An incident or failure within your business premises is likely to happen unexpectedly and the way in which workers act in these situations, along with providing with adequate alarm systems and communication devices will ease the prevention, action, and reduction of damage.

Either if alert systems in place can predict a failure or if an unavoidable incident occurs, there are a few things we need to take into account in order to solve the issue effectively.

5 tips to know how to act in these situations:

1.    Keep calm and assess the situation.

2.    Put into practice the key steps in the incident management plan.

3.    Appropriate management of critical alarm without delay.

4.    Notify the incident to a centralized system.

5.    Elaborate a posterior report of the incident.

1. Keep calm and assess the situation

It is not that rare for people who are well trained on how to respond to an incident, that when that critical moment occurs, they panic and overlook vital steps to control the situation. This is the reason why workers should be taught techniques to keep calm at critical moments as ease the access to a point of contact, which allows people to communicate an incident in case the person in charge for any reason cannot handle the situation.

2. Put into practice the key steps in the incident management plan

Thorough alarm management systems guides that clearly state how to act when an incident occurs should be handed out as the alarm system is set in place. It is essential that staff on-premises, as well as the people in charge of directly respond to an alarm going off, are aware of the key steps in order to primarily respond to an issue. A prompt response, assisting the rest of the people in the setting and protecting the equipment and machinery from further damage will be key to the successful management of an incident.

3. Manage critical alarm without delay

Always keep in mind that prevention is better than cure. An optimised system of communication handsets, like smartphone applications, enables prompt and effective performance when an incident happens. A proper alarm system is designed to alert the workers and safety officers on premises of potential risks and issue a range of warnings before the actual incident takes place. However, often a failure on-premises or a lone worker accident is impossible to foresee, so prompt and immediate measures of alert should be put in place to ensure any issue is managed without delay. Failing in acting effectively when an alarm or alert is raised, can cause the issue to escalate along with severe damage to people, setting and equipment.

4. Notify an incident to a centralised system

If an incident occurs, either to a lone worker or failure of a machine, the alarm system trigger a series of warnings that can be easily activated from a lone worker handset. The alert system will notify an Automated Incident Manager through a number of devices as telephony or PC. Machines set in a plant or in a factory implement the same system, so if there is an emerging failure, this centralized system will be reported immediately through different interfaces so the Alarm management team is able to deal with the issue quickly and effectively.

5. Elaborate a posterior report of the incident

Once an incident occurs and it is sorted out, it is highly recommendable to request a report as feedback from all the staff, employees, incident management officers, etc. Elaborating this report is essential in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the alarm system and implement an upgraded plan based on assessing the damage and loss occasioned by the existing incident and how it can be improved to avoid a subsequent issue.

Article written by Raquel Rozada, London-based copywriter.