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Bomb scare drill tests council’s emergency preparedness

Wednesday March 17, 2010

Cobar Shire Council staff hosted the Orana Safety and Risk Management group meeting last week which included a bomb scare safety drill last Wednesday.

A bomb scare last Wednesday at the council chambers that resulted in the evacuation of staff and visitors turned out to be a drill to test council’s emergency preparedness and evacuation procedures.
Council received a phone call from the ‘bomber’ at 12.30pm on Wednesday.
Council’s general manager Ray Smith, Human Resources officer Karen Irvine (who is responsible for health and safety of council staff) and one other staff member were the only staff who had prior knowledge of the ‘bomb threat’ scenario.
“It was a very orderly evacuation and it
was all taken seriously by staff, “ Mr Smith said.
However he said that while council’s emergency evacuation plan was adequate, there were a few suggestions to come out of the staff debriefing following the event.
“These will now be implemented so
that council will in future run a safer operation.”
Observers at the drill on Wednesday included staff from Parkes, Wellington, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Narromine, Gilgandra and Warrumbungles councils who are responsible for the management of safety of their councils.
They were in Cobar last week for the
quarterly meeting of the Orana Safety and Risk Management of Local Government Councils.
Mrs Irvine said the quarterly meetings were an excellent opportunity for council staff to network and share information.
As part of the visit, the group also visited Peak Gold Mines to view first hand their emergency evacuation procedures.

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