Understanding the risk environment

Table of contents

Module 1 – Prevention and preparedness | Understanding the risk environment

Understanding your practice’s risk environment is vital in developing a truly useful emergency response plan. Research and record:

potential risks to your practice,
the likelihood that these risks will eventuate,
the potential impact of the identified risks,
mitigation strategies, and
contingency plans.

When considering potential risks that your practice may be exposed to, aim to be specific. Focus on your practice’s unique environment and mode of operation. While taking inspiration from another practice’s list of risks or a ready-made list from an online source can be a helpful way to make a start, take the time to think about events that have potential to occur in your specific setting.

To begin identifying risks, themes to consider include:

Your practice’s location and accessibility.
- What’s the climate like in your area?
- Is your area prone to certain natural disasters?
- What do the landscape and surroundings of your practice look like? What about your car park? Are there large trees or unstable objects within or surrounding the property?
- How easy is it to get to your practice? Would a road closure or blockage mean that patients wouldn’t be able to access your physical practice? If so, will you consider temporarily co-locating with another practice or health service, moving to telehealth-only appointments or even becoming a mobile practice?
Your practice’s history.
- has your practice experienced an emergency or disaster of any form in the past (including before your time at the practice, if applicable)?
- Do you know how, when or with what your practice was built?
Your practice’s power and internet supply.
- How heavily does your practice rely on an external power source? If your power source became unavailable, what would be affected?
- How heavily do you rely on a steady internet connection? What happens if you cannot access the internet?
Your practice’s information security.
- Are you susceptible to cyberattacks? If you use computers or laptops in any capacity, the answer is ‘yes’.
- How is your practice information stored? All storage methods come with risk, but what are those risks?
The possibility of a terrorist attack or other public disaster.

Involve your team in the continuous risk identifying process. Different team members will have unique insights based on their roles, responsibilities and experiences.

Take action

Develop a risk table for your practice, detailing possible risks and mitigation strategies (see example below).
To get started, contact or visit your local Council and PHN’s websites. Most councils and PHNs will have useful risk information specific to your area, along with lists of important emergency contacts and more. Use this pre-existing information to begin filling out your risk table, and then fill in any identified gaps specific to your practice.
Your risk table should be viewed as a constant work in progress. If a new risk is identified, add it to your table. If the nature of a previously identified risk changes, update your risk table accordingly.

Example risk table:

Description of risk	Impact and likelihood (high/med/low)	How can we minimise or mitigate this risk?	What is our contingency plan?
Power failure	Impact: High Likelihood: Medium	Keep a backup power generator at practice/organise priority rental of generator from local supplier Install UPSs to protect computer servers	Local hospital able to store vaccines and medicines while our power is out [include contact details] Local general practice able to store vaccines and medicines while power is out [include contact details]
Heat wave	Impact: Medium Likelihood: Medium	Ensure practice cooling tools (i.e. aircon, fans) are well maintained/serviced appropriately Keep extra bottles of water and cool gel packs in emergency kit Have curtains/blinds installed in reception are and consultation rooms	Reschedule in-person appts to earlier on in day to avoid excess heat or change to telehealth appts Close curtains/blinds Have water available in reception area

Accessing emergency warnings and incidents

There are a number of mechanisms you can use to stay up to date regarding local emergencies and incidents.

State and Territory Emergency Service websites

Your State or Territory’s official Emergency Service will have real-time updates regarding any local emergencies or disasters available on their website. Select your State or Territory’s Emergency Service below to:

discover any emergency events in your area,
find website links to specific emergency services in your area (e.g., weather forecasts and warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology, live traffic updates from your local government), and
find out how you can download local and national emergency service apps to your mobile phones.

Check in on local Emergency Service websites at regular intervals throughout the year to collate and communicate any important information about emergencies that may affect your practice or team members to the Emergency Coordinator and/or broader team.

Pinning a webpage to your mobile device’s home screen

Pinning a specific webpage to your mobile device’s home screen means that you will be able to access it quickly and easily, in the same way in which you would access a downloaded app - by simply selecting an icon.

Start by opening a website you wish to be able to access quickly. If you are using an iPhone or Apple product, select the ‘Share’ button in your browser and then select ‘Add to Home Screen’.

If you are using an Android product, make sure you have opened the website using Chrome as your browser and select ‘Menu’, then ‘Add to Home Screen’.

State and Territory apps

Most States and Territories have emergency apps that keep users updated with the latest information regarding local emergencies and disasters.

Your Emergency Coordinator may consider downloading your state or territory’s emergency alert app to their personal device, or dedicated work emergency device. All other practice team members should be encouraged to do so as well.

Location	Website	App
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)		(Note: users residing in ACT are currently able to access bushfire warnings and alerts. More ACT hazards and information will be added to this app over time).
New South Wales (NSW)
Northern Territory (NT)
Queensland (QLD)
South Australia (SA)
Tasmania (TAS)
Victoria (VIC)
Western Australia (WA)

National apps

The following apps can be used to prepare for and respond to emergency situations. They are not state or territory specific, so can be used by everyone in Australia.

App name	Description
	BOM Weather helps users to stay informed during emergencies by providing access to local weather forecasts and warnings, including notifications for severe weather events.
	An app that has been developed by Australia’s emergency services and their government industry partners. The app uses GPS functionality and other modern software enabling users that call Triple Zero (000) to provide their exact location extremely quickly and accurately.
	This app allows you to listen to listen to both local and national emergency broadcasts from all ABC radio stations across Australia.
	What3words has divided the world map into individual locations. Each location has been allocated three random identifying words. Communicate your exact GPS coordinates to emergency services or anyone else needing your location using the allocated combination of words.
	This app was developed by Asthma Australia. It has a range of functions, the most relevant being a colour-coded rating of air quality in your local area. Being aware of air quality in your area can help you plan for and mitigate associated risks.

Using social media to stay informed

Social media apps can be helpful tools when it comes to staying informed about an emergency or disaster. Often, organisations will prioritise updating their social media accounts as this is where many people look for and receive important information. However, due to the nature of social media platforms, there are plenty of sources of information that are untrustworthy.

If your practice team intends on using social media as one of your methods of staying updated, please ensure that the accounts you follow are trustworthy. Your PHN, local council and local emergency services’ social media accounts are all examples of trustworthy sources of information.

Take action

Add a section into your emergency response plan dedicated to ‘Accessing local emergency warnings and incidents’. This is where you will enter the details of reliable sources of local information that your team can refer to for emergency and disaster guidance and updates. See an example of how you can present this information below.
If your local emergency service(s), PHN and/or local council offer any emergency warning or update apps, your Emergency Coordinator could download these to their personal and/or dedicated work emergency mobile device(s). All other team members are encouraged to do the same.
Include any national apps in this section that may be useful for you and your team.
Continue to stay updated by checking the websites, apps and any other sources of information you decide to include in your plan at regular intervals throughout the year.

Example:

Website name and URL	App name	Summary of services	Further information
		(e.g. provides bushfire warnings and weather updates)	(i.e. Ben Smith has downloaded the app to their personal and work phone and is responsible for checking regularly for updates/changes)

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