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Follow emergency procedures
In the construction industry a variety of emergencies may occur. Despite the use of risk assessment and compliance with WorkCover and Australian Standards requirements, history shows that accidents are likely to occur. These accidents range from grazed skin to significant events that may require the evacuation of entire suburbs and perhaps loss of life.
Some examples of workplace emergencies include:
- fire
- gas leaks
- electrocution
- chemical spills
- collapse/malfunction of plant
- collapse of structures
- fire/other emergency in nearby site
- implied threat to site, eg bomb threat
- natural disasters, eg earthquake.
As a result of this possibility, every workplace must have an emergency plan.
This plan should be very simple for all employees to follow. It should be broken down into a series of tasks that are allocated to appropriate personnel so that, in the event of an emergency, employees can concentrate on their specific task or requirement and operate as a team to reduce problems or injuries arising from the emergency.
Those employees who have not been given a task should be aware of their responsibility to make their way to a predetermined assembly point if the site needs to be evacuated. All this information should be set out clearly in the emergency plan.
The emergency plan for any place of employment, including a construction site must include:
- the method used to indicate an emergency/warning, eg siren, bell, other device
- the evacuation procedure which specifies the responsibilities for each employee, as well as other tasks that need to be done, eg turning off gas supply, shutting down plant, remaining in staff assembly area until dismissed
- a list of emergency telephone numbers to be called and the people responsible for making the calls.
- a list of staff who will carry out the evaluation of the emergency procedure once the emergency has passed.
One specific emergency situation that construction workers may be faced with
is fire. In many cases if a fire can be extinguished before it is established,
damage can be kept to a minimum and lives may be saved. It is essential however
that workers be properly trained in extinguishing fires before they attempt
to do so. It is also crucial that the portable fire extinguisher used is appropriate
for the type of fire. To determine which extinguisher is used for different
types of fire go to the Fire Safety Data Sheet which can be found on the Fire
Protection Association Australia website 
The NSW Fire Brigade website is also an excellent source
of information on extinguishing fire.
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