Application
This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to manage the media and the provision of information during a major incident.
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 management team members who are required to plan for and control media access to site areas, people and information, be a key point of contact and coordination between the organisation and media, carry out media briefings and represent the organisation in a professional manner with the media.
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 | Assess scene and organisation requirements | 1.1 | Clearly define restricted and/or special access areas to media personnel to safeguard the operation and prevent contamination of evidence |
1.2 | Control media access to personnel/volunteers/victims/casualties | ||
1.3 | Assess operational responsibilities and provision of information to media | ||
2 | Develop media strategy | 2.1 | Use media plan to form the media strategy |
2.2 | Allocate media briefing area with required resources, where possible | ||
2.3 | Gain approval for information releases, where appropriate | ||
2.4 | Make arrangements to meet media requirements according to incident characteristics and current developments | ||
2.5 | Gain media cooperation in order to coordinate information flow and to provide information to the public on matters of safety and public interest | ||
3 | Brief media | 3.1 | Select and brief organisational media representative according to availability, knowledge of incident, media presence and role played in the incident |
3.2 | Change media strategy at any time to suit operational demands and level of incident | ||
3.3 | Schedule information briefing sessions and tours at appropriate times in line with operational responsibilities and media requirements | ||
3.4 | Provide media personnel and VIP with personal protective equipment (PPE), where appropriate | ||
4 | Provide information to media | 4.1 | Follow organisational protocols when liaising with the media |
4.2 | Provide organisational media representatives with current developments of incident, where appropriate | ||
4.3 | Schedule interview and photo opportunities to provide information, where appropriate | ||
4.4 | Consult with other organisations at the incident to ensure a consistent presentation of information to the media | ||
4.5 | Monitor social media response to the crisis | ||
4.6 | Adapt media management in response to social media | ||
4.7 | Maintain accurate records of media enquiries and interviews | ||
4.8 | Maintain a two-way communication process between organisation and media | ||
5 | Promote the organisation via the media | 5.1 | Promote work and achievements of organisation, volunteer and other organisation personnel at incident throughout the incident to assist in maintaining morale and public profile |
5.2 | Ensure own demeanour and presentation reflects the professional standards of the organisation and support for victims and others affected by the incident | ||
6 | Control hazards associated with media coverage | 6.1 | Identify hazards in work environment |
6.2 | Assess the risks arising from those hazards | ||
6.3 | Implement measures to control those risks in line with procedures and duty of care | ||
7 | Respond to problems | 7.1 | Identify possible problems in equipment or process |
7.2 | Determine problems needing action | ||
7.3 | Determine possible fault causes | ||
7.4 | Rectify problem using appropriate solution within area of responsibility | ||
7.5 | Follow through items initiated until final resolution has occurred | ||
7.6 | 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:
develop, implement and amend media strategy appropriate to incident conditions and organisation protocols
provide briefings to organisation media representatives, media personnel and other agencies who are at the incident site
coordinate and arrange on-site access, interviews and provision of personal protective equipment (PPE), where required
communicate effectively and professionally with media on behalf of the organisation
maintain records and documentation
identify and control hazards and risks
identify problems and take appropriate action.
Evidence of Knowledge
Evidence must be provided that demonstrates knowledge of:
regulatory framework and specific compliance requirements that apply to the organisation
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
release of information to external bodies
techniques and protocols for dealing with the media
strategies for managing information flow to different types of media (traditional/digital)
sources of key operational information about an incident.
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 carrying out simulated media briefings for 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. |
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. |
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 |
Media strategy | Media strategy must address: traditional media (e.g. newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio at local and national levels) social and digital media (e.g. online news sites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+) news personnel (e.g. reporters, photographers and TV crews) employees, contractors and others with access to the incident site |
Briefings | Briefings cover key information and developments about the incident, including one or more of the following: key contact details (e.g. emergency hotline numbers) potential and actual road closure details factors behind facility closures issued warnings danger zones evacuation details |
Problems | Problems include one or more of the following: media entering or encroaching on hazardous areas media organisations using unauthorised contacts with emergency personnel lack of cooperation by the media with the company premature release of details concerning evidence or about incident victims failures to adhere to company policies and/or guidelines for media communication incorrect or misleading information irresponsible use of social media |
Hazards | Hazards include one or more of the following: heat, smoke, 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 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 |
Sectors
Competency Field
Incident readiness and response