We Australians know that floods, fires, and extreme weather can cause a dire emergency in just minutes. Knowing how to evacuate a building quickly and effectively can be a matter of life and death. Your emergency management plan also needs to entail who to call to address the damage once the dust has settled.

Read on as we discuss the importance of your building’s emergency management plan and why it needs to be current with the latest available information.

Your Staff Needs To Be Kept Up-To-Date

If your emergency plan isn’t up-to-date, your staff might not know what to do when disaster strikes. All staff need to know what procedures to follow when evacuating your building. It’s recommended to have an emergency team set up with clear roles and responsibilities. When you hire new staff, these responsibilities may need to switch hands. Ensuring everyone involved knows who is responsible for what is important for a successful emergency management plan.

Additionally, your staff also needs to be aware of where your emergency kits are stored, where your insurance information is located, and where to locate evacuation maps and emergency phone numbers in a pinch. By keeping your emergency plan current, you can ensure these crucial items are covered.

Emergency Contact Information 

A solid emergency management plan needs to include a list of your local emergency services. Any other essential contact numbers should be included as well. This should include your local fire, police, and ambulance services. Reviewing your emergency plan regularly can ensure you have the correct numbers available for everyone to access when required.

Your Insurance Coverage 

When reviewing your emergency management plan, it can also be wise to include any insurance policy information in your along with any supporting documents. Insurance information and coverage can change. By keeping your emergency plan up-to-date, you can have your most recent insurance information at your fingertips when you most need it.

Review Any New Legislation On Safety Equipment

In addition to insurance, contact information, and staff needs, it’s crucial that you have the proper emergency equipment available on your property for use in the event of an emergency. Every year, many people die in preventable residential fires across Australia. Ensuring your equipment is up-to-date is another key item in preventing unnecessary tragedy.

Fire laws change over time in order to attempt to prevent these disasters. By reviewing and updating your emergency management plan, you can find out if you have the latest safety equipment onsite. If you uncover that your equipment isn’t adequate, you can learn what needs changing. QBM emergency management plans do just that. They include an annual review of your fire equipment required by law to keep your occupants and building safe.

According to statistics, it can take as little as 30 seconds for a manageable fire to turn into a dangerous and uncontrollable catastrophe, and having the proper equipment in place can help to prevent tragedy and minimise damage.

Renovations Might Alter Your Floor Plan

Did you recently renovate your building? Changes to your layout could mean that your regular evacuation routes have now changed. Conducting an annual review of your emergency management plan can help ensure you have the latest evacuation maps in place. It can also help guarantee your staff knows the new routes, and how to best lead occupants to safety.

The Benefits Of QBM Emergency Management Plans

At QBM, our trained team works with you on your emergency management plan so that you have the best possible plan in place to protect all occupants of your building. Our emergency management plans involve identifying and producing:

• Evacuation routes
• Emergency evacuation diagrams
• Digital emergency management plan
• Access to onsite training
• An annual review of your site to address needed upgrades
• Yearly evacuation drill management
• Submission of a mandatory Annual Fire Safety Statement to QFES

By having a professionally formulated emergency management plan in place, you can help to save lives and protect your building from unnecessary damage. Contact us at QBM to learn more.