What are the steps involved in preparing emergency response guidelines?

The core logic cannot avoid four key links - understanding the risk base, anchoring disposal rights and processes, refining scenario-based operating standards, and establishing a dynamic iteration mechanism. This is a common path figured out by veterans who have worked in corporate emergency management for five or six years. If any step is missing, the resulting guide will most likely be a decoration for inspections.

There are also different opinions in the industry. Many people with a background in compliance believe that the first step should be to establish an organizational structure and list the leadership team. After all, many units’ guidelines must first meet the compliance requirements of superior inspections. This is correct, but from a practical perspective, first exploring risks before deciding on the structure can avoid the embarrassing situation of "those in charge do not understand the business, and those who understand the business have no decision-making power." Each of the two paths has applicable scenarios, and there is no way to say who is right or wrong.

Two years ago, when I was working on an emergency guide for environmental emergencies for a chemical industrial park in the suburbs, I tried to save trouble by copying the provincial template. But when I looked at the risks, I discovered that the north side of the park is adjacent to the drinking water source quasi-protection zone. If ordinary hazardous chemicals leak into the municipal pipe network as written in the template, there is a high probability that it will pollute the water source, and later it will affect the ecological environment. The environmental bureau, the safety and environmental directors of the park enterprises, and cadres from surrounding villages and towns worked for 10 days, checking out all the risk points of leakage of different hazardous chemicals, flood prevention and leakage prevention in extreme weather, and even car accidents involving transport vehicles entering and leaving the park. The maximum impact range and fastest disposal time of each risk point were clearly marked. This was a solid first step.

Once you have identified the risks, you are not done. Next, you should avoid writing empty words. All vague statements such as "relevant personnel will deal with it in a timely manner" and "report to the leadership as soon as possible" should be deleted. Just say who will do it, what will be done, and to what standards. For example, if a small amount of hazardous chemicals leaked just now, you must write "The inspector on duty issued a notice." If there is a leak, close the valves of the corresponding material pipelines as soon as possible, and report to the emergency duty station in the park within 1 minute. Professional handling personnel wearing chemical protective suits must arrive at the scene within 5 minutes." Even the time, actions, and reporting objects are stuck. When an accident occurs, no one has time to figure out who the "relevant personnel" you wrote about are.

The first draft cannot be printed and distributed directly. We have to drag the front-line workers through the practical drill twice. Last time, our guide set a trap during the first drill. It said "use absorbent cotton to cover the leakage point", but the newly hired inspectors couldn't tell the difference between ordinary absorbent cotton and ordinary absorbent cotton. The difference between acid and alkali-resistant absorbent cotton was later directly added to the guide with a small colorful icon the size of a fingernail next to the corresponding scene. The storage locations and procedures for obtaining different protective equipment were also directly printed on the sidebar at the footer of the guide so that they could be easily accessed. This is something that can be really used.

Finally, don’t forget that the guide is not a rigid rule carved in stone, but an operation manual that can be adjusted at any time as the scene changes. For example, if a hazardous chemical enterprise under key supervision is newly settled in the park, the surrounding fire stations have changed locations, or even the emergency duty telephone number has been changed, all must be updated in a timely manner. The most outrageous thing I have ever seen is that the fire alarm number in the fire emergency guide of an old community is still 7 digits. It is an old number from more than ten years ago. If there is an accident, no one can be found if you call it. Therefore, it is best to make a quarterly update and annual update in advance. After every drill or an emergency, exposed problems must be added to the guide.

To put it bluntly, the emergency guide is essentially an instruction manual for ordinary people on "what to do if something goes wrong." Don't make it too academic or complicated. It allows people without professional training to flip to the corresponding scene and know which leg to take next. Only then is it really well compiled.