Develop and Implement Health and Safety Emergency Response Systems and Procedures
ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice
Organisations must be prepared to respond effectively when foreseeable emergency situations occur. This unit of the ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice focuses on developing the practical skills required to identify potential emergencies, develop suitable response arrangements, implement those arrangements and verify that the organisation can respond effectively when needed.
Learners completing this unit will demonstrate competence in emergency planning, resource provision, communication arrangements, liaison with emergency services, testing through drills and exercises, and continual improvement of emergency preparedness and response capability.
Unlike traditional classroom-based qualifications, the ProQual Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Practice is a competency-based qualification assessed through workplace evidence. This means learners demonstrate their ability to apply health and safety knowledge in real workplace situations rather than sitting written examinations.
This unit is particularly relevant for:
Health and Safety Advisors
Health and Safety Officers
Health and Safety Managers
SHEQ Professionals
HSE Managers
Compliance Managers
Operations Managers with health and safety responsibilities
Individuals progressing towards Certified Membership of IOSH (CertIOSH)
By successfully completing this unit, learners will demonstrate their ability to develop, implement, test and continually improve emergency response arrangements that protect people and support organisational resilience.
What Does This Unit Mean?
This unit is about ensuring that the organisation is prepared to respond effectively to foreseeable emergency situations. It requires the identification of potential emergencies, the development of suitable emergency arrangements, the provision of competent personnel and resources, and the implementation, testing, review and continual improvement of emergency response procedures.
In simple terms, this unit is asking:
“Has the organisation identified its foreseeable emergencies, prepared suitable arrangements to deal with them, implemented those arrangements, verified that they will work when needed, and learned lessons from drills and actual emergency events to continually improve emergency preparedness and response?”
What Competence Does This Unit Require?
You are expected to demonstrate that you can:
Identify foreseeable emergency situations within the organisation.
Assess the emergency risks associated with those situations.
Determine the first aid, medical, firefighting and other emergency response requirements.
Identify the facilities, equipment, materials and resources needed to deal with emergencies.
Identify and provide competent personnel to fulfil emergency response roles.
Develop suitable emergency response procedures.
Define emergency roles, responsibilities and competency requirements.
Establish communication arrangements for emergencies.
Establish liaison arrangements with emergency services, regulators and other relevant authorities.
Prepare arrangements for communicating with the media and other interested parties.
Implement emergency response arrangements within the organisation.
Communicate emergency procedures to relevant persons.
Verify that emergency resources, equipment and competencies remain available and effective.
Test emergency arrangements through drills and exercises.
Assess organisational readiness to deal with emergencies.
Respond appropriately to actual emergency situations where required.
Investigate emergency events and emergency exercises.
Identify lessons learned and opportunities for improvement.
Implement corrective actions and improvements.
Maintain controlled records relating to emergency preparedness and response.
The focus is not simply on producing emergency procedures.
The focus is on demonstrating that emergency arrangements are properly planned, implemented, tested, maintained, reviewed and continually improved.
Evidence Requirements: Unit 08
How are foreseeable emergency events identified before actual emergencies happen?
Evidence Examples:
An emergency risk assessment, fire risk assessment, business continuity assessment or similar document identifying foreseeable emergency situations relevant to the organisation.
Evidence showing the identified emergencies were reviewed and recorded, such as an emergency register, risk register or emergency planning document.
How is emergency response planned against each foreseeable emergency?
Evidence Examples:
An emergency response procedure, emergency plan, spill response plan, fire evacuation procedure, business continuity plan or similar document covering the identified emergency scenarios.
Evidence showing emergency roles, responsibilities, communication arrangements and resources have been defined.
How are emergency plans communicated and implemented?
Evidence Examples:
Emergency training records, emergency briefing records, induction records, toolbox talks or communication records showing that emergency arrangements were communicated.
Evidence showing emergency personnel were appointed, trained or provided with the necessary equipment and resources.
How is emergency preparedness evaluated to ensure the organisation's readiness to deal with actual emergencies?
Evidence Examples:
Emergency drill records, evacuation exercise records, spill response exercises, business continuity exercises or emergency preparedness inspections.
Evidence showing the results of the exercise, including observations, findings or recommendations.
How are emergency plans reviewed for their effectiveness and how do lessons learned inform improvement?
Evidence Examples:
An emergency drill review, debrief record, incident investigation, management review or emergency preparedness review evaluating the effectiveness of emergency arrangements.
Evidence showing corrective actions, revised emergency procedures, updated plans or other improvements made following the review.
Some of your evidence against one Assessment Criterion may also be used to meet the requirements in other assessment criteria (Where applicable).
Important Note for Learners
The competence requirements outlined above describe the practical workplace activities, systems, processes and records that may be used to demonstrate competence against this unit.
As this is a competency-based qualification, learners are expected to demonstrate that they can apply their health and safety knowledge and skills within their own workplace or working environment.
In addition to the competence-based assessment criteria, this unit also contains a number of knowledge-based assessment criteria. These are typically assessed through:
Written responses
Professional discussions with the assessor
Assessor questioning
In most cases, the knowledge-based assessment criteria relate directly to the same workplace activities, systems and processes described above. Learners will therefore often find that the workplace evidence gathered to demonstrate competence also helps them prepare for and satisfy the knowledge assessment requirements.