Highways Emergency Response Plan Case Study

At a Glance

Challenges

A seasoned organisation with associated policies and procedures that were inadequate in some areas.
Overcoming embedded organisational approaches.
We were introducing new concepts and terminology.
The nature and scope of potential incidents.
Interoperability with other agencies.
Embedding the aide memoir and training for the long-term benefit of the personnel.
Diverse needs of the client.

Benefits

Effective interoperability capability with the Emergency Services and other agencies.
Community resilience and awareness.
Minimised disruption to the department.
Effective coordination during and after an event.
Improved effective response times.
Enhanced public confidence.
Greater team cohesion and effectiveness.
Protection of life and property.
Effective preparation for events and incidents.
Greater capability to respond to events.
Improved command structure.
Clarity of roles and responsibilities.
Enhanced evidence gathering.
Improved post incident management

Introduction

Ubique Risk Management was contracted by a metropolitan city council in the North West of England to create their Highways Department’s Emergency Response Plan, and training for Managers.

Objective

Ubique created a bespoke Emergency Response Plan for the client’s Highways Department in an Aide Memiore format for ease of use. In addition, we designed and delivered tailored training on the Joint Decision Model (JDM), Joint Emergency Service Interoperability Project (JESIP), and Decision-Making logging.

Solution

Following initial discussions surrounding the overall Emergency protocols and readiness of the Highways Department. We suggested that rather than a traditional Emergency Plan the focus be on specific areas that appear to require development. The Highways Department was well versed in responding to emergencies at various levels and had provided a response to emergencies affecting the highways for many years 365 days a year and 24 hours a day.

With the established emergency nature of the department, a formal plan in the traditional form would likely not have been the most advantageous format. It was clear that the department would benefit from a nationally recognisable emergency structure that is interoperable with sister agencies.

Ubique developed the Highways Department arrangements to establish a formal call-out structure that consisted of recognisable parallel command levels such as Strategic (Gold), Tactical (Silver), and Operational (Bronze). This was so that it would be robust enough for both normal working hours and outof-hours functions, regardless of the scale of an incident that can be scaled both up, and down depending upon the size of the incident.

This enabled and empowered managers to work alongside other internal departments and external organisations seamlessly and at the correct level in the correct place.

“This is great as a logical overview of how we should be managing incidents. It’s useful and self-explanatory. Everyone involved in incidents needs to know this inside and out, to make us treat major incidents with a little more thought, an audit trail, and learning!”

Claire Palmer
Highways Network Management Lead

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