Application
This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to ensure an incident site is rendered safe and kept secure.
An incident is an event which causes, or could have caused, injury or illness; damage to plant, material or the environment; disruption to production or public alarm.
An incident is an unintended event, or an unintended consequence of an intended event, such as:
fire and explosion
loss of containment
excursions above/below acceptable limits for emissions or plant conditions
excursions above occupational hygiene or biological exposure limits
non-compliance with regulatory requirements
security breaches
failure to follow procedures
complaints
vehicle incidents
on/off-site incidents.
This unit of competency applies to personnel performing an incident team leader or similar role who are required to make initial assessment of an incident site, secure and preserve the scene, isolate the area to prevent secondary incidents, record details about the incident area, take statements from witnesses and manage the scene until authorities arrive.
This unit of competency applies to an individual working alone or as part of a team or group and working in liaison with other incident team members and the incident coordinator/commander, as appropriate.
The incident team leader typically responds to the incident coordinator/commander, who may be stationed in the incident control centre. In a typical scenario, following the occurrence of an incident, the person would take action to ensure the immediate incident site is safe and take steps to maintain facility safety, record details of the scene and preserve it from contamination. The person may also be required to manage the scene pending the arrival of appropriate authority or company representatives, as required by company procedures, legislation or regulations.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. | ||
1 | Secure and preserve the scene | 1.1 | Undertake an initial assessment of the site to identify factors which will impact on safety and scene preservation |
1.2 | Ensure that secondary incidents are prevented by isolating the site from associated or ancillary processes | ||
1.3 | Coordinate arrangements to secure the incident/accident site to preserve the site and maintain the safety of personnel in line with procedures | ||
1.4 | Restrict access to the site until the arrival of authorised company or external authority representatives | ||
2 | Record details of the incident site | 2.1 | Record details of the scene according to the organisation's policies and procedures |
2.2 | Note the status of any equipment in the incident area | ||
2.3 | Communicate information to relevant personnel in line with procedures | ||
3 | Gather information | 3.1 | Record witness details and note any information given in accordance with procedures |
3.2 | Take statements from witnesses and record details of persons believed to be near the site prior to or during the incident | ||
3.3 | Develop an initial timeline of events leading up to the incident | ||
4 | Ensure safety when responding to an incident | 4.1 | Identify hazards |
4.2 | Assess the risks arising from those hazards | ||
4.3 | Implement measures to control those risks in line with procedures and duty of care | ||
5 | Respond to problems | 5.1 | Identify possible problems in equipment or process |
5.2 | Determine which problems need action | ||
5.3 | Determine possible fault causes | ||
5.4 | Rectify problems using solutions within area of responsibility | ||
5.5 | Follow through items initiated until final resolution has occurred | ||
5.6 | Report problems outside area of responsibility to designated person |
Evidence of Performance
Evidence required to demonstrate competence in this unit must be relevant to and satisfy the requirements of the elements and performance criteria, and include the ability to:
secure the site to preserve and maintain safety of personnel and restricted access
prioritise the safety and/or successful recovery of persons
ensure that actions do not inhibit incident response effectiveness or further contribute to the incident
complete reports and records
accurately record witness statements and incident and site conditions
communicate effectively with survivors, emergency personnel and others in stressful environments
react appropriately under stress.
Evidence of Knowledge
Evidence must be provided that demonstrates knowledge of:
organisational procedures, including those covering:
incident, fire and accident response
incident, fire and accident reporting and investigation
communication systems
emergency response plans
reporting requirements
hazards that may arise in the job/work environment, and:
their possible causes
potential consequences
risks
appropriate risk controls
methods of securing an incident site
techniques for removing survivors and non-survivors from an incident site
types of information which may assist in investigations
techniques for recording information
problem-solving techniques.
Assessment Conditions
Competency must be achieved before performing this work unsupervised. Therefore this unit will typically be assessed off the job. Where assessment is undertaken on the job, appropriate supervision and safety precautions must be provided.
The unit should be assessed holistically and the judgement of competence based on a holistic assessment of the evidence.
The collection of performance evidence:
should provide evidence of the ability to perform over the range of situations which might be expected to be encountered, including typical disruptions to normal, smooth work conditions
must include securing an incident, the use of appropriate tools, equipment and safety gear requiring demonstration of preparation, operation, completion and responding to problems
may use industry-based simulation particularly where safety, lack of opportunity or significant cost is an issue.
Off-the-job assessment must sufficiently reflect realistic operational workplace conditions that cover all aspects of workplace performance, including environment, task skills, task management skills, contingency management skills and job role environment skills.
Assessment in a simulated environment should use evidence collected from one or more of:
walk-throughs
demonstration of skills
industry-based case studies/scenarios
‘what ifs’.
Knowledge evidence may be collected concurrently with performance evidence (provided a record is kept) or through an independent process, such as workbooks, written assessments or interviews (provided a record is kept).
Assessment processes and techniques must be appropriate to the language, literacy and numeracy requirements of the work being performed and the needs of the candidate.
Conditions for assessment must include access to all tools, equipment, materials and documentation required, including relevant workplace procedures, product and manufacturing specifications associated with this unit.
Foundation skills are integral to competent performance of the unit and should not be assessed separately.
Assessors must satisfy the assessor competency requirements that are in place at the time of the assessment as set by the VET regulator.
In addition, the assessor or anyone acting in subject matter expert role in assessment must demonstrate both technical competency and currency. If the assessor cannot demonstrate technical competency and currency they must assess with a subject matter expert who does meet these requirements.
Technical competence can be demonstrated through one or more of:
relevant VET or other qualification/Statement of Attainment
appropriate workplace experience undertaking the type of work being assessed under routine and non-routine conditions
appropriate workplace experience supervising/evaluating the type of work being assessed under routine and non-routine conditions
Currency can be demonstrated through one or more of:
being currently employed undertaking the type of work being assessed
being employed by the organisation undertaking the type of work being assessed and having maintained currency in accordance with that organisation’s policies and procedures
having consulted/had contact with an organisation undertaking the type of work being assessed within the last twelve months, the consultation/contact being related to assessment
conducting on-the-job training/assessments of the type of work being assessed
being an active member of a relevant professional body and participating in activities relevant to the assessment of this type of work
Foundation Skills
This section describes those language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills that are essential to performance.
Foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit of competency.
Range Statement
This field allows for different work environments and conditions that may affect performance. Essential operating conditions that may be present (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) are included. | |
Regulatory framework | The latest version of all legislation, regulations, industry codes of practice and Australian/international standards, or the version specified by the local regulatory authority, must be used, and include one or more of the following: legislative requirements, including work health and safety (WHS) industry codes of practice and guidelines environmental regulations and guidelines Australian and other standards licence and certification requirements All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environment (HSE) requirements, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation, and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between performance criteria and HSE requirements, the HSE requirements take precedence. |
Procedures | All operations must be performed in accordance with relevant procedures. Procedures are written, verbal, visual, computer-based or in some other form, and include one or more of the following: emergency procedures work instructions standard operating procedures (SOPs) safe work method statements (SWMS) formulas/recipes batch sheets temporary instructions any similar instructions provided for the smooth running of the plant |
Equipment and tools | Equipment and tools include one or more of the following: note taking materials standard forms sketching materials photographic equipment taping or electronic videoing equipment non-sparking or radio transmission equipment (where safety permits) |
Problems | Problems in equipment or process include one or more of the following: rescue equipment and/or personnel contaminating the site loss of/difficulties in maintaining communications |
Record details | Recording details and information requires accuracy and includes one or more of the following: capturing the exact words used vs summarising/paraphrasing noting conditions (like weather) taking photos diagrams/sketches noting the time of events and discussions own actions taken |
Hazards | Hazards include one or more of the following: explosive atmospheres inherent site dangers from debris or damaged equipment weakened structures heat, smoke, darkness, dust or other atmospheric hazards electricity gas gases and liquids under pressure structural hazards structural collapse equipment failures industrial (machinery, equipment and product) equipment or product mass noise, rotational equipment or vibration plant services (steam, condensate and cooling water) limited head spaces or overhangs working at heights, in restricted or confined spaces, or in environments subjected to heat, noise, dusts or vapours flammability and explosivity hazardous products and materials unauthorised personnel sharp edges, protrusions or obstructions slippery surfaces, spills or leaks extreme weather other hazards that might arise Identifying risks requires consideration of specific hazards, and: what level of harm can occur how harm can occur (various chains of events that could result in harm from the hazard) the likelihood that harm will occur |
Sectors
Competency Field
Incident readiness and response