Elements and Performance Criteria

RANGE STATEMENT
The Range Statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the Performance Criteria, is detailed below. Add any essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment depending on the work situation, needs if the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts.
Codes of practice/ standards
Where reference is made to industry codes of practice, and/or Australian/international standards, the latest version must be used.
Context
This unit of competency covers the management of the corporate media response during an incident. The media may include:
local media, eg newspapers, radio and local news sheets
national media, eg newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
news personnel, eg reporters, photographers, TV crews
It includes all such items of equipment and workplace operations which form part of the incident response system. This may include:
personal protective equipment
communication equipment, eg telephones, facsimiles, tape recorders, cameras.
Typical problems for your facility may include:
unauthorised access to hazardous areas
corporate representatives and what they say
dealing with uncooperative media
communication breakdowns
incorrect or misleading information.
Health, safety and environment (HSE)
All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environment requirements, which may be imposed through State 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.
Relationship to Major Hazard Facility Legislation
Organisations within the Chemical, Hydrocarbons and Oil Refining industries may find themselves falling under the provisions of various Major Hazard Facilities legislation. In developing this unit consideration has been given to the requirements of Sections 8 and 9 of the National Standard for the Control of Major Hazard Facilities [NOHSC:1014(2002)] and the National Code of Practice for the Control of Major Hazard Facilities [NOHSC:2016(1996)].
This unit will assist individuals to meet some of their obligations under the relevant State or Territory legislation. Responsibility for appropriate contextualisation and application of the unit to ensure compliance however, remains with the individual organisation.

EVIDENCE GUIDE
The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the Performance Criteria, Required Skills and Knowledge, the Range Statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment
Assessment for this unit of competency will be by way of simulation or observation under incident conditions. The unit will be assessed in as holistic a manner as is practical and may be integrated with the assessment of other relevant units of competency. Assessment will occur over a range of situations which can include a variety of incident circumstances.
Simulations must, as closely as possible, approximate actual incident conditions and should be based on the actual facility. Assessments should include walk-throughs of the relevant competency components and may include the use of case studies/scenarios and role plays.
This unit of competency requires a significant body of knowledge which will be assessed through questioning and the use of 'what-if' scenarios both in the facility (during demonstration of normal operations and walk-throughs of abnormal operations) and off the site.

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
Competence must be demonstrated in the ability to recognise and analyse potential situations requiring action and then in implementing appropriate responsive action. The emphasis should be on the ability to deal effectively with the incident or to contribute effectively to the recovery from the incident.
Consistent performance should be demonstrated. In particular look to see that:
incident responses are in accordance with company procedures
correct incident response equipment (where required) is used appropriately
actions taken do not inhibit incident response effectiveness or further contribute to the incident
appropriate documentation, including reports, journal entries, logs and/or clearances are completed in accordance with procedures
These assessment activities should include a range of problems, including new, unusual and improbable situations which may have been generated from past workplace incident history, incidents in similar workplaces around the world, hazard analysis activities and/or similar sources.

Context of and specific resources for assessment
Assessment will require (1) access to an accurately simulated environment in the absence of an on-site incident environment, or (2) a suitable method of gathering evidence of responding ability over a range of situations. A bank of scenarios/case studies/what-ifs will be required as will a bank of questions which will be used to probe the reasoning behind the observable actions.

Method of assessment
In all workplace environments it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with relevant units.

Guidance information for assessment
Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate and appropriate to the oracy, language and literacy capacity of the assessee and the work being performed.