Pass Criteria
Incident Grading (P1)
Each emergency service has their own incident grading criteria which allows them to respond to an incident according to what has been reported and then they can match it to their grading response.
Police
The police have four main categories of incident grading, these four categories are used depending on how serious the incident is:
Grade 1 Response (Emergency Response) - this is where an incident currently taking place is reported and there is a likely risk to the persons in the area, such as:
The police have four main categories of incident grading, these four categories are used depending on how serious the incident is:
Grade 1 Response (Emergency Response) - this is where an incident currently taking place is reported and there is a likely risk to the persons in the area, such as:
- Danger to life.
- The threat of or immediate use of violence.
- Serious injury to a person and/or damage to a property.
Grade 2 Response (Priority Response) - this is where the person reporting the incident notices that it is of some importance but does not require an emergency response, incidents that require a priority response can be:
- A genuine concern for somebody's welfare.
- An offender has been detained and it is unlikely for them to pose a risk to others.
- A road traffic collision that involves serious injury or a serious obstruction.
Grade 3 Response (Scheduled Response) - this type of response is used when it is believed that the needs of the caller will be best achieved through scheduling because:
- The response time is not crucial in apprehending offenders.
- A better quality of police actions can be used if it is a pre-arranged response.
Grade 4 Response (Resolution Without Deployment) - this is used when an incident can be resolved by telephone adivice, frequently asked questions or the help desk intervention. These would be incidents such as:
- Issued a speeding ticket, the person is phone called or mailed a date to attend a speed awareness course.
- Theft of property, when there is no evidence of to find the property, then there is no need for the police to come to the premises and it can be reported/solved by phone call.
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Ambulance
For incidents that require ambulances, they are categorised into three sections:
Category A - this category is priority. It refers to an incident that could be life threatening and needs immediate attention such as:
Ambulance
For incidents that require ambulances, they are categorised into three sections:
Category A - this category is priority. It refers to an incident that could be life threatening and needs immediate attention such as:
- A high speed road traffic collision.
- Heart attack or a stroke.
Category B - this is when an incident is serious but is not immediately life threatening. Incidents that are considered as part of category B are:
- A broken bone.
- Injury to the spinal column.
Category C - this is when the incident is neither serious or life threatening and does not need the immediate attention of the ambulance service.
- Dislocation.
- Minor cut or injury.
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Fire
The fire service grade their incidents on the risk category.
Risk Category A - this refers to large city areas, towns, shopping areas and industrial estates.
Risk Category B - this normally refers to multi-storey buildings and large residential accomodation areas.
Risk Category C - this usually refers to the suburbs of larger towns and built up small towns.
Risk Category D - this category is simply used when an incident matches the requirements of categories A to C.
Remote and Rural - this is a completely separate category and has no pre-determined response.
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| Link to the "Police Could You" website |
Roles and Responsibilities (P2)
The roles and responsibilities of the first emergency service(s) is to assess the situation for other emergency services on their way to the scene, they must provide information according to the following:
- Location - where the incident is and the quickest route to the scene. E.g) inner city, suburbs, mountains, etc...
- Casualties - how many casualties there are and how serious they are (including fatalities)
- Hazards - if there are any hazards that could cause damage to the emergecy services or civilians.
- Emergency Services - which of the emergency services are required at the scene.
- Access - any responding service must know if there are any obstructions to getting to the scene or that may prevent the rescue of casualties.
- Incident Type - the first service to respond must inform the other services of what the situation is like, they do this by using incident grading.
- Log - they must write a log of all the above for when a statement has to be written.
Police
The basic roles and responsibilities of the Police are:
- To keep the Queen's peace.
- To firmly uphold the law.
- To protect, reassure and help the community.
- To bring to justice those who break the law.
- To act with reasonable and fair judgement.
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Ambulance
The basic roles and responsibilities of the Ambulance service are:
- To save lives.
- To provide medical treatment and stablisation at the scene.
- To provide support to those involved with the casualty/patient.
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Fire
The basic roles and responsibilities of the Fire service are:
- To prevent fires.
- To keep fires under control.
- To quarantine hazardous areas.
- To protect the lives of civilians.
- To protect the environment.
- To preserve evidence at the scene of arson.
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Safely Responding to an Emergency Incident (P3)
It is extremely important that an emergency response driver takes care and caution while responding to an emergency incident, this is because they are driving at speeds that exceed the speed limit and therefore could put other people's lives at risk and causing more damage.
Every emergency response driver must pass the "Blue Light & Emergency Response Driver Training," this ensures that the response driver has had the necessary training to drive at excessive speeds in built up areas and that they can control the vehicle. The drivers can only exceed the road's speed limit by a certain percentage, for example, in a 30 mph speed zone, a response driver can not exceed the speed limit of 60 mph.
The reasoning that a response driver can not exceed the given percentage of a speed limit is because there may be hazards on the road or the pavement that could potentionally cause even more danger, either to the driver or pedestrians. There could be exposed lamp posts, sign posts or even roads that may have pedestrians crossing relatively often and this puts these civilians at a greater risk and therefore the response drivers must possess the skills to prevent causing any more casualties.
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| Link to "Careers In The Ambulance Service" website |
Scene Preservation (P4)
When a specialist unit (Forensics Scientists) or an officer first arrives on the scene, it is vital that they record the date, time and weather conditions and take the maximum procautions to preserve and secure the scene. Any persons present at the scene must be removed to prevent any contamination and to prevent any evidence from being taken or destroyed, then their details must be taken.
Immediate action must be taken when arriving at the scene in order to preserve as much evidence as possible as it could be damaged or destroyed by the weather or anyone that may be present at the scene. Preserving the scene as much as possible is to ensure that the Forensic Scientists can gather as much evidence as they can to provide enough information to the emergency services so they know what they need to do.
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Statutory and Voluntary Agencies (P5)
The statutory agencies at an emergency incident include the Police, Ambulance and Fire service. These are the services that deal with the incident unless they require the assistance of a voluntary agency such as:
- Air Ambulance.
- Life Guards.
- Mountain Rescue.
These are just a few of the many voluntary agencies that may work with the statutory agencies.
If an incident occured that involves both agencies to attend the scene, then they would both take the necessary action to bring the situation under control and ensure the safety of everyone in the area. For example, if there was a hiker in a large rocky and fielded surrounding and they had broken their leg and were stranded, the emergency services would be rung and medical attention would be needed, however, there is no route for the vehicle to get to the casualty, therefore, the Air Ambulance would be required to transport the casualty to the hospital for medical attention.
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| Link to the "Fire Service" website |
Health and Safety (P6)
The health and safety at work etc act (HASAW) is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in the UK.
The first people on the scene must conduct a mental risk assesment of the scene and address anything that could cause harm to any of the emergency services arriving at the scene or anyone who may need to enter the area.
For example, if there had been a road raffic collision and there was glass on the floor, then that area would have to be closed off to anyone other than the specialist units investigating the scene. Members of the public would also have to be removed from the area for their own personal safety.
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Merit Criteria
Roles and Responsibilities (M1)
Each of the emergency services have their own roles and responsibilities when they arrive at the scene of an emergency incident, however, they all must work together to get the situation under control safely and efficiently.
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Scenario
There has been a road traffic collision (RTC) on the motorway which has involved multiple vehicles and casualties. One person is trapped in a vehicle and another is trapped in an overturned vehicle. All of the emergency services arrive within minutes of each other and begin their work to bring the situation under control and back to normal.
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Police
If the Police are the first service on the scene, they must make a log of what has happened (see P2) so the other services on the scene know exactly what has happened and what needs to be done to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
When the Police arrive on the scene, they will have to divert the traffic if the collision has blocked the motorway and corden off the area in which the collision took place so nothing can interfere with the scene if the emergency services need to gain evidence.
The majority of the time, a major emergency incident will become a crime scene, therefore, the Police will need to conduct an investigation into the incident to find out what the circumstances were at the time of the incident.
The Police will have to draw out the markings on the road such as tyre marks from braking or scuffs on the road surface, they have to do this to create a picture of what happened during the build up to the collision and to gain evidence to prove what they have found. This can be shown to a Judge or a Magistrate if the case is to go to court.
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Ambulance
The same goes for the Amblance service, if they are first on the scene, they must make a log of the situation with the details the Police and Fire service require to do their duties.
The first priority of the Ambulance service is to save lives. They must provide medical treatment to casualties at the scene unless they need to be immediately taken to hospital for treatment that cannot be provided by the Ambulance at the scene.
The Ambulance service must prioritise the casualties in the most critical position, for example, in the scenario it would be the casualties stuck in the overturned vehicle as no one knows what injuries they may have, therefore, they must prioritise that person because they could end up fatal.
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Fire
Same as the other two emergency services, the Fire service must also make a log to provide the necessary information to the Police and Ambulance service.
When the Fire service arrive at the scene, they may have to extinguish a burning car or surrounding fire that could prevent a rescue of a casualty.
The Fire service must detect any hazardous areas that could cause danger to any surrounding people and section that area off and this is also done to prevent any part of the scene from being contaminated if an investigation takes place.
At the scene, there can only be a limited number of personnel as too many could cause confusion and not enough would mean the incident would not be resolved as efficiently as it could be.
In an incident such as our scenario, the Fire service would have to work with the Ambulance service to save the casualty trapped in the vehicle, the Fire service would have to removed the roof as quickly as they can without causing the casualty more harm, then the Ambulance service would take over and treat the casualty.
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Other Agencies
The local authority would also be involved at the scene of an RTC, agencies such as the council, environmental agency, women's institution, utility company, highway authority and the HM Coroner may all be involved in this type of incident.
The council may be used to close roads entering and leaving the site of the incident and give a diverson around it, they may also be used to clean up after the situation has been resolved to make the area suitable for its normal purpose.
The environmental agency will most likely be involved if there is a spillage of petrol or diesel or there are fumes being released that are hazardous to the surrounding environment. In 2007, regulations combined the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) and Waste Management Licensing (WML) regulations and now their job has been widened to preventing radio-active substances, groundwater activities and water discharge.
The HM Coroner has a very important role, all sudden deaths must be reported to the Coroner. The Coroner must investigate and record the causes and circumstances of all sudden deaths where the cause is not known, violent or unnatural deaths and any death which occurred whilst the deceased was in lawful custody.
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Other Agencies
The local authority would also be involved at the scene of an RTC, agencies such as the council, environmental agency, women's institution, utility company, highway authority and the HM Coroner may all be involved in this type of incident.
The council may be used to close roads entering and leaving the site of the incident and give a diverson around it, they may also be used to clean up after the situation has been resolved to make the area suitable for its normal purpose.
The environmental agency will most likely be involved if there is a spillage of petrol or diesel or there are fumes being released that are hazardous to the surrounding environment. In 2007, regulations combined the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) and Waste Management Licensing (WML) regulations and now their job has been widened to preventing radio-active substances, groundwater activities and water discharge.
The HM Coroner has a very important role, all sudden deaths must be reported to the Coroner. The Coroner must investigate and record the causes and circumstances of all sudden deaths where the cause is not known, violent or unnatural deaths and any death which occurred whilst the deceased was in lawful custody.
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Scene Preservation (M2)
It is the most important part when attending a crime scene that action must be taken to preserve the scene as it plays a vital role in providing evidence to the emergency services to help them understand how the crime scene came to be and the evidence is vital to a Judge or Magistrate if the case is to go to court.
The first person on the scene must record the date, time and weather conditions in order to take the necessary procautions to preserve the scene until specialist units arrive. The crime scene must be sectioned off if outdoors to protect it.
In order to protect a crime scene, nobody is to be left on their own as they could remove or destroy evidence and the specialist units involved with the scene must wear certain clothing so they themselves do not leave any traces that could contaminate the scene, the items of clothing include:
- Footwear without treads - so no imprint is left which could interfer with the investigation.
- Long clothing on the arms and legs - to prevent anything contaminating the scene such as hair.
- Gloves - so no finger prints are transfered onto the scene.
- Goggles (in certain circumstances) - used when the scene contains gases or liquids that could cause harm to the specialist units.
- Masks and Hoods - so no hair or sweat can interfere with the crime scene.
Forensic scientists try to reconstruct the situation and the events that lead to create the crime scene, they do this by collecting and studying the evidence found at the scene, tread marks on the ground, possessions or hair etc this way they can reconstruct the scene and how the evidence came to be there.
On arrival at the scene, the specialist units make sketches and take photographs of the scene and the evidence within it, this is used as evidence at court and it is also used to prove what was at the scene and it is a back up of the scene if something from there has gone missing, therefore, it is used to prove police suspicions if something does get removed or destroyed.
Forensics will always be needed at the scene of a crime because they are the only unit that have this specialist training and skills to preserve a crime scene and study the evidence found and be able to link it to a suspect and how the crime scene came to be. Any other service member does not possess these skills, therefore, they cannot participate in the process of discovering evidence and studying it, however, they can still stay around the area of the crime scene and control crowds if the specialist units requests that no one comes near the scene other than those involved.
For more information about preserving crime scenes and crime scene investigations, visit http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/
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Health and Safety (M3)
There is a health and safety legislation act which the Police use when attending an emergency incident which is the Police Health and Safety Act 1997 along with the Police Health and Safety Regulations 1999, which is a review of the first act. Both of these health and safety acts came about due to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (mentioned in P6).
Upon arrival at the scene, the first service on the scene must remove all civilians from the scene so they do not cause harm to themselves or any of the emergency services. They must then risk assess the scene and surrounding area so when the other services arrive, they can be briefed on the health and safety of the scene, all the services must abide by the Health and Safety Acts so they do not cause harm to themselves or anyone near the scene and so the scene itself does not get contaminated and more work is made for the specialist units required.
All emergency responce drivers must pass an advanced drivers course to ensure the driver can drive safely at speed and not cause anymore casualties on the road while responding to an emergency incident. They must take the Blue Light & Emergency Response Driver Training test and passing this test proves that the responce driver has the skills necessary to drive the response vehicle to the incident within the allocated time (which is approximately 8 minutes).
When attending any major incident such as an RTC, all services on scene must follow the PPE Regulations at Work Act 1992. This means that ALL employees must wear the correct equipment to ensure safety and all equipment is assessed before use to ensure it is suitable, it must be stored correctly, come with instructions on how to use safely and employees must wear it correctly.
Another act that must be followed when at a major incident is the RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) Act 1995, this must be done because it is a legal requirement, it is also done so the HSE (Health and Safety Executives) and local authorities can identify where and how risks arise, that way they can then give advice on how to prevent incidents from happening.
Incidents such as deaths, major accidents and work related diseases should be reported.
One last health and safety act that is used when at work is the COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) Act 2002. COSHH is a law that requires employers to control any substances that are or can be hazardous to employee's health, ways in which these can be prevented/reduced are:
When attending any major incident such as an RTC, all services on scene must follow the PPE Regulations at Work Act 1992. This means that ALL employees must wear the correct equipment to ensure safety and all equipment is assessed before use to ensure it is suitable, it must be stored correctly, come with instructions on how to use safely and employees must wear it correctly.
Another act that must be followed when at a major incident is the RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) Act 1995, this must be done because it is a legal requirement, it is also done so the HSE (Health and Safety Executives) and local authorities can identify where and how risks arise, that way they can then give advice on how to prevent incidents from happening.
Incidents such as deaths, major accidents and work related diseases should be reported.
One last health and safety act that is used when at work is the COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) Act 2002. COSHH is a law that requires employers to control any substances that are or can be hazardous to employee's health, ways in which these can be prevented/reduced are:
- Finding out what the health hazards are.
- Risk assessment.
- Planning for emergencies.
This is extremely important to follow if the emergency services are attending a scene that involves hazardous substances that could cause harm to anyone is the surrounding area.
More information on health and safety at work can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/
More information on health and safety at work can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/
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Distinction Criteria
Inter-agency Co-operation (D1)
At the scene of an incident that requires all the emergency services as well as voluntary services and other agencies, they all need to work together to resume the normal situation as efficiently as possible. An RTC would be an incident that requires all these agencies and we took part in an RTC at college to give us a better insight into the role of the emergency services.
When the RTC first happened, the road had to be closed off and diversions had to put in place to give road users an alternative route, this is most likely to be done by members of the Council who would then clean up the scene once the situation has been resolved.
The emergency services provided assistance to casualties (Fire and Ambulance Service) and the Police took the driver of one of the vehicles to his car where he was then questioned about the incident and he was detained in the Police car. While the Police Officer was doing this, the Fire Service and Paramedics were attending the casualties (one of which was trapped in one of the vehicles) and assessed their injuries. This allows the incident to be resolved efficiently as the Police Officer removed the driver to question him so this did not complicate the Fire and Paramedics job of attending casualties that required emergency assistance.
The Fire service had to remove the roof of one of the vehicles to gain access to the injured male inside. Their main role in the RTC was to cut free the casualty and remove them from the vehicle so the Paramedics could assess their injuries and treat them if they require it.
The Paramedics treated all casualties, those with wounds from the incident, those suffering from shock and also transporting the seriously injured to hospital. There was a fatality at the scene and the Paramedics covered the body with a white sheet and removed the body after all other casualties had been assisted as the fatal was least priority.
The Police service questioned the driver of one of the vehicles to get an idea of how the situation occurred and whether it is necessary to make an arrest. If the RTC was extremely serious, then the Police Officers on the scene would have to assist with the treating of casualties along side the Fire service and Paramedics.
Not only the emergency services would be at the scene of an RTC, agencies such as the council, women's institution, utility company, environmental agency, the highway authority and the HM Coroner would also be at the scene to ensure the safety of citizens in the local area as well as the environment surrounding the scene.
It would be the role of the council to close all roads leading towards the scene and make a diversion for all traffic, they would have to do this because the emergency services need to assess the situation and resume normality as soon as possible and the council assist with this process by co-operating with the emergency services so they can prioritize what needs to be done. Once all casualties have been assessed and treated and there are no hazards around the scene, the council will be the ones responsible to clean the area and remove the vehicles that were involved in the incident.
The environmental agency would be at the scene of the RTC to prevent any harmful and hazardous substances do not damage the environment. It is the job of the environmental agency to treat and store waste and hazardous substances, since 2007 they have introduced the IPPC (Inter-grated Pollution Prevention Control) directive which has been made to dispose and treat substances such as radio-active, groundwater and water discharge, they will also have to dispose of any diesel or petrol spillages.
More information about how the environment agency work and what they do can be found at http://environmentagency.net/.
The women's institute may be called upon to assist at an incident such as an RTC due to the amount of time it may take for normality to be resumed, therefore, everyone at the scene will need refreshments and the women's institute are known for there interest in cooking and this makes them a helpful factor as they can provide drinks and foods for the public services as well as the casualties. They also provided this same service during World War 2!
More information about the women's institute can be found at http://www.thewi.org.uk/.
One of the most important people at any scene is the HM Coroner, the Coroner has the job of investigating and recording all data about any sudden death where the circumstances or reasons for the death is unknown. A Coroner would be at the scene of our RTC as there was a fatality and the exact reason for the death of that person is unknown to the services on the scene and the casualties will most likely be in shock from the incident and will not be thinking straight.
More information about the HM Coroner can be found at http://www.coronersociety.org.uk/. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/13/contents. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/coroners/1984rules.html.
To conclude the inter-cooperation of public services at the scene of a road traffic collision, each and every agency that is at the scene has an important role in assisting each other to resume normality as safely and efficiently as possible. Each role differs from the next, this makes a team more cohesive as each agency specialises in a different area and this means multiple parts of the situation can be resolved without confusion and interference.
At the scene of an RTC, substances hazardous to health would be fuel spillages and fumes from the vehicles. To prevent any casualties from any hazardous substances, they must first be identified. Once the harzard has been found, the first person on the scene must carry out a risk assessment; they must assess the surrounding area and cordon the area that is hazardous to other services and civilians.
Finally, if an emergency was to occur, there must be a plan of evacuation or a plan of action to remove evryone from the scene and to bring in a specialist unit that will know how to deal with the given situation and can bring the situation under control and resume the task in hand.
The RIDDOR Act (mentioned in M3) was created so the HSE and local authorities can find out how and if a risk can arise. This was made a law for every workplace to follow as it enforces health and safety and it also allows a more thourough risk assessment as every single hazardous will be dealt with.
At the scene of an RTC, the RIDDOR Act would be used as the scene would be extremely hazardous due to the fumes from the vehicles and they could possibly ignite, there would also be debris on the road and surrounding area which would also have to be taken into consideration when risk assessing and preventing injury or death.
In conclusion, Health and Safety legislation has a major impact on the role of the public services when attending the scene of a major incident because ALL risks and hazardous materials need to considered when they are carrying out their jobs and trying to get the job done quickly as well as not causing any more casualties!
The Fire service had to remove the roof of one of the vehicles to gain access to the injured male inside. Their main role in the RTC was to cut free the casualty and remove them from the vehicle so the Paramedics could assess their injuries and treat them if they require it.
The Paramedics treated all casualties, those with wounds from the incident, those suffering from shock and also transporting the seriously injured to hospital. There was a fatality at the scene and the Paramedics covered the body with a white sheet and removed the body after all other casualties had been assisted as the fatal was least priority.
The Police service questioned the driver of one of the vehicles to get an idea of how the situation occurred and whether it is necessary to make an arrest. If the RTC was extremely serious, then the Police Officers on the scene would have to assist with the treating of casualties along side the Fire service and Paramedics.
Not only the emergency services would be at the scene of an RTC, agencies such as the council, women's institution, utility company, environmental agency, the highway authority and the HM Coroner would also be at the scene to ensure the safety of citizens in the local area as well as the environment surrounding the scene.
It would be the role of the council to close all roads leading towards the scene and make a diversion for all traffic, they would have to do this because the emergency services need to assess the situation and resume normality as soon as possible and the council assist with this process by co-operating with the emergency services so they can prioritize what needs to be done. Once all casualties have been assessed and treated and there are no hazards around the scene, the council will be the ones responsible to clean the area and remove the vehicles that were involved in the incident.
The environmental agency would be at the scene of the RTC to prevent any harmful and hazardous substances do not damage the environment. It is the job of the environmental agency to treat and store waste and hazardous substances, since 2007 they have introduced the IPPC (Inter-grated Pollution Prevention Control) directive which has been made to dispose and treat substances such as radio-active, groundwater and water discharge, they will also have to dispose of any diesel or petrol spillages.
More information about how the environment agency work and what they do can be found at http://environmentagency.net/.
The women's institute may be called upon to assist at an incident such as an RTC due to the amount of time it may take for normality to be resumed, therefore, everyone at the scene will need refreshments and the women's institute are known for there interest in cooking and this makes them a helpful factor as they can provide drinks and foods for the public services as well as the casualties. They also provided this same service during World War 2!
More information about the women's institute can be found at http://www.thewi.org.uk/.
One of the most important people at any scene is the HM Coroner, the Coroner has the job of investigating and recording all data about any sudden death where the circumstances or reasons for the death is unknown. A Coroner would be at the scene of our RTC as there was a fatality and the exact reason for the death of that person is unknown to the services on the scene and the casualties will most likely be in shock from the incident and will not be thinking straight.
More information about the HM Coroner can be found at http://www.coronersociety.org.uk/. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/13/contents. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/coroners/1984rules.html.
To conclude the inter-cooperation of public services at the scene of a road traffic collision, each and every agency that is at the scene has an important role in assisting each other to resume normality as safely and efficiently as possible. Each role differs from the next, this makes a team more cohesive as each agency specialises in a different area and this means multiple parts of the situation can be resolved without confusion and interference.
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Health and Safety Legislation/Regulations (D2)
All services at the scene of the RTC have to follow health and safety regulations, health and safety legislation that would have an impact on this sort of incident would be the Health and Safety at work Act 1974, the COSHH Act 2002, the RIDDOR Act 1995 and the PPE Act 1992.
The HASAW Act was introduced to prevent and lessen injuries and accidents in the workplace. At the scene of the RTC, health and safety would require the area to be cordoned off to prevent injury to anyone not wearing the correct equipment (relates to the PPE Act) or has not been trained to deal with this type of incident. They would also have to carry out a risk assessment to provide any other services that may arrive at the scene with the dangers and hazards that may affect their work at the scene.
Other health and safety acts that have an impact on the emergency services is the Police Health and Safety Act 1997. Due to the introduction of this act, Police Officers are taught security management and how to perform a risk assessment, this allows them to arrive at a scene and be able to assess the area and get the job done efficiently without any injuries.
The PPE Act was put in place to prevent employees from situations that may cause them harm that can not be prevented any other way. This act works along side the COSHH Act and both of these acts require employees to wear protective equipment to prevent them from injury at their place of work. The PPE Act states that ALL equipment must have instructions on how to wear and use it and also how to store the piece of equipment. An example of when personal protection equipment needs to be used at an RTC would be when the Fire service had to cut the roof off of one of the vehicles, they had to wear helmets, goggles, steel toe cap boots and fire proof clothing, this is to prevent them from damaging themselves and it also makes them more confident as they know they are safe from harm and this means that they can get their jobs done without worrying about dangers around them.
The COSHH Act entails that any place of work must have a method of control to prevent harm to any employees from hazardous substances. There are 3 main points to controlling hazardous substances in the workplace:
- Finding out what the health hazards are.
- Risk assessment.
- Planning for emergencies.
Finally, if an emergency was to occur, there must be a plan of evacuation or a plan of action to remove evryone from the scene and to bring in a specialist unit that will know how to deal with the given situation and can bring the situation under control and resume the task in hand.
The RIDDOR Act (mentioned in M3) was created so the HSE and local authorities can find out how and if a risk can arise. This was made a law for every workplace to follow as it enforces health and safety and it also allows a more thourough risk assessment as every single hazardous will be dealt with.
At the scene of an RTC, the RIDDOR Act would be used as the scene would be extremely hazardous due to the fumes from the vehicles and they could possibly ignite, there would also be debris on the road and surrounding area which would also have to be taken into consideration when risk assessing and preventing injury or death.
In conclusion, Health and Safety legislation has a major impact on the role of the public services when attending the scene of a major incident because ALL risks and hazardous materials need to considered when they are carrying out their jobs and trying to get the job done quickly as well as not causing any more casualties!
