Times have certainly changed. We’ve all seen the world rapidly shift, with the concept of working away from the office go from an anomaly to the new norm. Homes are the new office, and offices are becoming more and more of an option to visit. With this ever-changing landscape new questions are arising especially in areas surrounding how we should best prepare for new kinds of emergencies.

The fact is no matter where your team is working from, they’re still working. Whether it be at home or at the office, emergencies are COVID free affairs and will strike without warning when we least expect them. With that comes obligations for any employer or manager to ensure their team is safe in any emergency.

Outside of the office, emergency preparedness has never been more important for facility managers and property managers than it is today. With residents staying home now more than ever for work, it is imperative that compliance is maintained in accordance with AS3745-2010.

The fact is no matter where your team is working from, they’re still working … emergency preparedness has never been more important

Let’s imagine a scenario for an ECO member of an organisation. Their state has gone into lock-down for a period of 21 days. As a result of the lock-down, their employer has decided that rather than complete compliance training through a digital webinar, they would instead cancel it for a later date when everyone could attend in person.

This ECO member’s last day of preparedness training was more than 6 months ago and at this point their memory of how to respond to emergencies has naturally begun to wane. Now that lock-down restrictions have lifted, they’re enjoying their first week back in the office with their co-workers. Things are running smoothly until one Thursday afternoon, where an unexpected yet immediate fire emergency emerges from the toaster as someone negligently forgets to turn the appliance off.

Amid panic, the ECO member scrambles to remember the training they were taught more than half a year ago but can’t seem to remember exactly what to do.

The situation unsurprisingly goes poorly.

Now imagine had her employer decided that they would commit to their training date and complete their Emergency Compliance training over webinar. I’m sure we can all see that situation playing out extremely differently with a well-prepared ECO member to take charge.

It is irrelevant whether individuals are working from home or from the office, whether training is performed in person or digitally, or whether an emergency is expected.

Compliance training is an absolute must, especially in a volatile working world like we have today; the above example makes that surprisingly clear and is only one of many possible scenarios.

For this reason, we want to remind our amazing clients that ECO members must be regularly trained in accordance with AS3745-2010, at intervals no greater than 6 months apart.

What if your business is a smaller size? In a scenario where there are less staff on hand, it is imperative that more rather than less staff receive training to ensure that there is always ECO coverage available during any emergency.

Finally, at First 5 Minutes we not only want to make sure you are ready for an emergency but are also running a compliant business. Whilst we acknowledge that less staff may be available during training days, we offer a myriad of delivery methods to help you and your team achieve maximum compliance in the way that suits you best.

We hope that everyone is staying safe during these turbulent times and continue to ensure the safety of those around them.

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