Application
This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to develop tactics to be used in the containment of incidents in on-shore and off-shore facilities.
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 incident coordinators, managers, technical specialists or those in similar roles who are part of an incident response team. They may, but may not, have an ongoing role in managing the training and incident exercise system.
They will be required to assess the nature of the potential incident, identify objectives for incident containment, evaluate alternative tactics, analyse and interpret feedback and other information, recommend tactics appropriate to the context, and ensure that documentation and information is available to those who require it.
This unit of competency applies to an individual working alone or as part of an incident management team and working in liaison with other members of the incident management team and the incident manager, as appropriate.
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 | Identify incident containment tactics | 1.1 | Identify risk characteristics of the possible incident scenarios |
1.2 | Identify specific objectives of incident containment | ||
1.3 | Identify existing tactics | ||
1.4 | Develop a range of alternative tactics | ||
2 | Evaluate tactics | 2.1 | Predict incident behaviour and growth under alternative strategy scenarios |
2.2 | Consider issues relating to health, safety and environment (HSE) | ||
2.3 | Identify and secure resource requirements for alternative tactics | ||
2.4 | Identify the impact of tactics on a range of factors | ||
2.5 | Identify and clearly document tactics | ||
2.6 | Obtain, collate and record feedback on tactics from stakeholders and incident managers, and ensure this is reflected in the documentation according to procedures | ||
2.7 | Negotiate stakeholder needs and address | ||
3 | Select tactics | 3.1 | Document findings and feedback on the suitability of different tactics |
3.2 | Recommend preferred tactics according to procedures | ||
3.3 | Document tactics and build into strategies and training guidelines | ||
4 | Adopt strategies | 4.1 | Incorporate documentation on selected tactics into the appropriate incident management manuals |
4.2 | Notify stakeholders of new tactics | ||
4.3 | Incorporate selected tactics into incident training exercises | ||
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:
collect and analyse information to evaluate and recommend containment tactics appropriate to specific context
identify and control hazards and risks
communicate effectively with team members, management and other stakeholders
write clear and unambiguous procedures and training documents to support tactics.
Evidence of Knowledge
Evidence must be provided that demonstrates knowledge of:
organisational procedures, including those covering:
safety, hazards and hazard control
incident, fire and accident
environmental protection
risk assessment/risk management
relevant facility fire management and safety systems
communication systems
emergency response plans
types of incidents that can arise in the work environment
related risks and potential impact on environment, local community and economy of the organisation
types of incident response and containment equipment and their application
rescue techniques
incident prediction
intervention and control techniques for heating, fires and explosions
incident resources and how to access them
incident response and disaster planning processes and techniques
hazard identification and control
risk management principles and techniques
structure, roles, capabilities and operational limitations of external resources and agencies
insurance policies and considerations
economic impact and considerations.
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 development of tactics associated with a simulated 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. |
Incident response | Incident response includes one or more of the following: deployment of site incident response personnel containing/controlling the incident at source and or its spread search and rescue operations engagement of external emergency services (such as fire, ambulance, rescue and military) liaison with other agencies (such as environmental, clean-up and specialised troubleshooters) evacuation hazard control Incident response actions must: be in accordance with and relevant organisation procedures use appropriate response equipment, where required prioritise the safety and/or successful recovery of personnel and others affected by the incident response not inhibit effectiveness of the incident response or further contribute to the incident |
Alternative tactics | Alternative tactics are identified through one or both of the following: consultation with experts literature review |
Evaluate tactics | Evaluation of tactics requires consideration of: specific incident conditions insurance policies and considerations economic impact and considerations availability, capabilities and operational limitations of external resources and agencies |
Preferred tactics | Preferred tactics meet one or more of the following: tactics achieve the desired outcomes tactic development is of greater value than expected adoption of tactics finds widespread approval incident containment is a success |
Stakeholders | Stakeholders include any or all of the following: experts/specialists shareholders board of directors employees unions contractors suppliers insurance companies local community fire brigade police local emergency management organisations medical services relevant public authority |
Hazards | Hazards include one or more of the following: heat, smoke, dust, darkness 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 |
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 |
Sectors
Competency Field
Incident readiness and response