Section 43 of the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld) requires a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to make sure an emergency plan is prepared for the workplace, to keep it effective, and to put it into action in an emergency. The plan must provide for emergency procedures (including evacuation and calling emergency services), for testing those procedures, and for information, training and instruction for workers. A small workplace can have a short plan, but it must suit your hazards and your people.
What section 43 requires
In plain words, a PCBU at a workplace must:
- Prepare an emergency plan that provides for emergency procedures, including an effective response to an emergency, evacuation procedures, notifying emergency services at the earliest opportunity, medical treatment and assistance, and effective communication between the person you have authorised to coordinate the emergency response and everyone at the workplace (section 43(1)(a)).
- Provide for testing of the procedures, including how often (section 43(1)(b)).
- Provide for information, training and instruction to relevant workers on carrying out the procedures (section 43(1)(c)).
- Maintain the plan so that it remains effective (section 43(2)).
- Implement the plan in the event of an emergency (section 43(4)).
The offences in subsections (1), (2) and (4) each carry a maximum penalty of 60 penalty units. When preparing and maintaining the plan you must have regard to all relevant matters, including the nature of the work, the nature of the hazards, the size and location of the workplace, and the number and make-up of the workers and other people there (section 43(3)).
Does every workplace need one?
Section 43 applies to a PCBU at a workplace, and it has no size threshold. An office, a shop, a workshop, a site shed and a construction site all need an emergency plan. What changes is the detail. The Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021 (Qld) says the plan should be based on an assessment of the hazards at the workplace and the possible consequences of an incident. A cleaner working alone in an office faces different emergencies from a worker in a chemical plant.
The section does not say the plan has to be written down. In practice you should write it down, because you need to train workers in it, test it and show that you have done so.
What to put in the plan
The code is an approved code of practice, so it is guidance rather than law, but a PCBU must either follow an approved code or manage the risk in a way that gives an equivalent or higher standard of safety (section 26A of the WHS Act). The code lists the kinds of emergency a plan might need to cover: fire or explosion, dangerous chemical release, medical emergency, natural disaster, bomb threats, and violence or robbery. Choose the ones that are real for your workplace. For each one, the code suggests the procedures address the following where relevant:
- Roles. Who coordinates the response, who is the deputy, and who does what, such as area wardens and first aiders.
- Raising the alarm. How the alarm is activated and how everyone is alerted, including visitors, shift workers and tradespeople.
- Calling for help. Who calls Triple Zero (000), what they say, and a list of emergency numbers, including out-of-hours contacts. Emergency services must be told at the earliest opportunity.
- Evacuation. Exits, routes and assembly points, shown on a site plan with the fire protection equipment and displayed where people can see it. Include people who need help to get out, and any safe places.
- Critical shut-downs. For example, switching off power, but only where that is safe to do.
- Medical help. Who your first aiders are, where the first aid kit is, and how an injured person gets treatment. See our guide to first aid requirements in Queensland.
- Access for emergency services. How close they can get to the work area, who meets them, and any traffic restrictions or risks from neighbouring businesses.
- Equipment. Extinguishers, spill kits, alarms, smoke detectors or sprinklers, and who maintains them.
Our guides on types of fire extinguishers and using a fire extinguisher cover the equipment side.
Testing, training and review
The Regulation says the plan must provide for testing and for how often it happens, but it does not set a number. The code suggests regular evacuation practice drills at least every 12 months. Workers must be instructed and trained in the procedures, so cover them in induction (see our guide for new employees) and again after any change. Review the plan after every drill, incident, and change to the work, layout or people. When you review it, the code says you must consult workers and their health and safety representatives.
Example: a five-person workshop
This is an example only. Your plan should reflect your own hazards.
- Workplace. A small fabrication workshop with a front roller door, a side door, an office, gas cylinders, welding and grinding, and a few visitors and delivery drivers each week.
- Emergencies covered. Fire, serious injury, chemical spill and gas leak.
- Coordinator. The workshop supervisor, with the leading hand as deputy.
- Alarm. An air horn, plus a call across the workshop. Everyone stops work and goes to the assembly point.
- Evacuation. Out through the front roller door or side door to the footpath opposite the front gate. The supervisor does a head count using the visitor sign-in book. Nobody goes back in.
- Calling help. The first person who sees the emergency calls 000 and gives the street address and what has happened.
- Fire and gas. Use an extinguisher only if it is safe and you are trained. Isolate gas and power only if it is safe to do so. Otherwise leave.
- Medical. The first aider (named on the wall) treats minor injuries from the kit in the office. For anything serious, call 000.
- Visitors and contractors. Told where the exits and assembly point are when they sign in.
- Testing. A drill every six months, once with a visitor on site. The plan sets the frequency, and the code suggests at least every 12 months.
- Training and review. New starters walk the routes on day one. The plan is reviewed after each drill, incident and layout change.
That fits on a page. Our emergency management policy and procedure template gives you a ready structure, and the free employee emergency contact register covers the contact list.
Shared workplaces and construction sites
Where several businesses share a workplace, the code says the emergency plan should be coordinated by the person with management or control of the workplace, such as a property manager, principal contractor or landlord, in consultation with all the tenants or businesses. If a new business starts at a shared workplace, the existing plan should be reviewed for any new emergencies it could bring. This fits the duty in section 46 of the WHS Act for duty holders to consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other, and the duty in section 20 for the person managing or controlling a workplace to keep it, and its entry and exit, without risks to health and safety. If your people are on someone else’s site, make sure you know their plan and that your workers have been inducted into it. Our visitor policy template helps you brief visitors and contractors on the exits and assembly point.
Remote and lone workers
If a worker is isolated from the help of other people because of location, time or the nature of the work, the PCBU must provide a system of work that includes effective communication with that worker (section 48 of the WHS Regulation, maximum penalty 60 penalty units). For this purpose, assistance includes rescue, medical assistance and the attendance of emergency service workers. Your emergency plan should say how a lone or remote worker raises the alarm and how help reaches them.
Other rules that may apply
- Building fire safety. Separate building fire safety rules can add duties for some buildings. This guide covers only the emergency plan under the WHS Regulation, so check with the building owner or manager if you are unsure.
- High risk tasks. Some tasks need extra emergency arrangements of their own. Confined space entry, for example, usually needs a rescue plan. Our free confined space emergency rescue plan template is a starting point, and our guide to working in confined spaces explains the risks.
- Standards. The code refers readers to Australian Standard AS 3745 for further guidance on planning for emergencies. A standard is guidance unless a regulation makes it mandatory.
After an emergency
Use what happened to improve the plan. Some emergencies are also notifiable incidents that must be reported to the regulator, such as a death, a serious injury or illness, or a dangerous incident. Our guide to notifiable incidents in Queensland explains what to report. For a worker-focused checklist, see what to do in an emergency: 11 steps to be prepared.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the current law or talk to WorkSafe Queensland for your situation.
Templates for this job
Ready-to-edit Word and Excel templates for Queensland workplaces. Start with the free one.
Free WHS templates and updates
Get new Queensland templates, free resources and WHS law updates by email. Unsubscribe any time.
You're on the list. Grab the free SWMS template while you're here.