Emergency Management Plan

Purpose. This plan sets out how Ridgeway prepares for, responds to and recovers from emergencies including fire, riot, escape, hostage, medical emergency, bushfire, flood and loss of utilities.

1.Scope and activation

This plan applies to the whole site and to escorts in progress. It is activated by the General Manager or, in their absence, the Senior Officer in charge, who becomes the Incident Controller until relieved. Activation must be logged by the central monitoring station with the time.

2.Command structure

The Incident Controller directs the response from the emergency control room. The Security and Intelligence Manager leads the emergency response team. The Custodial Operations Manager manages prisoner movements and counts. The WHS and Wellbeing Manager coordinates medical response and welfare. Corporate Services manages communication with the contract manager, families and media through the General Manager.

3.Emergency types and responses

Each emergency type has a response card in the control room and on every unit. Fire requires immediate evacuation of the affected area to the designated assembly point and a count. Riot and hostage situations require containment and negotiation before any tactical response. Escape triggers the perimeter lockdown and notification to police within ten minutes.

• Fire and smoke
• Riot or major disturbance
• Escape or attempted escape
• Hostage or barricade
• Medical emergency or death in custody
• Bushfire, flood or storm
• Loss of power, water or communications

4.Counts and accounting for people

In every emergency the first priority after life safety is to account for every prisoner, staff member, contractor and visitor. Unit officers must conduct a count at the assembly point and report to the central monitoring station. The emergency is not stood down until the count is reconciled.

5.External agencies

The Incident Controller will notify police, fire and ambulance as required and will brief the contract manager within 30 minutes of activation. Where the emergency is a death in custody, the scene must be preserved for the coroner and police and no one other than medical responders will enter.

6.Training and exercises

Every officer must complete emergency response training at induction and annually. A full-scale exercise for at least one emergency type will be conducted each year and a desktop exercise each quarter. Outcomes are recorded and the plan updated within 30 days.

7.Recovery

After stand down, the General Manager will convene a recovery meeting within 24 hours to restore routines, repair damage, support affected staff and prisoners and complete the reports required by the contract and the Inspector of Custodial Services.