Incidents, emergencies, rescue and recovery
Emergency response depends on preparation, protection of people, reliable information and the distinct responsibilities for rescue, notification and recovery.
Emergency plans, resources and response roles
An emergency is an event that threatens people or requires an urgent coordinated response. Demolition emergencies can involve collapse, fire, hazardous substances, service damage, medical events or severe weather. A plan needs to fit the actual hazards, location, people and work stage. A telephone number alone does not provide evacuation, accountability, first aid, communication or specialist rescue capability.
Emergency arrangements should identify how alarms are raised, who coordinates and how people receive instructions. They should also identify where people move under the plan, how they are accounted for and how responders gain access. They also need relevant training and testing. A drill can reveal that an alarm cannot be heard, an access route is obstructed or a visitor is absent from the attendance system. These are opportunities to improve the arrangement before an actual event.
Review the plan when conditions change. A relocated gate, altered structural stage, new contractor or changed hazardous-material information may affect response. Work involving confined spaces, fall-arrest systems or other specialist rescue needs requires the appropriate task-specific arrangements. The existence of emergency services does not remove that planning responsibility. Entry, extraction, firefighting, medical treatment and structural stabilisation require the relevant training, equipment, authorisation and site-specific planning.
Accounting for people and preventing further harm
In an immediate emergency, activate the site's emergency arrangements and contact emergency services on triple zero where required. People need to move away from exposure through the established safe arrangements and follow the authorised response coordination. Do not delay escape to collect equipment or improve a record. Actions such as shutting down plant must not create additional exposure. The appropriate physical response depends on the actual situation.
Account for workers, contractors and visitors using the current attendance arrangements. A safe work method statement sign-on list may omit people who are on site but not performing that task. Report missing people and their last known location to the response coordinator and emergency services. Do not send an unprepared person back into an unstable or contaminated area to complete the count.
A visible casualty can create a powerful urge to enter. In collapse, confined-space or hazardous-atmosphere events, an unplanned rescue attempt can create further casualties. Do not enter unstable debris, improvise shoring or attempt specialist rescue beyond training and authorisation. Keep the required boundaries and provide responders with information. Preventing a second event means keeping additional people from exposure to the unresolved hazard. Perimeter and access decisions require competent assessment of the actual conditions.
Hazard, exposure and harm
A source of potential harm reaches a person or environmental receptor through an exposure pathway. For example, moving material can strike a person who enters its path. The consequence depends on the material, movement and exposure involved.
Controls act on the source or interrupt the connection before harm occurs. The arrows below the main chain indicate these intervention points. A control must be in place and effective: assigning a risk score does not itself change the hazard or exposure.
Information for emergency responders
Responders need a clear description of the event, location, access, people involved and known hazards. Relevant information may include current drawings, structural stage, service status, hazardous-material findings, chemical information and last known locations. Distinguish confirmed information from assumptions. Saying that a service is isolated without verified evidence can mislead people making urgent decisions.
Prepare a reliable route for this information before an event. The person meeting responders should know where current documents are kept and who can explain them. A phone that contains the only copy of a plan may be unavailable. A folder full of superseded drawings can be worse than a concise current set with clear limitations. Information should support the responders' decisions, not overwhelm them with unverified detail.
Specialist rescue and structural stabilisation remain with the appropriately trained and authorised people. The demolition supervisor can provide site knowledge and coordinate resources within the response command arrangements, but should not independently direct technical rescue. First aid is provided within the responder's training and only where it can be given without uncontrolled exposure. Urgency does not remove the limits of a person's training or authority. Assistance needs to fit the response arrangements so it does not obstruct or endanger the rescue.
Relationships between project documents
Drawings, site observations, engineering information and hazardous-material findings establish the information used for planning. The demolition work plan coordinates the project; task controls and relevant authorisations address the work being undertaken. Briefings communicate the current arrangements, while verification establishes whether those arrangements have been implemented and remain effective.
A change or inconsistency requires the affected information and decisions to be reviewed. Documents must remain consistent with both one another and the physical conditions on site. A repeated signature cannot resolve a conflict between the plan and the work.
Notification and preservation are separate responsibilities
A notifiable work health and safety incident can include a death, serious injury or illness, or a dangerous incident arising from the business or undertaking. Some dangerous incidents are notifiable even when nobody is injured. Where notification is required, SafeWork NSW must be notified immediately; its current incident-notification guidance provides the process and contact number. An internal report to management does not automatically fulfil that duty.
Preserve the incident site as required until the relevant inspector direction or lawful release. The law recognises exceptions, including assisting an injured person and making the site safe. Do not use ordinary clean-up or production recovery as a reason to disturb evidence. Record necessary changes to the scene, including what changed, why, when and by whom. Keep original documents and data; do not recreate them to make the event look better controlled.
Environmental notification is a separate check. Pollution incidents involving actual or threatened material harm can require immediate notification to the relevant authorities under the applicable NSW arrangements. Do not rely on a dollar figure copied from an old spill plan or assume that telling SafeWork also notifies every environmental authority. The responsible people need current instructions for the actual incident. Uncertainty about the applicable definitions or notification requirements must be referred promptly, without delaying urgent protective action or required notification.
Recovery after an emergency
Recovery begins after immediate response needs are addressed, but it is not simply a return to the old plan. The event may have changed structural stability, services, contamination, access, equipment condition and people's capacity. Investigation and scene-preservation restrictions may also remain. Removing debris or restoring access can therefore require new planning and specialist input.
Separate decisions about rescue completion, regulatory release, technical safety and operational restart. One does not automatically establish the others. A responder leaving the site is not a universal approval to resume demolition. The responsible project authorities need the current condition, required controls, authorisations and communication. Outstanding restrictions should remain visible in the handover.
Support affected workers through the appropriate confidential arrangements. People can be affected even if they were not physically injured. Do not turn a debrief into forced disclosure of traumatic details or an early allocation of blame. Preserve factual information for investigation and provide suitable support routes. Later learning should examine why controls failed, how the response worked and what needs to change.
Responding to changed conditions
A changed condition can invalidate the assumptions supporting a work stage. Protecting people and stopping affected work limits further exposure while the responsible people review the change. Revised controls require the appropriate technical input, verification and authorisation before affected work resumes.
The revised arrangement must reach everyone whose work depends on it. Monitoring then establishes whether it remains effective. An unresolved condition is not cleared by the continued existence of an earlier plan. Emergency response follows the site's emergency arrangements and the authority responsible for the incident.