Appropriate Head of Department - Departmental Technical / Scientific personnel - Head of Security - Other senior departmental staff as per departmental emergency plan - Operations advisors as required - Appropriate Departmental / Scientific personnel - RPO / LSO - H&S Advisors - Administration Manager (FM) Page 17 of 23

18 3.4 Incident Management Team The Incident Management Team will be formed to include senior managers from relevant departments. They may meet continuously or as and when required. The team is responsible for the management and co-ordination of the College response. All operational teams will report back to the IMT at regular intervals, ensuring that a full log of all activity is maintained. Emergency teams may be formed as required from officers with appropriate skills and managed by the Incident Control Manager. 3.5 Recording information All teams will keep full information and communication logs in bound logbooks, obtained from the Incident Management Centre(s). Each communication or occurrence should detail the time and date, nature of the occurrence, and action taken, complete with details of officer involvement. Any expenditure incurred should be cleared by the IMT and entered in the log. 3.6 Senior Staff Responsibilities All senior staff should ensure that they are fully aware of their responsibilities in an emergency situation. Incident management procedure should be included in all staff induction, and training should be provided to any member of staff who may be called upon to attend the Incident Management Team. All staff must ensure that they respond promptly to requests for contact updates. 3.7 Staff responsibilities and designated persons Staff with Incident Management responsibilities will have their contact details registered with External Relations who will ensure this information is kept up to date and enable them to be contacted by senior staff if required. This information is only available to those who may have a need to use it. 3.8 Support/Reserve Personnel College Support Staff For services managed at a College-wide level such as Security and Maintenance, out of normal hours, emergency call-out arrangements operate. In the event of a major incident arising, the initial response and communication sequence outlined in Section 2.1 will be followed. Responsibility for ensuring that such arrangements are in operation and are regularly reviewed and amended, lie with: * The Director of Facilities Management and the post holder s senior staff including: The Head of Security Services Deputy Director Client Environment Page 18 of 23

19 Deputy Director Client Services Each will also provide security staff with a current list of contact telephone numbers. College Reserve Personnel Each member of the IMT/senior members of staff, shall establish contingency arrangements whereby personnel who may need to act either on their behalf, or provide support, can be contacted. Suitable and sufficient measures will need to be in place to cover both daytime and evening/night emergencies. They will provide contact telephone numbers to the External Relations department. 3.9 Publicity and Media The Incident Control Manager shall provide the Head of External Relations with full information relating to an incident, together with a regular update of events. The Head of External Relations will then deal with press, television, radio or other enquiries and the release of information relating to the incident, to sources outside of the College. (Appendix K) The media will inevitably want to report in detail any major incident. The College concern is to protect its residents and prepare for resumption of normality. Whilst the media will be useful for providing the public with information they must not be allowed to obtain inaccurate information or hinder efforts of staff. At the incident scene the police will manage journalists, but it is important that staff are aware of the possible attendance of journalists at many locations including Entrances/Exits, Rest Centres and potentially Temporary Mortuaries. All media queries should be referred to the Senior Press & Communications Officer Communications All communications should be logged at the Emergency Call Centre, one copy should remain in the call centre whilst another should be passed onto a relevant officer to action, and once dealt with the second copy should be returned to the call centre. The staff members responsible for the call centre will ensure that the individuals answering phones are correctly briefed throughout the incident. Major Incident Communications Plan (Appendix K) The Major Incident Communications Plan supports the Major Incident Management Plan. The aim of the Major Incident Communications Plan is to ensure that all the agencies involved in a major incident are able to work together in a co-ordinated and constructive manner to ensure effective internal and external communication. Surrey Police Surrey Police will co-ordinate the activities of the emergency services and other agencies in the event of a major incident. This will include their responses to the media. When the co-ordination of the incident is handed over to another Page 19 of 23

20 organisation, for example during the recovery phase, the media co-ordination will also be handed over Departmental Contingency Plans Note: this only currently applies to High Risk Buildings/Departments: Students Union, Academic (Appendix N) RCS Contingency Plan (Appendix J) General Building Plans (Appendix O) As part of the planning process, Heads of Department are required to annually review objectives and risks to achieving them, this provides an opportunity to consider the possibilities of major disruption occurring within their area of responsibility. Such possibilities will be based on an anticipation of those events that are 'reasonably foreseeable' and having identified their potential implications they will develop plans for: (i) the immediate management arrangements necessary to safeguard life and property; (ii) the continuation of business in the event of a major disruption to property. Heads of Department should also make arrangements for: The development, maintenance and testing of local contingency/emergency arrangements supporting their plans; Identifying the role of key personnel; The provision of appropriate training to those designated specific tasks. Examples of when such a plan might need to be implemented would be a failure of the College s communication systems (telephone and computer links) and failure or significant disruption to gas, water and electricity services. It will also be necessary to have arrangements in place to cover the major disruption caused by, for example, significant fire or water damage and the potential loss of information sources arising there from. The Plan will cover the management arrangements necessary to achieve the minimum disruption possible to the services which managers are responsible for providing. It will identify the management arrangements applying both during and, where applicable, outside normal working hours, based on those events that are 'reasonably foreseeable'. Page 20 of 23

21 4 Training and Testing Under the direction of the Incident Control Manager or his/her nominated deputy, the College will follow the testing programme outlined below to ensure its Major Incident Management arrangements are adequate; integral to this is the training of personnel with anticipated direct involvement in responding to a major incident and evaluation of processes after they have been employed. (Appendices Q and R). The testing and training programme is as follows; Draft/Redraft Plan Not less than once every 3 years. To ensure training is appropriate and up-to-date. Formal Training Annually. Introduction to the purpose of Major Incident Management and the College s Major Incident Management Plan to Senior Managers and identified Incident Management Team members. Limited Exercise Annually. To rehearse plans in theory during table-top discussion and scenario planning for identified Incident Management Team members. Revision of Plan As identified. To incorporate agreed changes following lessons learnt from limited exercise. Full-scale Exercise Not more than once every 3 years. To reassure audit and develop relationships with partners who would assist in an incident response and recovery scenario. Draft/Redraft Plan through ongoing monitoring and review. The process will seek to ensure the following components are fulfilled; Validation to verify that plans work, and are fit for purpose. Rehearsal of key personnel to familiarise key staff with what is expected of them in an incident, and preparing them for incident conditions A system testing regime to ensure that systems relied upon to deliver resilience function correctly. In addition, the following documentation will be developed and made available online, with a minimum of annual reminders by intranet/ for people to review documents to the refresh their memory or as documents are updated (whichever sooner); Major Incident Management Guidelines - for all staff are available in Appendix D, these will be reviewed annually by the Major Incident Management Steering Group and updated as deemed necessarily. Major Incident Management Plan Page 21 of 23

22 5 Evacuation and Rest Centres 5.1 General In Appendices J and M there are contingency arrangements and contact details to ensure that individuals who are affected by a major incident are provided with comfortable surroundings and appropriate information and advice in both the short and long term. 5.2 Evacuation Procedures In the event of the need to undertake an emergency evacuation of a building or buildings, the fire alarm(s) will be activated and the normal fire evacuation procedures shall apply (unless otherwise directed e.g. Physics). During normal working hours, fire marshals assisted by security staff, will direct personnel to a place of safety. Outside of normal working hours, security staff will direct personnel to a place of safety and contain the situation until the Incident Control Manager or his/her nominated deputy arrives to take control. 5.3 Emergency Accommodation Arrangements Teaching and Administration Areas In the event of a situation arising in which damage is caused to a building(s), rendering it unfit to be used for its normal functions, then the Incident Control Manager shall, with the assistance of appropriate personnel, make such alternative accommodation arrangements as are possible. These may include personnel being transferred to another part of the College. It is imperative that, wherever possible, the academic life of the College continues without interruption, and that such contingency arrangements are kept to the minimum necessary for the safety of staff and students and the continuation of normal College activities. For re-provision of essential services contacts please see Appendix M (ICM Pack Pg 10). Student Residential Accommodation 'Safe havens' or Rest Centres have been established in order that in the event of the need to evacuate residential accommodation (e.g. as a result of prolonged power failure), students may congregate in a place of safety. Such a situation is likely to arise only during the hours of darkness and Security staff will take immediate control of the situation after following standard evacuation procedures. Should such safe location(s) be affected, then the Incident Manager will determine an appropriate course of action. Procedures are outlined in the RCS Contingency Plan, Appendix J. Page 22 of 23

23 5.4 Runnymede Borough Council Rest Centres In the event of the College being unable to provide safe havens within its own facilities, Runnymede Borough Council has a number of nominated rest centres, one of which is located in Englefield Green. (Appendix E) 5.5 Friends and relatives In the event of a major incident there may be an influx of friends and relatives seeking information and support. The Operations Advisors should ensure they are prepared for this and able to provide relevant and accurate information. Page 23 of 23