A Guide to Preparing an INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PLAN

A Practical Resource for Clubs and Centres

Australian Sailing December 2019

Disclaimer

This document provides general information and guidance relating to incident management practices

at sailing clubs and training centres, which was current at the time of production. The information

contained in this communication does not constitute advice and should not be relied on as such. This

resource may be affected by changes to legislation. It is not exhaustive in its coverage of rights or

obligations under any law.

Australian Sailing, its officers, employees and agents, do not accept liability, however arising,

including liability for negligence, for any loss arising from the use or reliance upon the content of this

paper. No liability or responsibility is accepted for the consequences of any inaccuracy, completeness

or currency of the material included in this paper, and persons relying upon it do so at their own risk,

absolutely.

Users of this template are encouraged to obtain professional advice on the relevant legislation and to

exercise their own skill and care in relation to any material contained in this paper. Use the table below to provide the version number, the author, the date of the version, the name of the

person providing approval, the date that it was approved, and a brief description of the reason for

creating a revised version.

Version

# Implemented

By Revision

Date Approved

By Approval

Date Reason

1.0 <Author name> <mm/dd/yy> <name> <mm/dd/yy> Initial Incident Management Plan draft

1.1 <Author name> <mm/dd/yy> <name> <mm/dd/yy> <reason>

Implementing an Incident Management Plan A club should accept that despite preparing and implementing a Risk Management Plan sometimes accidents do happen, and that it needs to be prepared for the possibility. To help with this, it is important that a club has a plan in place in case of such an accident. This plan is usually called an Incident Management Plan (IMP). This document will clearly describe the club’s procedures that need to be used should an incident occur. The IMP will normally map out topics such as those listed below but may vary depending on what the club’s activities are; offshore or inshore, dinghies or keelboats, even training or social activities. • Cover Page and Table of Contents • Charter or Terms of Reference • Organisational Chart showing what roles are at the club • Outline of responsibilities of each role • Communication Protocols • Review and Debriefs • Incident severity (escalation/delegation) • Crisis Management Centre • Emergency procedures, checklists or flowcharts • Safety/emergency equipment lists • Sailing areas and facility maps • Contact details for key people The plan needs to be maintained and shared with those people involved in running sailing/training activities. Copies may be kept throughout the club, and periodic briefings may be held to ensure people know what to do in case of emergency and in the lead up to a major event. You could also create a one-page quick reference guide highlighting the key points of the Incident Management Plan should an incident occur. This guide can be laminated and provided to officials, volunteers and safety boat operators during club/centre events. If an incident does occur, it is important to review how it was handled by the people in positions of responsibility at the time and reassess the relevance or applicability of the IMP. This guide is to assist clubs and centres prepare an IMP. Each IMP will need to be individually tailored and prepared for the circumstances, structure and people available at the club or centre If a starting point is needed, sample IMPs that are already in use can usually be sourced from other clubs. It is recommended that the State Association coordinate sharing of existing IMPs or contact your state Department of Sport and Recreation.

1. GUIDE TO PREPARING AN INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PLAN 1.1 Purpose of an Incident Management Plan The purpose of the Incident Management Plan (IMP) is to document and explain the roles and procedures the club has put in place to manage any incident that may occur during an event or activity, which requires emergency assistance. 1.2 How to create an Incident Management Plan This guide is provided to assist clubs and centres prepare an incident management plan. Your club may have the internal resources of volunteers or staff with expertise in this field to write one from the beginning. Alternatively, many major clubs or events have IMPs for their activities, and you may be able to source a sample from a similar club to yours to use as a starting point. Your State Association is best placed to coordinate the sharing of documents between clubs. You could also contact your State Department of Sport and Recreation for assistance. 1.3 What to include in an Incident Management Plan A club’s IMP will vary in the context of its activities and location, a club may even hold several different versions for major events, domestic events and training. It is up to each club to determine what is best for its own circumstances and develop its plan accordingly. Typically, an IMP may include the following: 1.3.1 Cover Page An IMP should have a clear cover page showing what it is. 1.3.2 Table of Contents A table of contents showing the sections and page numbers should be included. 1.3.3 Terms of Reference The Terms of Reference should outline the purpose of the IMP, the parameters within which it may be applied, what it considers to be an incident or emergency, and importantly who it applies to.

Other Agencies: AMSA, VMR Ambulance

1.3.4 Organisational Chart An organisational chart visually sets out the structure of personnel and their roles that are involved in any incident related operations. This will vary depending on the size of the club or event, or the focus of the activity; roles may be amalgamated or diversified depending to the club’s circumstances.

1.3.5 Outline of Responsibilities In the IMP the Club should provide details of what the expectations and parameters are for each role in its organisational chart. Guidance follows below:

• The Incident Director is responsible to the Club Committee / Board for the overall management of the incident and in particular managing the external communications in relation to incident. This includes relatives of event participants or trainees, media, sponsors and any other external stakeholders. The Incident Director will provide strategic support to the Incident Manager (IM) and ensure the Incident Management Team has adequate access to resources to be able to appropriately deal with an incident. An Incident Director will establish incident headquarters if a major incident eventuates. Typically, the Incident Director will be one of the senior officers of the club.

• The Incident Manager (IM) is responsible to the Incident Director for the operational involvement in the incident and will be responsible to the Police / Water Police and other response agencies. The Incident Manager is responsible for notifying the Incident Director in the case of a moderate incident. The Incident Manager is responsible for informing the Incident Director if a major incident develops and then subsequently to keep the Incident Director briefed on key developments throughout the Incident. It is recognized that fatigue is a factor to be avoided during the management of a protracted incident. The Incident Manager will

Incident Manager / Team Leader

Media Director

Race Officers Incident Management Team

Media Spokesperson

Media Team

Assistant Instructors, Mark Boats

Police / Water Police

Instructors

Incident Director

Club Manager

Club Flag Officers / Board

DSC Principal

take control of the incident, be responsible for all communications with the media in the case of a minor or moderate incident and needs to be careful not to get distracted by outside influences.

• The Race Officer may act as Incident Manager for the duration of minor incidents. The Race Officer is responsible to the Incident Manager for the operational management of moderate and major incidents until the Incident Manager has taken control. Thereafter the Race Officer will provide on water support as required by the Incident Manager. The Race Officer may well be the first person to notify the response agency of an incident and will be the main point of contact with the response agencies and other response stakeholders until the Incident Manager has taken control.

• The Instructor may also act as Incident Manager for the duration of minor incidents and play a similar role to the Race Officer in the case of an incident during a training activity.

• The Assistant Instructors and Mark Boats involved in a training activity or event will provide forward communications and assistance as requested by the Instructor or Race Officer.

• Incident Management Team (IMT) members undertake responsibilities as directed by the Incident Manager, such as maintain detailed logbooks, respond to enquiries other than media, maintain listening watch on HF, VHF, TV and domestic radio, and any other duties as directed by the Incident Manager.

• The Media Spokesperson may be a person with other roles, such as a Flag Officer, and the three roles shown above in many cases may be just one person. Importantly the Media Spokesperson will be the only person authorised to speak and liaise with the media on behalf of the club for the duration of an incident. The media runs on a news cycle and it should be expected that media interest will occur either immediately or within 48 hours from the incident. Here are some tips for dealing with the media during an incident or crisis:

o Before speaking to the media establish communications and an understanding with relevant authorities such as police

o Express sympathy, understanding and condolences. Keep in mind family, friends and witnesses have been through a traumatic experience, and the Club would like to focus on looking after their needs.

o Do not go into detail. State that the incident will be investigated by the Club and authorities.

o Be prepared to say you are unable to answer certain questions. However, avoid refusing to comment or repeating hearsay.

o Only convey facts known at the time. If in any doubt about certain details, do not include it in a statement.

o Explain that these situations can take time to resolve and investigate and thank the media for their patience and understanding.

• If the club or event is large enough to have a media team in place, the Media Director is

responsible to the Incident Director and oversees the media team. The Media Director may be required by the Incident Director to prepare a media strategy; provide media coaching for the Media Spokesperson; prepare Press Statements; manage media interviews; and coordinate any input that may be required in the case of special events.

1.3.6 Incident Management Team Duties The IMP should detail the duties and expectations of the Incident Management Team. Such duties may include:

• Coordinate the management of an incident concerning the safety of competitors in the race or participants in training activities

• Provide the liaison with other agencies (e.g. Police, Emergency Services) • Receive notification of, and undertake assessment of an incident • Coordinate the enquiry centre, if activated • Maintain communication with the racing fleet and co-ordinate the activities of race participants

as deemed necessary and appropriate • Control and coordinate media management activity

As and when an incident escalates to the point where large numbers of enquiries are expected from friends, relatives and the general public, the IMP may outline how the IMT may establish an Enquiry Centre and advise the media of the relevant contact number with a request that they notify the public of this arrangement, or make provision for the police to set up their own enquiry centre. Any stakeholder may make the notification of a potential situation which may be assessed as an 'emergency' situation or ‘incident’. The IMP may comment how notification of a situation for assessment may come from almost any source such as:

• Any competitor or competing boat • Local Volunteer Marine Rescue organisation • The Sailing and Assistant Instructors • Race Management team • Police or Rescue Coordination Centre - Australia • Media • Failure of a yacht to report • A Weather Report • Other.

Notification could be made by:

• Radio (HF or VHF). • Telephone/text message. • Media report. • Other.

The IMP should provide guidance on how the Incident Management Team will log notifications and what details should be included such as time, date, name of person reporting, telephone number or contact details and the report. Communication Protocols Communication protocols for any given party in the IMP need to be defined and may warrant their own section. This section should outline how communications during the time of an incident will be handled, such as the use of mobile phones or broadcast radio channels, and when external authorities, family or medical services should be contacted and by what means. Where possible, a separate Emergency Management / Communications Team should be appointed to the Incident Management Team.

Some tips for liaising with crew member’s emergency contact in an emergency situation. • Carefully consider the time that the emergency contact should be told of an incident. • It could be beneficial to have a set of scripted communication statements when speaking to

an emergency contact with the information available at the time. Especially if multiple emergency contacts need to be notified of an incident. This will ensure consistency across the information given out.

• Consider whether counselling services should be made available prior to the emergency contact being notified. For the emergency contact and/or the Race Officers and other volunteers involved with the incident.

1.3.7 Incident Severity (escalation/delegation) The IMP will assign responsibility, typically to the IM, for making an initial assessment of the level of the incident reported. The assessments may be classified as major, moderate or minor incidents. The IMP may describe how on receiving notification of an incident or circumstances that may lead to an 'emergency' situation, the IM will assess the situation and, if deemed appropriate, escalate it to the emergency services that are best equipped to deal with the circumstances. Under circumstances where a ‘Mayday’ or ‘Pan Pan’ call has been transmitted; the IM will be notified by the appropriate agency already managing the incident. The IMP may require that, when making an assessment of the situation, if the IM is in doubt as to the level of potential crisis involved, they shall make the more severe interpretation of the situation.

Assessment Response

MAJOR

Immediate Activate Incident Management Team Notify Police (Emergency Services) Notify Incident Director.

MODERATE Incident Management Team put on standby by IM Notify Police (Emergency Services) Notify Flag Officers.

MINOR IM on standby in case of escalation Incident report completed and filed No further action

1.3.8 Crisis Management Centre Event organisers or clubs may have assigned an area or room for crisis management. In smaller clubs or when running domestic activities, this may be the club’s sailing or general office. For larger or special events there may be a designated room or location. The IMP should describe where this is, what its purpose is, and how it is to be used. 1.3.9 Review and Debriefs The IMP should outline how the club will conduct a review of its procedures, or debrief, after each moderate or major incident.

• A review is usually chaired by the Incident Director or IM. • Debriefs should be well controlled and not be allowed to degenerate into a witch hunt or a

congratulatory exercise.

• In the case of a moderate or major incident it may be appropriate to arrange professional psychological support and counselling. If there is a risk that the incident has traumatised anyone involved or witnessing it. It is best to err on the side of caution in this regard and ensure a suitable professional can be on the scene quickly.

• The review outcomes need to be thoroughly documented and shared within the club. • The aim of the review is to examine the club, event or centre procedures, what went wrong

and what was done correctly. • Look at the reliability of information received, and the effectiveness of communications used.

How effective was the information received? How good was the equipment on hand during the emergency? Discuss any other relevant matters pertaining to the emergency.

• Identify the good points of the procedures and also the parts of the plan that did not work so well.

• Produce a final report that is signed and dated. • Modify the Club’s Incident Management Plan as required.

1.3.10 Safety Equipment Checklists Safety Equipment should be listed in the IMP so that people involved know what equipment is required to set up the designated IM room, but also what will be available and ready for use. This may be presented as a simple table as follows:

Emergency Control Committee Equipment • Copy of Incident Management Plan • TV set • Printer/Scanner, Phone(s) including chargers if necessary, preferably

dedicated to the management of the Emergency • Email • Relevant charts • HF and VHF transceivers • Sat phone • Stationery, including suitable log and notebooks for record keeping • Pens, pencils and highlighters. • Whiteboard and pens. • Key organisation and personnel contact details • Full details of participating yachts including emergency contact list for each

yacht. • Any other resources that may be required for efficient operation of the

Incident Management Plan e.g. extension cords and power banks. A club should modify or add to its checklist of equipment required to adequately control an emergency or incident.

1.3.11 Sailing Areas and Facility Maps It is important to describe where course or training areas are, and also the location of facilities ashore. Ideally this would be done using visual aids such as a diagram or chart. This is critical for those involved in an incident to know where to bring injured people, find key people outlined in the organisational chart, or to meet emergency services. A sample inclusion could be:

• Primary Evacuation Location for Ambulances or other emergency services: • Wharf A at 53 Greenpark Road on WNW corner of Club

1.3.12 Contacts Contact details for all parties mentioned in the IMP should be provided in a clear and detailed way. A sample table is provided below for guidance:

Name Telephone Radio Channel Club House Commodore Incident Director (by roster) Club Manager Club Media Officer Incident Manager Instructor Assistant Sailing Instructor Race Officer (by roster) Race Committee Vessel 2nd Race Committee Vessel Ambulance Police Water Police

AMSA Bureau of Meteorology Local VMR (Coastguard etc.) Harbour Control Commercial Vessels contact Add other contacts as required

1.3.13 Emergency Procedures, Checklists and Flowcharts Useful resources that may be incorporated into an IMP include standard operating procedures and checklists for the use of the people involved. These could range from the general daily preparation of safety equipment and related vessels, or details of how to act in the case of an incident. A sample procedure for a hypothetical scenario follows: Scenario: A small keelboat participating in an inshore race during the day runs aground and is stuck fast. One person falls into the water when the boat runs aground. The boat begins to take on water.

Immediate actions of the Instructor / Race Officer: • Ensure all other persons are on board and are safe • Commence emergency response rescue as per emergency rescue plan • Radio for any assistance required:

o State boat name and location, and the type of rescue assistance needed • Issue personal safety equipment to crew members and have other equipment to hand • Determine if other boats are in immediate area and contact if necessary • Clear equipment and fittings to enable access by rescue craft / persons • Keep rescue crew informed about current situation • If man over board recovery is not imminent, notify race control on radio channels or Water

Police on Channel 16 • Implement Incident Management Plan level as appropriate • Alert Incident Manager • Request ambulance if required

More advanced checklists may be provided for off the beach dinghy events, keel boat events, or even for the benefit of boat crews, such as those provided below:

• Sample Dinghy Event Checklist

Off-the-Beach Checklist Pre-Race Preparation Note: RO (Race Officer) = Off-the-Beach Race Officer

o As per RO / Rescue Boat Checklist including confirming if any First Aid trained personnel rostered on

o Confirm which IM and Incident Director are on roster o Procedure to be followed by all Race Officials (RO's) when NOTIFYING INCIDENTS o Immediately notify Incident Officer of nature and location of incident o Assess nature of incident and decide on Incident Priority Level

o If external emergency assistance Water Police direct - RO to coordinate assistance with Water Police

o RO/IM to keep a log of all calls and events relating to all incidents

Incident /Response (If in doubt on Priority - Escalate) Notification or observation of a MINOR INCIDENT

o Instruct support vessels to standby and assist as required and coordinate additional resources if appropriate

o Rescue boat to provide feedback to RO if further assistance is required o Storm Imminent - If instructed by RO notify fleet of impending storm and quickest safe

location to shelter o RO to reassess incident priority based on feedback and escalated priority level if required

Notification, observation or escalation to a MODERATE INCIDENT

o Call Water Police and request assistance as appropriate Note: Water Police will coordinate involvement of all other emergency response agencies

o RO advises IM of nature and location of incident o IM takes control of coordinating involvement as directed by Water Police o RO and rescue boats to provide assistance as appropriate until directed by IM of further

actions o Advise Incident Director of nature and potential outcome of incident o Storm Hits Fleet - Rescue Boats to overturn yachts and recover crew and advise IM/IO of

additional assistance required - IM to coordinate additional craft and involvement of Water Police

o IM assess appropriateness of current priority level and escalate if appropriate Notification, observation or escalation to a MAJOR INCIDENT

o Call Water Police and advise nature of incident and location o Provide support and assistance as required by Water Police - coordinated by IM o Contact Incident Director who will set up Incident HQ

• Sample Keelboat Event Checklist Keelboat Checklist Pre-Race Preparation Note: RO (Race Officer) = Principal Race Officer

o Undertake preparation as per any checklist and publish latest weather forecast o Confirm which IM and Incident Director are on roster

Procedure to be followed by all Race Officials (RO's) when NOTIFYING INCIDENTS o Immediately notify Incident Officer of nature and location of incident o Assess nature of incident and decide on Incident Priority o If yacht requires external emergency assistance Water Police direct - RO to coordinate

assistance with Water Police o RO/IM to keep a log of all calls and events relating to all Incidents

Incident /Response (If in doubt on Priority - Escalate)

Notification or observation of a MINOR INCIDENT o Instruct committee vessel to standby and assist as required and coordinate additional

resources if appropriate o Race committee boats to provide feedback to RO if further assistance is required

o RO to reassess incident priority level based on feedback and escalate priority level if required

Notification, observation or escalation to a MODERATE INCIDENT

o Call Water Police and request assistance as appropriate Note: Water Police will coordinate involvement of all other emergency response agencies

o RO advises IM of nature and location of incident o IM takes control of coordinating involvement as directed by Water Police o RO and race committee boats to provide assistance as appropriate until directed by IM of

further actions o Advise Incident Director of nature and potential outcome of incident o Potential threat of extreme weather - RO considers postponement or change to course

selection if race has not commenced - Advise fleet by radio VHF and HF o RO to assess appropriateness of current priority level and escalate if appropriate

Notification, observation or escalation to a MAJOR INCIDENT

o Call Water Police and advise nature of incident and location o Provide support and assistance as required by Water Police - coordinated by IM o Contact Incident Director who will set up Incident HQ as per IMP

• Sample Checklist for a boat’s crew or skipper

Incident Guide for Skippers PRE-EVENT PREPARATION BY THE SKIPPER AND CREW

o Ensure that your Special Regulations Equipment Compliance Form is current and appropriate for the category of the event

o Ensure that all required Safety Equipment is on board and in good working condition as declared on your Compliance Form

o Check event entry rules to establish if there are any specific safety requirements o Have appropriately experienced crew on board to cope with the conditions likely to be

experienced o Brief your crew on emergency response in the case of an incident including location of

Safety Equipment and roles and procedures to be followed o Ensure your crew is familiar with your yacht's Man-Over-Board (MOB) recovery

procedures. It is recommended to practice this before the event. o Have crew on board with a Senior First Aid Certificate (Note requirements of YA Special

Regulations) o Have crew onboard with a Marine Radio Operators Certificate of Proficiency (Note

requirements of YA Special Regulations) o Check position of preferred evacuation locations for injured persons.

NOTIFICATION OF INCIDENTS FOR THE EVENT o Where a yacht requires emergency response, the yacht should use the standard marine

emergency call procedures (MAYDAY or PAN-PAN) o MAYDAY - Only used if a vessel or person is in grave and imminent danger and requires

immediate assistance o PAN-PAN - Used when a Mayday distress signal is not fully justified - vessel requires

assistance but is not in grave or imminent danger or if an urgent safety message concerning safety of the vessel or person

o If the incident does not merit a Mayday or Pan-Pan call, but emergency assistance is required, call the Water Police as the primary agency responsible for coordinating emergency response. Water Police can be contacted: on VHF Ch 16 or HF 4125, 6215 & 8291 or TELEPHONE ………………………………

o In the case of an incident not requiring Emergency Response contact: The Club on Ch 16 (Calling) … (Working) or HF 4483 or on (..)…………….; or

o Dependent on which vessel is on duty: (Boat phone number …………………)

The club should modify checklists as appropriate for its circumstances, resources and activities. A club could also create a one-page quick reference guide highlighting the key points of the Incident Management Plan should an incident occur. This guide can be laminated and provided to officials, volunteers and safety boat operators during club/centre events. 1.4 Incident Reporting

In many states major and moderate incidents must be reported to the State Maritime Safety Authority. Clubs need to be familiar with the Regulations in each state and comply with them. An important role in administering the sport of sailing is the review of incidents to ensure any lessons are captured. This will provide for an improved sport with better safety outcomes. The value of gaining statistical data and the ability to quantify how safe the sport currently is cannot be understated. To have this data enables the identification of adverse trends or specific issues that might require some remedial actions and ideally prevent recurrence or further accidents. A Club or Centre should keep a record of all incidents and should regularly review this to determine opportunities to improve its Risk Management Plan. 1.5 Incident Investigation and Review

Australian Sailing recommends that in the case of significant damage or injury the matter be investigated, and an independent inquiry be conducted to determine the contributing factors and the lessons to be learned. The following draws on best practice examples from within the sport and should help any Club or Centre to understand the process and carry out an inquiry into a significant incident.

• The Inquiry should not apportion blame as this is the responsibility of the maritime regulatory authorities or police when necessary.

• Significant injury may range from admission to hospital to loss of life. • Significant damage may range from major damage to the loss of a vessel. • The Club, Organising Authority or Discover Sailing Centre is responsible for convening the

Inquiry. • Where the Club, Organising Authority or Discover Sailing Centre is unable to conduct an

Inquiry, it should contact its State for an appropriate level of support and guidance. • The Inquiry should be convened as soon as practicable after the incident to ensure it has

access to relevant and current information that is fresh in the minds of those involved.

• The conduct of a police or coroner inquiry shall not preclude or delay the conduct of an independent Inquiry recommended by this policy.

• The convening authority should provide a Terms of Reference that: o appoints an independent chairman o appoints other independent Inquiry members o states the reason for, and the focus of the Inquiry o confirms the Inquiry will not apportion blame o promulgates the procedures for the Inquiry; written submissions, interviews, privacy o provides the timeframe for the conduct and findings of the Inquiry o specifies expected outcomes; a report including procedural disclosure, findings and

recommendations • The convening authority should provide appropriate secretarial support to the Inquiry where

practicable. • Recommendations are to be based on the findings of the Inquiry. • Recommendations may address regulation, policy, training, administrative, technical or

cultural aspects of sailing. • The final report of the inquiry shall be:

o provided to the State Yachting Association and Australian Sailing o made available to the public

• Each State and Australian Sailing is available to assist the convening authority with any aspect of the Inquiry

1.6 Revision and Responsibility The IMP needs to be regularly reviewed by a person or panel who has been specifically assigned the responsibility for doing so. It is recommended that reviews be reported to the committee or board so that the club’s directors are aware of the effectiveness of the club’s safety procedures and make any decisions to assist their development.