Safe Work Australia has developed a new information sheet to assist PCBUs to use the national fire danger rating and warning systems to identify and assess the risks of bushfires at work.
The following article is an abridgement of an article/and resources originally published on the SafeWork Australia website.
SafeWork Australia has released a new information sheet "Identifying and assessing the risk of bushfires at work - using fire danger ratings and warnings".
If you are a PCBU, you must eliminate risks in the workplace, or if that is not reasonably practicable, minimise the risks as is reasonably practicable.
This includes the risk of bushfires. Bushfires occur any time of year but most likely in the current season now, during warmer weather and within the local bushfire season.
Conducting a risk assessment for bush fires will assist in:
All states and territories have now implemented the:
The AFDRS and AWS can be useful resources when conducting your risk assessment for bushfires.
Fire danger ratings are used to indicate the level of risk and the actions you need to take to protect yourself and your workplace from bushfires. Depending on the rating, you may need to activate your emergency plan, relocate to a safer place, or evacuate immediately.
You should have a clear and up-to-date emergency plan for your workplace that covers the following aspects:
You should follow the advice of your local fire authority and take the appropriate actions based on the rating. Here is a summary of what each rating means and what you should do:
For more information read the new information sheet and resources on how to prepare your workplace for fire emergencies, visit the following websites:
Do you know what to do if there is a high, extreme or catastrophic fire danger rating at your workplace? by Safe Work Australia, 30th January, 2024.