Safety Coordination with Local Authorities

SACPCMP PrCM Challenges Report Focus: Risk Management (Including SHE Management) 🤔Challenges Experienced:🤔 My construction team and I faced several significant challenges in the notification of construction work, primarily related to safety: 1. Incomplete Safety Documentation🚨: The initial notification package lacked critical safety information, such as comprehensive safety plans, risk assessments, and emergency response protocols. This posed a substantial safety risk and non-compliance with regulatory standards. 2. Communication Delays🙆: Coordination with DOL experienced unexpected delays, which threatened to disrupt the project's safety planning and execution. 💡Solution/Intervention:⏩ To address these safety-related challenges, I took the following steps: 1. Safety Documentation Enhancement📝: I immediately initiated a thorough review of the safety documentation and engaged the project team to provide the missing safety details. This involved revising safety plans, conducting comprehensive risk assessments, and enhancing emergency response protocols to ensure robust safety compliance. 2. Proactive Safety Communication📢: I proactively reached out to the DOL to expedite the safety communication process. This included regular follow-ups, status updates, and clarification of any outstanding safety issues. 🏆Outcome of My Intervention:🎯 The safety-focused intervention yielded positive outcomes: 1. Comprehensive Safety Documentation✅: Through collaborative efforts, we successfully enhanced the safety documentation, addressing all regulatory safety requirements. This not only ensured safety compliance but also improved overall project safety planning, resulting in enhanced safety measures throughout the project. 2. Timely Safety Approvals✅: Proactive safety communication with the DOL facilitated faster safety approvals. This helped us regain lost time and ensured that safety measures were in place before the project's execution, preventing potential safety incidents.

With summer Holidays ending and in preparation of rainfall periods, Community Management , Property Management and Facilities Management entities have time to act proactively to safeguard residents and reduce risks. Early precaution is key to avoiding costly damages and ensuring community and/or Property resilience. Property and Community Management needs to focus on a strong communication strategy, keeping residents informed of safety guidelines, emergency contacts, and preventive actions. Coordination with local authorities and emergency services is vital, alongside awareness campaigns and a dedicated emergency hotline for residents. It would be good to remind customers on the benefits and importance of their content insurance as well. For Facilities Management teams it is time to conduct thorough inspections of drainage systems, rooftops, and basements, while preparing detailed requirement lists to ensure readiness. Procuring essential tools such as pumps, sandbags, and generators, and scheduling preventive maintenance for electrical and mechanical systems will minimize disruptions. Joint efforts should, as far as possible, incorporate simulation drills, establish centralized crisis units, and ensure contingency plans are regularly updated in light of past experiences. Collectively, these actions can enhance preparedness and safeguard communities throughout the rainfall events and seasonal weather fluctuations.

As a border local authority, Monaghan County Council (Ireland) values and embraces practical cooperation with local authorities north of the border where there is mutual benefit in terms of safety, health and wellbeing and prosperity for the communities we serve. This practical cooperation is demonstrated through a recent research project called, Advancing Cross Border Public Safety Messaging, in which the project team consisted of Monaghan County Council (Ireland) as the lead, partnering with Fermanagh & Omagh District Council and the Cross Border Emergency Management Group, with a research team from the International Centre for Local and Regional Development. As society grapples with emerging new technologies and increasing demands, it is during an emergency that the public on both sides of the border will seek concise, fact-based information from a trustworthy source to enable good judgment. How this messaging is delivered will impact on the outcome of the emergency as it evolves and is managed. Effective public safety messaging concerns the dissemination of reliable and accurate information and building good relationships that are based on trust. In terms of Monaghan County Council’s involvement and perspective, County Monaghan is in a unique geographical position as it shares the border with three Counties and four District Councils and has almost 100 of the 270 crossings with Northern Ireland. The border has a unique political, economic and social fabric, with relationships which are interwoven through shared experiences, where the importance of language and terminology influences the effectiveness of communication and how messages are delivered. International good-practice informs us that cross-border regions face specific challenges in emergency management, and we are no different. Legislative, policy and institutional differences mean that effective and coherent responses to emergency incidents are dependent on the depth and quality of cross-border interaction and cooperation. This research demonstrates the need for and value of cross-border collaboration, building enduring relationships and also shows the commitment of all involved to secure and protect the people of the region, regardless of which side of the border they may be on. Important recommendations are to entrust key emergency personnel in their specific field of work to communicate with the public and to prepare joint messaging protocols and, in the case of prolonged incidents (e.g. a pandemic or severe weather event), procedures should be introduced to ensure public safety messaging in each jurisdiction is kept as consistent as possible. The research was funded by the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Defence - Office of Emergency Planning, under the Shared Island Programme. #CrossBorderCooperation #EmergencyManagement #Monaghan #FermanaghandOmagh

I've started working with a few young outdoor events - in their first or second year of operations. Event organisers that are cutting their teeth in the outdoor event industry. We've had a few conversations recently around what should be done, and in what order. So here's a very basic sequence of work if you're getting started. 1️⃣ Make a plan. What's the site layout, how many stages, what date and how many people are you aiming for? 2️⃣ Site feasibility assessment. Is your chosen site capable of safely accommodating the audience numbers you need? What challenges will you face? This might be emergency evacuation, using the road network or dealing with boggy ground... 3️⃣ Licence. Get your premises licence application in. This will indicate what conditions you need to comply with, and start your relationship with the local authority. 4️⃣ Write the first draft of your Event Safety Management Plan. This should include an event risk assessment and emergency planning. This will start to lay out the framework that you and your contractors need to comply with. 5️⃣ Engage and consult with stakeholders. This might include suppliers, the land owner, neighbours and your local Safety Advisory Group. 6️⃣ Refine, update and improve your plans as you gather feedback and information. Make sure you share the updates with your stakeholder group. For more info and advice around event safety management, give me a follow 🔔 I share advice, tips and updates regularly #safetyacumen #healthandsafety #safetyculture #eventprofs #eventmanagement #safetyfirst