WHS Regulation 2025, Part 3.2

Regulation

Every workplace — no exemptions

Applies To

Evacuation, notification, first aid

Must Include

Regular intervals, at least annually

Testing

Annually and after any emergency

Review

Readily accessible to all workers

Accessibility

You need an emergency plan for every workplace you operate. The WHS Regulation 2025 requires every PCBU to prepare an emergency plan for the workplace. This requirement applies to all industries, all business sizes, and all types of workplaces. The emergency plan must address all reasonably foreseeable emergencies that could arise at the workplace, including fire, explosion, chemical spill, gas leak, structural collapse, severe weather events, workplace violence, medical emergency, and any other emergency relevant to your specific workplace and operations. Construction sites must have emergency plans that address the specific risks of the construction work being undertaken, including crane collapse, trench collapse, electrical contact, fall from height, and exposure to hazardous atmospheres. Manufacturing facilities must address machinery incidents, chemical releases, and fire. Offices must address fire evacuation, bomb threat, and medical emergency. The plan must be specific to your workplace and cannot be a generic document.

While every workplace needs an emergency plan, some workplaces face escalated emergency planning requirements. Major hazard facilities under Schedule 15 of the WHS Regulation must prepare detailed emergency plans as part of their safety case, including coordination with external emergency services. Construction projects that involve high risk construction work must include emergency planning in the WHS management plan and in relevant SWMS. Workplaces that store dangerous goods above threshold quantities must prepare emergency plans that address the specific hazards of those goods and must notify emergency services of the types and quantities stored. Confined space work requires specific emergency response and rescue procedures including trained rescue personnel and rescue equipment. Workplaces in bushfire-prone areas, cyclone zones, or flood-affected areas must address natural disaster scenarios. Remote workplaces must address the additional challenges of emergency response when external emergency services may take hours to arrive.

The emergency plan must include the emergency procedures for the workplace including an effective response to each type of foreseeable emergency. It must include the evacuation procedures for the workplace. It must include notification procedures for emergency services at the earliest opportunity. It must include the communication procedures for the workplace during an emergency. It must identify the emergency service organisations that may need to respond. It must include the medical treatment and assistance arrangements for the workplace. It must include procedures for testing the emergency plan including the frequency of testing. The plan must nominate trained emergency wardens responsible for coordinating the emergency response. It must include site plans showing evacuation routes, assembly points, fire equipment locations, first aid facilities, and hazardous material storage locations. The plan must be readily accessible to all workers and must be communicated through induction and regular training. The plan must be reviewed at least annually and after any emergency or significant change to the workplace.

An emergency plan that has never been tested provides no confidence that it will work when needed. The WHS Regulation 2025 requires the PCBU to test the emergency plan at suitable intervals to ensure its effectiveness. Best practice is to conduct a full evacuation drill at least annually, with desktop exercises and partial drills at more frequent intervals. Testing should verify that evacuation routes are clear and functional, that assembly points are adequate, that communication systems work, that wardens know their roles, that workers can locate and operate fire equipment, and that the notification process for emergency services is effective. Workers must be trained in emergency procedures during induction and at regular intervals thereafter. Training must cover the location of exits, assembly points, fire equipment, and first aid facilities, as well as the specific emergency procedures for the workplace. Records of emergency drills, including the date, participants, observations, and corrective actions, must be kept.