Emergency Management - Winter 2007

On Sunday 25 November a number of agencies combined together to test the Airport Emergency Plan at East Midlands Airport. This exercise was carried out to anticipate the effects an emergency might have on life, property and aerodrome operations.

In Part one of the exercise 60 “volunteers” playing survivors from an aircraft accident were received into the new Western Pier extension and looked after by a number of agencies, including the Police, Airport, East Midlands Ambulance Service and Local Authority staff. The repatriation of these survivors with people who had come to meet them was also tested using the Police Casualty Bureau process. To enable a certain amount of realism to be brought into the exercise some of the players were given different roles to play including the use of various non English languages.

The use of the new Western Pier extension worked well and the various agencies will incorporate a number of refinements into the plan that were identified during the exercise. The procedure for repatriation was of particular interest and the relevant authorities will be looking at further ways in which people affected by an incident of this nature can be dealt with humanely and speedily.

Part Two of the exercise was implemented by members of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) to test out arrangements for the setting up of a Humanitarian Assistance Centre (HAC). This type of centre would be required a few days after the incident in order to provide on-going help and assistance for all those affected. A Multi Agency team of people were assembled in the Hilton Hotel at Castle Donington to test out the LRF HAC Plan and to identify any further ongoing needs. A management group with representatives from Local Authorities, the Voluntary Sector, Airlines and the Police was set up to run the facility and a group of 12 volunteers from the mornings exercise at the airport were looked after by members from the British Red Cross (BRC) and other agencies.

This was the first time a HAC exercise of this nature had been held in Leicestershire and it proved invaluable in identifying future training requirements for persons working in this type of centre. The 12 volunteers who had a variety of different needs were well received and looked after by the BRC and others. The Management Group, set up to work through the plan, together with the exercise facilitators were able to identify some useful additional requirements that will be implemented by the LRF.  

By conducting these exercises and ensuring all agencies work together efficiently and are prepared for a worst case scenario we aim to be better prepared to look after those affected and try to help by putting their needs first. A big thank you to all those who gave up their Sunday to be part of this important event.

This plan was undergoing a review, in compliance with the COMAH regulations 1999, which states that “Review and testing of emergency plans” should be conducted “at suitable intervals not exceeding three years”.  The exercise was a culmination of this work thus allowing the reviewed plan to be tested, scrutinised and amended where necessary.

Not only does this practice of reviewing the plan and exercising allow for Flogas to consider their own emergency arrangements, processes and procedures, but it also allows:

Other important outcomes from conducting the exercise (like other exercises) are:

As part of the exercise/plan review process a number of people from the exercise. visited the site two days later.

The reasons for the visit:

The outcomes of the exercise and site visit, apart from the reasons mentioned above, are that the Flogas COMAH Off-site plan has now been reviewed and amended. All involved in the exercise and site visit found it very useful and worthwhile.  The new and updated plan will now be issued, reviewed each year and in use for the next three, until time catches up with us again for an exercise!

It was early on Saturday 4^th August when the call came. Well, it was a text message, but the effect was the same: have you heard there has been a confirmed outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease?

I hadn’t but now I was turning around, driving back home to collect information about phone numbers and contacts to discuss the action Leicestershire Trading Standards Service, whose work includes animal health matters may need to take.

A nationwide ban on the movement of livestock was introduced late on 3^rd August.  The first complaints of alleged illegal movement were received on Sunday 5^th August, vehicles having been seen on the 4^th. Enquiries were made on the Sunday by visiting the premises but the trader concerned could not be located and it was later established that the movement was permitted as a licence had been issued by Defra.

All routine visits to premises with livestock ceased and the team staffed the phones to provide information and advice to livestock keepers, hauliers and market operators. Stocks of Personal Protective Equipment were checked and increased and preparations and plans were put in place, not just for the immediate situation, but should more cases of the disease be discovered closer to or in the County itself.

Over the following days and weeks, the disease situation seemed to change almost constantly as the restrictions on movements were gradually relaxed with the introduction of General Licences.  However, there was a great deal of uncertainty and confusion and the team dealt with quite a number of calls from worried farmers about the movements permitted and how they could dispose of deadstock.

Reports of stray animals were received, one of which could only be resolved by obtaining a special licence from Defra so that the animals could be taken home, an officer going out to the land very early in the morning to ensure the animals were loaded and transported in accordance with the conditions imposed.

Complaints of alleged breaches of the movement ban were investigated but these all related to vehicles in transit and as none had been stopped no further enforcement action could be undertaken.  The team also dealt with referrals from other authorities relating to Leicestershire farmers who appeared to not be cleaning out their vehicles properly after going to slaughterhouses outside the county.

The usual livestock markets were not able to run until early September when the country was declared to be free of Foot and Mouth, but following close liaison with Animal Health (formerly the State Veterinary Service) and the organisers, the team attended collection centres and dedicated slaughter markets to ensure licence conditions were being met and advising of the requirements. Visits were also made to slaughterhouses to check compliance of those arriving and leaving these premises.

All of this work has continued up to and after the disease was again found on a farm in Surrey on the 12^th September.  Once restrictions were relaxed enough to permit movement of livestock between farm premises, the Agricultural and Technical Safety team were back on-farm, ensuring they demonstrated the highest levels of biosecurity, to check that the necessary documentation to move these animals had been completed and retained.

September also saw the introduction of controls for Bluetongue Disease after cases of the disease were detected in East Anglia and then Cambridgeshire.  Again, Trading Standards have been offering advice to those with livestock, advising of the restrictions on moving ruminant animals such as sheep and cattle, the limited circumstances in which they could leave the now Bluetongue Surveillance Zone and the requirements of the licences available.

Routine inspection of premises with livestock has now been able to begin again. However, the situation in relation to these notifiable diseases continues to be monitored closely and further information about the outbreak of Avian Influenza is awaited………….

Hilary Gilbert
Acting Team Leader – Agricultural and Technical Safety
Leicestershire Trading Standards Service.

Just in time for the cold weather, a multi-agency severe weather exercise took place on 1 December 2007.   The scope of the exercise encompassed snow and hard frost leading to utility and communications breakdown – just the sort of things that have happened in the Leicestershire area over the past fifty years, but all at once!  The Local Resilience Forum exercise was with in conjunction with an armed forces regional exercise.

The exercise was able to give an on-the-spot assessment of availability of resources and also test communications within the command and control system i.e. Gold (strategic), Silver (tactical) and Bronze (operations).  Initial reactions were the need for increased resilience in communications, and ensuring that decisions are taken at the most appropriate levels and those decisions can be communicated effectively using the appropriate resources and procedural methods.

Emma Tipple, Corporate Business Continuity Manager, from Norfolk County Council, visited Eric Jeffery, Business Continuity Manager, at Leicestershire County Council to discuss a number of issues within Business Continuity Management that are common in both the public and private sectors. Both Emma and Eric are from a financial background and are now working in the public sector.

Over three days of discussions the following is a summary of their thoughts on work area recovery, supply chain continuity, auditing of plans and BCM software.

A Work Area Recovery plan aids in the identification of another site location that could be used if your organisation’s site is not accessible. A number of large private organisations have contracts with third party business continuity suppliers who have buildings solely for use in an incident, and/or often have the ability to set up accommodation suitable for all types of business from straightforward office space to temporary shops or warehouses.

Although this option can be expensive for smaller organisations, it is not impossible particularly as businesses start to collaborate and share such a resource. The speed of recovery can be enhanced considerably if preparation work for utilities and network connections are already in place, and a suitable site identified. Costs for this solution may work out a lot less than for a third party recovery site.

Supply chains are complicated and can form a detailed web of organisations depending on many other companies for a service and so forth. Due to this interdependency a careful approach is needed to identify critical suppliers and the impacts of their loss to an organisation.

Increasingly smaller organisations who provide a service to other companies are being asked whether they have a Business Continuity plan and how often it is reviewed and tested. This is to ensure that their suppliers can continue to do business in the event of a disruption.

Our procurement teams at Leicestershire County Council are building clauses into all new contracts, requiring that suppliers should have Business Continuity Plans in place. This may have repercussions for potential suppliers who do not currently practice Business Continuity Management.

Emma and Eric discussed the benefits of auditing completed plans, an area that is key to reviewing the quality of plans and providing support and guidance to managers.

Individuals, who do not have a detailed understanding of the full Business Continuity process may feel unsure whether they have covered elements in appropriate detail.

Eric has provided feedback to plan owners both within Leicestershire County Council but also for local businesses that have requested this. Feedback should include reference to the Business Continuity Institute good practice guidelines and the Business Continuity British Standard BS 25999.

It is important to have a system that ensures regular updating of the plan and that it is also regularly reviewed, maintained, exercised and stored securely. A software package that can sometimes be expensive and complicated isn’t vital if these areas as a minimum are covered. Both Norfolk and Leicestershire County Council use a central system to store all Business Continuity Plans off site, in hard copy as well as in an electronic format, that ensures that the plans are maintained and managed.

During their discussions, Emma and Eric had, on occasion, different approaches but that allowed them to review the strengths and weaknesses of ideas and created some positive debate!

If you would like to discuss any areas within this article or talk further about Business Continuity please contact either Eric Jeffery on 0116 305 6107 or Emma Tipple on 01603 224404.

Also, for further information visit Leicestershire County Council www.leics.gov.uk/business_continuity and Norfolk County Council www.norfolk.gov.uk

NDR is a specialist in Business Continuity services for organisations of all types and sizes, including a large number of local authorities.  Many years experience working closely with local authorities; most recently assisting a major County Council to continue operating in the event of the summer floods, has enabled NDR to understand first hand the challenges facing authorities in ensuring continued availability of services.  The Civil Contingencies Act also now places a duty on public services including local authorities to have plans in place, meaning business continuity is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

Planning can help mitigate against risk, but often the scale, effects or nature of the disaster will not be known until it occurs.  NDR’s cost effective services range from business continuity planning and disaster recovery rehearsals to flexible recovery solutions that can be chosen at the time a disaster or failure occurs, ensuring you have the best recovery option right at the time you need it.

Find out more about how NDR can help you protect your organisations availability, contact our continuity specialists.