Elements and Performance Criteria

This competency covers all emerging incidents except for fire.

All operations are performed in accordance with procedures.
Procedures include all relevant workplace procedures, work instructions, temporary instructions and relevant industry and government codes and standards.
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.

This competency includes use of equipment and tools such as:
personal protective equipment such as breathing apparatus
emergency response equipment such as hand held extinguishers, hose reels, fire blankets
evacuation equipment
survival equipment
standard operating procedures (SOPs)
external personnel such as:
police
fire brigade
ambulance.

Typical hazards include:
chemicals and hazardous materials
gases and liquids under pressure
moving machinery
materials handling
working at heights, in restricted or confined spaces, or environments subjected to heat, noise, dusts or vapours.

'Respond to routine problems' means 'apply known solutions to a limited range of predictable problems'.
Typical process and product problems may include:
accidents
chemical or oil spills
gas leak or vapour emission
utilities failure
bomb scares.

Appropriate personnel for OHS referrals may include:
employer
supervisor
employees elected as emergency team leader
other personnel with emergency team leader responsibilities.

OHS issues which may need to be raised by workers with designated personnel may include:
recognition of different types of emergencies
problems encountered in control measures and implementation
observation on injury and/or incident occurred in the workplace.

Required functions include:
containment of incident, eg chemical/oil spill or gas/vapour leak
communication with internal and external personnel.

Overview of assessment
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 will include disruptions to normal, smooth operation.
Assessment will occur with simulated industrial incidents and will be undertaken in a work-like environment.

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit

It is essential that competence is demonstrated in the knowledge and skills defined in this unit. These may include the ability to:

recognise and analyse potential situations requiring action
implement the appropriate corrective action.
The reasoning process behind the problem analysis and determining the required actions should be assessed. The emphasis should be on the ability to minimise the affect of an emergency situation.

Consistent performance should be demonstrated. For example, look to see that:

emergency situations are recognised and communicated promptly
action is taken to ensure that the effects of the emergency situation are controlled promptly
potential to involve others in the emergency is recognised and appropriately communicated
emergency procedures are understood and followed.
These aspects may be best assessed using a range of scenarios/case studies and '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 extreme situations that may have been generated from the past incident history of the workplace, incidents on similar plants around the world, hazard analysis activities (eg HAZOP) and similar sources.

Assessment method and context
Assessment for this unit will be on a processing plant or in a manufacturing environment.
Simulation may be required to allow for timely assessment of parts of this unit of competency. Simulation should be based on the actual workplace and will include walk throughs of the relevant competency components. Simulations may also include the use of case studies/scenarios and role plays.
This unit requires a body of knowledge which will be assessed through questioning and the use of 'what if' scenarios both in the workplace (during demonstration of normal operations and walk throughs of abnormal operations) and off the job.
In all cases it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with relevant teamwork and communication units.

In a major hazard facility, it may be appropriate to assess this unit concurrently with:

PMPOHS200 Participate in workplace safety procedures
PMASUP220 Monitor and control environmental hazards.

Specific resources for assessment
Assessment will require access to an operating plant or manufacturing environment over an extended period of time, or a suitable method of gathering evidence of operating 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.