State Incident Controller
Responsibilities State Incident Controller
As the State Incident Controller, you are responsible for the smooth management of incident response and the transition to recovery. You are delegated the appropriate authority under the Emergency Management Act (2005) to activate human and financial resources of the state to expedite the management and resolution of an energy supply disruption.
- LEADING the IMT by coordinating and supervising continuity and recovery across all response and recovery agencies
- ESTABLISHING the Response Mission and Objectives
- DELEGATING the IMT roles
- INITIATING the activation of the State Hazard Plan and then managing the response to restore the state from the hazard
- APPROVING the release of information
- DETERMINING the escalation or de-escalation of an event (Emergency Situation, State of Emergency, Hazard Alert Level) and the timing of the official stand-down of the IMT
- ASSESSING the situation and/or obtaining a briefing from the previous State Incident Controller, if any
- ENSURING adequate safety measure are in place
- MANAGING and MINIMISING the consequences of the energy supply disruption
- COORDINATING with key people, officials, IMT and general staff
- ESTABLISHING an Incident Control Centre
IMT Composition Incident Management Team (IMT) roles
State Operations Coordinator
Oversees the rectification of any impact to critical or essential services and minimizes consequential effects.
Ensures critical State functions and operational recovery strategies remain effective for rectification throughout the disruption.
State / HMA Public Information Coordinator
Managing Emergency Public Information including through other agencies and the media.
Incident Scribe
Ensures accurate recording, documentation and preservation of all HMA critical actions, decisions, and communications.
State Intelligence Coordinator
Gathers and disseminates accurate operational information to allow for sound decision making during the response.
State Finance Coordinator
Manages all financial functions that support the incident response.
State Logistics Coordinator
Provides general resource support for the response teams while ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and government policies.
State Planning Coordinator
Responsible for contingency planning (concurrent incident planning) during the response.
Develop strategies for the evolution of incident management and ensuring effective resource allocation for contingencies.
State Safety Coordinator
Responsible for the safety of personnel and securing the necessary resources to support the IMT.
Coordination of Industrial Relations issues.
Manage the collection and administration of workforce impacts or worker wellbeing documentation (i.e. next of kin contact details).
Engage alternative workforce options (i.e. contractors or internal staff).
State Legal Coordinator
Responsible for identifying legal and regulatory issues and providing timely advice to ensure compliance.
Start-up Actions State Incident Controller
- CONFIRM location of the IMT meeting room
- REQUEST the Incident Scribe or EMT to CALL UP IMT members to the nominated IMT meeting room
- REQUEST to bring a IMT Battlebox/ Flightbag to the IMT meeting room and begin room setup (including name plates, Action cards, and personal log sheets)
- PROCEED to the IMT meeting room. Bring your mobile phone, iPad/Tablet, laptop, chargers, staff access card and ensure you have access to relevant documentation
- HAND OVER to Incident Scribe to call the Roll
- DEPUTISE to cover any empty roles or delayed staff members
- BRIEF the situation to IMT members as you know it
- RESTATE the IMT “Rules of Engagement” / Ground Rules and agreed behaviours
- Listen to others’ expertise – no one knows everything
- Speak up if the team seems to have overlooked a key issue
- Beware of tunnel vision, maintain situational awareness
- Delegate tasks rather than having the whole team focussed on a single issue
- Recognise that our immediate decisions should be informed by longer-term considerations
- Declare each decision being made and how it is being recorded, and its deadline for action
Ask each team member to state their role and briefly summarise their main responsibilities (i.e. read out the yellow section at the top of their action cards).
Remind the team that we need to gather the following information and assess situations:
People Safety
- Community
- Persons at risk
- HMA’s
- Combat Agencies
- Support Agencies
- Other Government Agencies
- Essential services providers
Places
- Where?
- What?
- What is needed now?
- What is needed later?
Technology
- What’s working?
- What’s gone?
- What workarounds are possible?
Support
- What agencies/organisations need us to provide special support?
- What support is available to us?
- How best to deploy support assets?
Discuss:
- What has happened?
- What infrastructure is damaged?
- Are there / will there be casualties, are they being attended to?
- What has been done so far?
- What else do we know?
- What don’t we know?
- What does the State Incident Controller require of me?
- REQUEST the State/HMA Public Information Coordinator to coordinate with the State Emergency Public Information Coordinator on stakeholder messaging
- REQUEST the State Emergency Public Information Coordinator to send the boilerplate email to all relevant stakeholders advising them that IMT has been invoked and the nature of the supply disruption
- DIRECT State Operations Coordinator (or available alternative) to review State Hazard Plan and Procedures, to check if there is an existing procedure we can follow
- ENSURE the Incident Scribe shadows the Incident Controller to maintain the main Event and Decision Log
- ENSURE you and other Coordinators are each maintaining their own personal logs
- CHECK with State Emergency Public Information Coordinator for messaging or communications strategy
Ongoing Actions State Incident Controller
- Regularly: REVIEW action logs to be sure items are addressed
- Regularly: REVIEW status of all problems
- MAINTAIN a log of all your activities/decisions/actions
- KEEP the Incident Scribe up to date regarding any significant issues arising out of your area of responsibility
- CHECK with Incident Scribe for any changes in message or strategy
- MONITOR wellbeing of staff in your team and arrange appropriate support and logistics
- KEEP the IMT briefed regarding any significant issues arising out of your area of responsibility
- COORDINATE on-going consistent messages with State Emergency Public Information Coordinator
- SET the IMT team planned shift/roster windows (first shift recommended no longer than 6 hours from IMT callup)
- At the end of each shift/end of day, COMPLETE your Handover Sheet for your relief or for the next day
Post-Incident Actions State Incident Controller
- COMPILE and PRESERVE all information in the Event log, and hand it to the Incident Scribe for consolidation
- REVIEW your team actions and decisions taken during the incident and provide recommendations for improvements