The Mid North Coast Safety Handbook: Emergency Preparedness for Local Workplaces
- Brent Lethbridge
- Aug 16
- 8 min read
What happens when something goes wrong at work?
Most businesses spend plenty of time planning how the work will get done.
Less time is sometimes spent planning what happens when the work doesn't go to plan.
A serious injury. A medical emergency. A fire. A storm. A flood. A worker trapped at height. An electrical incident. A chemical spill. Bushfire smoke moving into the area.
On the Mid North Coast, workplaces can face all of these situations.
That is why emergency preparedness deserves to be more than a document sitting in a folder.
It needs to be something workers understand, supervisors can implement and businesses regularly test.
Welcome to the second edition of The Mid North Coast Safety Handbook — a practical guide to helping local businesses prepare for what happens when an ordinary workday suddenly becomes an emergency.
Emergency Planning Starts Before the Emergency
Nobody plans for an emergency to happen.
But every workplace should plan for what it will do if one does.
SafeWork NSW states that all workplaces must have an emergency plan. The plan should be tailored to the workplace, its hazards, its location and the people who work there. It must also include emergency procedures, testing of those procedures, and appropriate training and instruction for workers.
For a business on the Mid North Coast, that means an emergency plan shouldn't simply be copied from another workplace.
A construction site in Port Macquarie may have very different risks from a workshop in Wauchope, a business operating near the coast, a farm outside Kempsey or a mobile crew working throughout the region.
The question isn't:
"Do we have an emergency plan?"
The better question is:
"Would our workers know exactly what to do if something happened right now?"
1. Know Your Workplace Risks
Good emergency planning starts with identifying the emergencies that are realistically possible.
Think beyond fire drills.
Depending on your workplace, you may need to consider:
Serious injury or medical emergency
Cardiac arrest
Falls from height
Electrical incidents
Fire
Bushfire or smoke
Flooding
Severe storms
Hazardous chemical spills
Gas leaks
Plant or machinery incidents
Structural collapse
Confined space emergencies
Vehicle incidents
Missing or unaccounted-for workers
Violence or security incidents
Remote-worker emergencies
The location of your business matters too.
The Mid North Coast presents its own combination of environmental and operational risks, particularly for businesses with outdoor workers, mobile crews, construction sites and employees travelling between locations.
The NSW SES recommends that businesses identify the hazards that could affect their location, understand warnings and have an emergency plan that can be communicated to employees, visitors and other stakeholders.
2. Don't Just Have a Plan — Make Sure People Know It
One of the biggest weaknesses in emergency planning is assuming that because the plan exists, everyone knows what to do.
They don't.
A new employee may never have seen it.
A contractor may not know where the assembly area is.
A casual worker may not know who the first aider is.
A visitor may not know how to raise the alarm.
And in a genuine emergency, people don't necessarily behave the way they would during a calm discussion in the lunchroom.
That is why emergency procedures need to be communicated, practised and reinforced.
SafeWork NSW specifically identifies training workers in emergency procedures, practising evacuations, identifying assembly points and understanding the location of emergency equipment as important parts of emergency preparedness.
3. First Aid Is Part of Emergency Preparedness
When something serious happens at work, emergency services may not arrive immediately.
The first few minutes can matter.
A construction worker could suffer a deep laceration.
Someone could collapse from a cardiac arrest.
A worker could sustain a serious crush injury.
A person could suffer a fall from height.
Someone could experience heat illness while working outdoors.
In these situations, having trained people on site can make a significant difference while emergency services are being contacted and responding.
Businesses should consider:
Who are our trained first aiders?
Are first aiders available during all operating hours?
Where are the first aid kits?
Are the kits appropriate for the hazards?
Do workers know where they are?
Are first aid kits checked and restocked?
Do workers know how to call for help?
Is CPR training current?
Is an AED available and, if so, do workers know where it is?
Can emergency services easily access the workplace?
SafeWork NSW identifies first aid arrangements as part of a workplace's broader safety responsibilities and recommends that first aid arrangements reflect the workplace's hazards, location and number of workers.
4. What Happens If Someone Falls From Height?
This is particularly important for construction, roofing, maintenance and other industries where workers may be exposed to fall risks.
SafeWork NSW identifies falls from height as a major cause of traumatic fatalities in NSW construction and emphasises that businesses must protect workers from falling from one level to another, regardless of the height involved.
But prevention is only part of the equation.
Businesses also need to consider:
What happens if someone actually falls?
For example:
Who raises the alarm?
Who contacts emergency services?
Is the worker accessible?
Is there a rescue plan?
Is rescue equipment available?
Are workers trained in the relevant rescue procedures?
Can emergency services access the site?
What happens if the person is suspended in a harness?
Who controls the area following the incident?
A harness is not an emergency plan.
A first aid kit is not a rescue plan.
And a phone number on the wall is not enough if nobody knows who is responsible for coordinating the response.
5. Don't Forget the Environment Around You
Emergency planning on the Mid North Coast needs to consider more than what happens inside the workplace.
Businesses may also need to prepare for events affecting the surrounding community.
Flooding, severe storms, bushfire and smoke can disrupt access to workplaces, roads and essential services.
A business may be operating normally when conditions change rapidly.
That raises practical questions:
Can workers safely leave the site?
What happens if roads become inaccessible?
Can workers be contacted?
What happens to workers travelling between sites?
Are important records and equipment protected?
Who decides when work should stop?
Where will workers go if evacuation is required?
How will the business communicate with staff?
The NSW SES recommends that businesses understand their local hazards, warnings and emergency actions as part of business emergency planning.
For Mid North Coast businesses, this is particularly relevant because emergency conditions can change quickly.
6. Construction Sites Need Additional Planning
Construction sites can change from one day to the next.
The location of plant changes.
Workers change.
Access points change.
Excavations become deeper.
Buildings become taller.
Temporary structures appear and disappear.
New subcontractors arrive.
That means emergency planning needs to change with the site.
SafeWork NSW guidance for construction identifies the need for emergency procedures covering matters such as evacuation, emergency services notification, medical treatment, communication, assembly areas and accounting for people at the workplace.
For construction businesses, ask:
Could emergency services find us quickly?
Could we account for everyone on site?
Does everyone know the evacuation point?
Can an injured worker be safely accessed?
Do workers know who is coordinating the emergency?
Are emergency procedures still appropriate for the current stage of construction?
These questions are simple.
But they can expose gaps that aren't obvious during normal operations.
7. Remote and Mobile Workers Need a Different Approach
The Mid North Coast has a large number of businesses where workers aren't sitting in one fixed workplace.
Tradespeople travel between jobs.
Construction crews move between sites.
Contractors work independently.
Workers travel long distances.
Some jobs take place in isolated or difficult to access locations.
An emergency plan for a mobile workforce needs to take this into account.
Consider:
How workers communicate with the business
What happens if mobile coverage is unavailable
How the worker's location can be identified
Who checks on workers working alone
What happens if a worker doesn't respond
How emergency services can locate the worker
What emergency equipment is carried in vehicles
Whether first aid supplies are available where they are needed
SafeWork NSW specifically recommends considering workers who travel, work alone or work at remote locations when developing emergency plans.
8. Your Emergency Plan Should Be Tested
One of the easiest ways to find weaknesses in an emergency plan is to test it.
You don't have to wait for an actual emergency.
Run a scenario.
For example:
Scenario: A worker suffers a serious injury on site.
Ask the team:
Who raises the alarm?
Who calls emergency services?
Who provides first aid?
Who meets the ambulance?
Who controls the work area?
Who contacts management?
Who accounts for everyone else?
Who deals with witnesses?
Who records the incident?
What happens after the immediate emergency?
You may discover that everyone knows the answers.
Or you may discover that nobody does.
Either outcome is valuable.
Testing isn't about catching people out.
It's about finding the gaps before a real emergency finds them for you.
9. Five Questions Every Mid North Coast Business Should Ask
Take five minutes this week and ask your team:
1. If someone collapsed right now, would everyone know what to do?
2. If we had to evacuate, where would everyone go?
3. If emergency services were called, could they easily find us?
4. If a worker was seriously injured at a remote site, how would we get help to them?
5. When was the last time we actually tested our emergency procedures?
If the answer to any of these questions is uncertain, your emergency plan may need attention.
A Simple Emergency Preparedness Review
Use these questions as a starting point for your next workplace safety meeting.
Emergency Planning
Emergency plan is current
Workers know where the plan is located
Emergency procedures have been communicated
Emergency procedures are tested
Evacuation points are identified
Emergency contacts are current
Emergency service access is clear
First Aid
First aid kits are accessible
First aid supplies are appropriate for workplace hazards
First aiders are identified
First aid training is current
CPR-trained workers are available
AED location is known, where applicable
Site Safety
Workers know how to raise the alarm
Emergency access routes are clear
Workers know who coordinates an emergency
Rescue procedures are documented where required
Remote and mobile workers are covered by emergency arrangements
Environmental Risks
Local flood risks have been considered
Bushfire and smoke risks have been considered
Severe weather has been considered
Communication arrangements are established
Business continuity arrangements have been considered
Safety Isn't Just About Preventing the Incident
Good safety management is about preventing incidents wherever reasonably practicable.
But good safety management also recognises that things can still go wrong.
A strong workplace asks two questions:
"How do we stop this from happening?"
and
"If it does happen, are we ready?"
That second question is where emergency preparedness becomes so important.
Training, first aid, CPR, emergency procedures and practical planning aren't just compliance exercises.
They are about giving people the knowledge and confidence to respond when the situation is no longer routine.
Building a Safer Mid North Coast
At SALT Training Academy, we work with businesses, councils, schools, construction companies, community organisations and workplaces across Port Macquarie and the wider Mid North Coast.
Our approach is practical.
We believe safety training should connect with what workers actually experience — not simply what is written in a manual.
SALT provides public and onsite workplace training including First Aid, CPR, White Card, Working Safely at Heights and Low Voltage Rescue, with mobile training available for businesses that need training delivered at their own workplace.
Training and assessment delivered on behalf of Allens Training Pty Ltd RTO 90909.
The Mid North Coast Safety Handbook
This is the second edition of The Mid North Coast Safety Handbook, our growing collection of practical safety information for businesses, workers and organisations across our region.
The aim is simple:
Share useful safety knowledge that local businesses can actually put into practice.
Future editions will continue looking at the real-world safety challenges faced by workplaces across the Mid North Coast — from construction and emergency preparedness through to industry-specific risks, first aid, workplace compliance and preparing workers to respond when it matters.
Because safer workplaces aren't created by paperwork alone.
They're created when people understand the risks, know what to do and look out for one another.
SALT Training Academy — practical training for safer workplaces across the Mid North Coast.
