Application
This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to leverage partnerships to improve the organisation's capabilities to respond to incidents.
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 senior managers, crisis team managers or those in similar roles who are required to initiate and manage external relationships for joint/cooperative efforts towards incident response and plan, coordinate and evaluate activities with the partners.
Generally, the person would be a member of senior management and a member of the crisis management team. Although independent action may be required, he/she will be expected to coordinate, liaise and consult with other members of the team and other appropriate personnel.
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 opportunities for specific partnerships | 1.1 | Identify opportunities for joint/cooperative efforts towards incident response |
1.2 | Undertake consultation within the organisation to identify the types of partnerships and mutual interest to meet organisational needs | ||
1.3 | Develop a strategy on the types of partnership organisations and partnership opportunities | ||
1.4 | Approach specific targeted organisations, discuss expectations, ability to meet those expectations and areas of mutual interest | ||
2 | Develop a framework for the partnership | 2.1 | Consult potential partners to develop frameworks that will meet the needs of all partners |
2.2 | Establish the characteristics of the partnership with selected partners | ||
2.3 | Confirm partnership characteristics, including structure, scale, roles, goals and timeframes with the partners | ||
2.4 | Develop systems to enhance mutual benefit and value contributions from the partnership | ||
2.5 | Develop and communicate measures for success to stakeholders | ||
2.6 | Define an agreed exit strategy | ||
3 | Manage the relationship in order to enhance incident response | 3.1 | Undertake regular consultation, communication and mutual information sharing with all partners |
3.2 | Identify, monitor and review challenges facing the partnership and action issues | ||
3.3 | Seek, communicate, document and review opportunities for learning from the partnership | ||
3.4 | Undertake joint venture exercises to improve incident response capacity where appropriate | ||
3.5 | Provide mutual assistance in ensuring compliance to changes in legislative or regulative requirements | ||
4 | Rebuild partnerships after an incident/exercise | 4.1 | Examine incident with partners |
4.2 | Explore issues arising from the incident | ||
4.3 | Follow through and address issues | ||
4.4 | Develop resolutions to prevent re-occurrence | ||
4.5 | Disseminate information and resolutions resulting from discussions appropriately | ||
5 | Evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership | 5.1 | Evaluate flexibility and appropriateness of responses to issues/challenges facing the partnership |
5.2 | Evaluate performance against agreed measures | ||
5.3 | Communicate capability to implement the exit strategy to stakeholders | ||
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:
identify strategic partnerships for mutual cooperation and assistance in incident response
communicate, consult and negotiate effectively with internal and external stakeholders
plan, coordinate and manage partnership activities to meet goals
monitor and evaluate partnerships and activities to resolve issues, measure performance and identify improvements
document strategies, reviews and outcomes.
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
release of information to external bodies
security and confidentiality
types of incidents that can arise in the work environment and related risks, responses and equipment
incident response and disaster planning processes and techniques
company incident response structures and operations
the individual's own role within the incident response structure, including its parameters, boundaries and/or limitations
roles, responsibilities and needs of the individual's own organisation
roles, responsibilities and needs of other organisations
the mission, values and culture of the organisations targeted for and within the partnership
'chain of command' (who will drive the partnership and how it relates to decision making in the organisations)
Assessment Conditions
The unit should be assessed holistically and the judgement of competence based on a holistic assessment of the evidence.
The collection of performance evidence is best done from a report and/or folio of evidence drawn from:
a single project/case study which provides sufficient evidence of the requirements of all the elements and performance criteria
multiple smaller projects/case studies which together provide sufficient evidence of the requirements of all the elements and performance criteria.
A third-party report, or similar, may be needed to testify to the work done by the individual, particularly when the project has been done as part of a project team.
Assessment should use a real project/case study in an operational workplace. Where this is not possible or practical, assessment must occur using a sufficiently rigorous simulated environment reflecting realistic operational workplace conditions. This must cover all aspects of workplace performance, including environment, task skills, task management skills, contingency management skills and job role environment skills
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. Duty of care responsibilities under general work health and safety (WHS) Acts and regulations and state/territory and national standards applying to hazardous substances, dangerous goods and major hazards must be met. |
Partnerships | Partnerships must relate to a strategic goal or opportunity, including one or more of the following: service that covers a gap in internal capacity/capability opportunity to learn specific skills and/or current practices share industry knowledge (e.g. compliance requirements and approaches to incident planning) Partner organisations include one or more of the following: parent company joint venture partners organisations within a given geographical radius external agencies |
Framework | The framework for the partnership includes: size and structure roles and responsibilities goals duration and exit strategy systems and/or processes for communications, planning measures of performance (qualitative and quantitative) |
Challenges | Challenges facing a partnership include one or more of the following: establishing a cohesive network for effective incident response rebuilding the partnership in the event of an incident with partners promoting a positive image of the organisation. |
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 |
Issues | Issues arising from an incident include one or more of the following: inability to contact key partners in the event of a crisis response times or objectives confused or outside agreed parameters gaps or overlaps in response, which reduce effectiveness of the response lack of ability to communicate effectively within the organisation |
Sectors
Competency Field
Incident readiness and response