Elements and Performance Criteria

Context
This unit of competency includes all such items of equipment and unit operations which form part of the incident response system. In your facility this may include (select relevant items):
· computers
· recording equipment
· legislation and regulations

Typical problems for your facility may include:
· difficulties tracking and identifying relevant legislation or amendments
· managing evidence for later investigations or enquiries
· interpersonal conflicts
· conflicts of interest

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.

Assessment context and methods
· Assessment for this unit of competency will be by way of simulation or 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
Competence must be demonstrated in the ability to correctly respond to incident situations and in implementing appropriate action. The emphasis should be on the ability to stay ahead of the problem rather than to have to take drastic action in order to recover the situation. In particular look to see that:
· incident response plans are compliant and training and procedures reflect those plans
· incidents are monitored and advise obtained where required and given to minimise/ prevent non-compliance
· the safety and/or successful recovery of the individual and others affected by the incident response is afforded priority in the actions taken
· 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 aspects may be best assessed using a range of scenarios/case studies/what ifs as the stimulus with a walk through forming part of the response. These assessment activities should include a range of problems, including new, unusual and improbable situations which may have been generated from the past incident history of the plant, incidents on similar plants around the world, hazard analysis activities and similar sources.

Resource implications
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.

Other assessment advice
In all workplace environments it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with relevant units such as:

Essential knowledge
The knowledge referred to in the evidence guide for this Unit includes:
· relevant legislation and regulations
· allowable defences for apparent compliance breaches
· organisational policies and procedures
· organisational policy and procedures concerning release of information to external bodies
· the limits imposed by organisation's negotiating parameters

Competence also includes the ability to isolate the causes of issues within the incident response system and to be able to distinguish between causes of issues indicated by:
· failed compliance measures
· inability to locate relevant legislation
· failure to comply with timeframes dictated by legislation or regulation