Civil emergencies - emergency plan
Watford Borough Council has developed a plan to assist in the response of an incident or disaster that might have an effect on the Authority. It has been developed in line with the guidance relating to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. The plan draws on good practice and aims to bring greater consistency to the local authority response.
An emergency as defined in Part 1 of the Civil Contingencies Act is “an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the UK, the environment in a place in the UK, or war or terrorism which threatens serious damage to the security of the UK."
Emergencies, be they sudden impact or slow onset, can be divided into five broad categories:
- natural such as flooding, storms and snow
- accidental where human error or technical failure causes the emergency such as an aircraft crash
- deliberate where the emergency occurs as a result of terrorist or criminal action
- disruption where, for some reason, essential services are not available for a significant length of time, e.g. gas and electricity outages
- health such as a disease outbreak, e.g. pandemic flu
They are likely to cause:
- multiple casualties or even fatalities
- damage to property and the environment
- alarm amongst the public
- disruption of important services
By their nature, incidents can be unpredictable in nature and scale. The response that the Council makes to an incident will vary depending on the type of incident and the extent of its impacts, for example:
- a major incident may involve a large-scale multi-agency response and result in death and injury and damage to property or the environment
- some incidents may have a major impact purely for the Council and may necessitate little involvement from other agencies
- some incidents may require a small-scale response and be of short duration and confined to a particular locale
- other authorities or agencies may request assistance from the Council to support their own response to an incident that has occurred within their area
Plans can only be effective if they are understood by those who are required to use them and are tested and established as fit for purpose. In order for this to happen there will be periodic testing and exercising of the plan.
This plan constitutes a generic emergency response plan and is supplemented by a range of site and subject specific plans and guidance that have been drawn up through Hertfordshire Resilience in line with identified risks.
| Aim | Objectives of Council's response |
|---|---|
| The aim of the plan is to provide generic guidance and a flexible framework to ensure the Council’s preparedness and its ability to deliver, in conjunction with other agencies, an effective response whatever the scale and nature of the incident. |
|
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