Emergency and Critical Incident Management Planning

Emergency planning committees

Schools must establish an Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) to develop and maintain their Emergency Management Plan (EMP).

The EPC must have at least 2 members. This may include members of the school leadership team or the Emergency Control Organisation (ECO).

The EMP must meet at least once a year as part of the EMP review processes. Schools are encouraged to consider opportunities to incorporate EPC meeting requirements into existing meeting groups such as leadership or OHS meetings. Meeting records must be maintained.

The Emergency Planning Committee’s responsibilities include:

• identifying hazards and threats that could affect the school and assessing their level of risk
• developing and maintaining the school’s EMP
• deciding how many evacuation diagrams are needed and where they should be placed in each building, see the evacuation diagram checklist provided on the Resources tab
• making sure the EMP is accessible to the people who need it
• establishing the Emergency Control Organisation (formerly the IMT)
• making sure new staff, visitors and contractors understand the school’s emergency procedures.

The committee is also responsible for planning how the EMP will be put into practice. This includes:

• sharing information about the EMP and its procedures with staff, students and the school community where appropriate
• making sure ECO members understand their roles
• testing the EMP through drills or exercises
• updating the EMP when needed
• reviewing the EMP at least once each year
• keeping records of emergencies, meetings and reviews, including after-action reviews and drill debriefs.

For guidance on completing the Emergency Planning Committee section in the online EMP, refer to the Emergency and critical incident management planning guide for government schools (PDF).