Emergency Management
At St Joseph's School, the board ensures that the school is a physically and emotionally safe place where risks to health and safety (both physical and mental) are eliminated or minimised (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015; Education and Training Act 2020). This requires having policies and procedures to manage and respond to a range of emergencies. The board as the 
PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) has a duty to prepare, maintain, and implement an emergency plan (Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016). Our emergency planning, preparation, and response supports us to keep our school community safe and return to normal school operations as soon as possible after an emergency.
Health and Safety at Work regulations require PCBUs to have emergency plans.
Under these regulations, PCBUs are required to ensure there is an up-to-date, effective emergency plan for the workplace.
An emergency management plan must contain:
- emergency procedures, including:
- an effective response to an emergency
- evacuation procedures
- procedures for notifying emergency services at the earliest opportunity
- medical treatment and assistance procedures
- procedures to effectively communicate between the person/people authorised by the PCBU to coordinate the emergency response and everyone else at the school
- plans for testing emergency procedures, including planned frequency of drills
- plans for informing, training, and instructing staff about implementing emergency procedures.
As part of our emergency management plan, the PCBU must have regard to all relevant matters, including:
- the nature of the work being carried out
- the nature of any hazards
- the size and location of the school
- the number and composition of school staff.
The emergency management plan must be implemented in the event of an emergency.
The PCBU is required to keep the emergency management plan up to date to ensure it remains effective.
Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 (s. 14)
The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 defines and outlines the health and safety responsibilities of different types of duty holders within a workplace.
A PCBU is a "person conducting a business or undertaking". At St Joseph's School, the whole board is the PCBU, including the principal. If events, activities, or services involve more than one PCBU, then PCBUs work together to establish responsibilities and actions for health and safety.
In the event of a civil defence emergency, the school works cooperatively with local authorities. The school may be requisitioned to be used as a relief centre.
Roles and responsibilities
The board is required to develop and maintain an effective school emergency management plan. The board delegates to the principal the responsibility for keeping the school emergency plan up to date.
The principal assures the board every term that the school has an up-to-date emergency plan, including pandemic planning, emergency/evacuation procedures, lockdowns, notification, duty of care for students, and testing procedures. See Review Schedule and Board Assurances.
We identify an emergency management team to manage and coordinate our response to emergencies. Our team includes the principal, designated board member(s) and senior management, and any other designated staff. Members of the emergency management team are trained and offered support as needed. We meet as needed to identify key roles and responsibilities and plan our response. This includes allocating other designated staff responsibilities to carry out during an emergency and planning for sufficient cover if any of the emergency management team are unavailable during an emergency. We have a designated spokesperson for any media contact – see Media and Publicity.
The "emergency management team", which may also be known by other names (e.g. emergency response group, emergency response team, management team), may include:
- incident controller – overall control over managing the emergency and making key decisions
- operations – managing key processes related to evacuation procedures and liaising with emergency services
- logistics – providing and maintaining facilities, services, and supplies
- planning/intelligence – monitoring the situation and making future plans
- communications/media spokesperson – liaising with parents/caregivers, external groups, and communicating with the media
- additional needs liaison – ensuring supports are in place with students, staff, and other school community members with additional needs.
The allocation of roles and responsibilities within the team is based on a variety of factors, including staff and board expertise, the nature of different emergency events, and the size and location of the school.
See Planning and Preparing for Emergencies 
(Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga)
Emergency management plan
Our school emergency management plan outlines how we prepare for and respond to emergencies. We share our emergency management plan and procedures, as appropriate, with staff, students, and other members of the school community (e.g. training, health and safety induction, drills). We activate the plan when an emergency event occurs. We have specific procedures to manage different emergencies but we recognise that every emergency is unique and that evacuation and emergency procedures may require modification depending on the circumstances. We expect all members of our school community to follow instructions from staff during an emergency.
Our planning is informed by:
- Ministry of Education guidelines (see Resources)
- other relevant school policies and procedures
Our planning is supported by relevant school policies and procedures including, but not limited to:
- school-specific environmental factors and contingencies
We identify likely risks and scenarios based on our unique context, and ensure we have appropriate procedures to deal with these. This includes considering whether our school:
- is in an urban or rural setting, near a motorway or end of a road, or near a body of water
- is in a high risk area for flooding, volcanic ash, earthquakes, and/or tsunamis
- is located near a mental health facility or prison
- is situated in the same area or site as another education provider
- is single or multi-level
- has new or old buildings
- has multiple buildings across the site, includes a hostel or boarding house
- has a sports field, pool, technology lab, gymnasium
- has specific transport arrangements for students
- has third party arrangements (e.g. regular external users of school site).
We also take into account staffing and student population (e.g. ratio of staff to students, supervision and additional support needs).
Our plan includes:
- the roles and responsibilities of our emergency management team and any other staff
- contact and communication information for emergency services
- our emergency procedures, that outline how we will prepare for and manage emergencies (including drills, communication, and reunification)
- how key resources and information will managed and accessed during an emergency (e.g. keys, site plans, first aid and emergency supplies, contact information for parents/caregivers)
- processes for managing and reporting injuries and illness (e.g. medical treatment sites, equipment, and storage)
- support, wellbeing, and cultural considerations, including additional or high health needs
The board, as the PCBU, has a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all students and staff, including those with additional or high health needs. They are also responsible for the health and safety of other people on site, including visitors and contractors. We expect visitors and contractors to inform the school of any additional or high health needs.
Students and staff
Our emergency management plan addresses the diverse needs of our students and staff with medical, physical, emotional, and sensory needs. We recognise that students and staff with disabilities who have difficulty moving, hearing, seeing, communicating, and/or learning may need specific support related to their disability during an emergency.
Individual or safety plans may be developed, including:
- consideration given to being part of large crowds during evacuations
- managing sensory noise (e.g. sirens)
- designating a person to support the individual with additional needs (e.g. ensuring they are safe in an earthquake)
- supporting them to follow instructions in an emergency (e.g. being quiet during lockdowns, using a buddy system to support those with hearing impairments, other communication supports)
- having medication/medical equipment (e.g. for those with respiratory conditions) and ensuring emergency supplies cater for different dietary/food requirements.
See Prepare for an emergency or traumatic incident (Ministry of Education) – "Planning and Preparing for Emergencies"
- how we will review our emergency plan and procedures.
We keep an up-to-date printed copy of our emergency plan and procedures. We keep the printed hard copy in the school office. Twice a year, the office administrator checks that the printed procedures are available and up to date.
Emergency contact and communication
As part of our emergency management planning we develop a communication plan which outlines:
- who is responsible for communications
- who we will need to contact prior to, during, and after an emergency
- how we will communicate with our school community (e.g. communication channels and what information will be shared).
The principal is in charge of overseeing emergency communications, but may delegate this to other board or staff members.
Our communication plan also intends to:
- outline our expectations of staff, parents/caregivers, and students in an emergency, including:
- any instructions issued by the school that parents/caregivers must follow (e.g. not coming to the school to see or collect their children during a lockdown)
- any school protocols about the use of mobile phones and other devices in an emergency
- explain how parents/caregivers can be reunited with their children in the event of emergency closure
- remind parents/caregivers to let the school know who is authorised to collect their student in the event of emergency closure.
We keep up to date printed list of emergency contacts for staff and students and the contact details of emergency, essential, and other external contacts (e.g. local police station, medical centre, insurer, Ministry of Education). The office administrator is responsible for maintaining up-to-date contact lists, and parents/caregivers are reminded twice a year to update their contact information. Contact lists are kept in printed form in the office and are available on the student management system.
Emergency supplies
As part of our emergency management planning, we ensure we have appropriate emergency supplies that are readily accessible in an emergency. This may include medical/hygiene supplies, food and water, and other communication equipment. We regularly review the contents of our emergency supplies and replace items as needed.
The school has emergency supplies (different from our day-to-day first aid supplies) that are kept in the school office. Our emergency supplies are calculated based on the number of staff, students, and visitors that may be on site.
Office staff ensure the supplies are checked and maintained, and are responsible for bringing supplies to any evacuation drill or event.
We also have adequate first aid supplies, and are prepared to administer first aid and manage injuries and illness – see First Aid Training and Supplies and Managing Injuries and Illness.
Recording and reviewing emergencies
We have processes in place to support our school community and check property is safe before resuming school operations after an emergency. See After an Emergency.
We record the actions we take during an emergency event and debrief and evaluate our response. We update our emergency management plan and procedures to strengthen and improve our processes, as needed. We also debrief and evaluate our response after every drill.
We review our emergency policies and procedures every three years – see Review Schedule and Board Assurances.
The principal assures the board that the school has an up-to-date emergency plan, including pandemic planning, emergency/evacuation procedures, lockdowns, notification, duty of care for students, and testing procedures. See Review Schedule and Board Assurances..
Legislation
- Education and Training Act 2020
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015
- Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016
- Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002
Resources
: Term 4 2025, Term 2 2022
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