The Inspector-General for Emergency Management recommends that Emergency Management Victoria – in partnership with agencies engaged in state, regional and incident control centres:
a) review and update shift roster and handover processes to ensure they are procedurally consistent and support the achievement of objectives at all stages of a protracted event
b) provide training and guidance to ensure shift roster and handover processes are consistently applied in state, regional and incident control centres.
EMV will commence work with the sector to update shift roster and handover processes including the use and application of existing incident action planning guidance and tools, as well as creation of new tools such as standardised handover templates.
Incident action planning
The existing JSOP 3.03 – Incident Action Planning provides guidance to responder agencies on the development of Incident Action Plans to ensure they are appropriate to each incident and effectively communicate the objective, strategies and tactics. Version 10.0 of the JSOP came into effect on 17 October 2021.
The IMT toolbox available online through the Emergency Management Common Operating Picture (EM-COP) contains existing incident action planning guidance and tools.
Handover processes and templates
The sector’s online EM Learning platform training module on effective handover practices and processes includes newly-developed handover and action register templates for use during emergency events.
Identification of improvements through Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation
In October 2021 EMV updated SCRC that planning had commenced to examine a range of operational systems and processes, including handover and operational planning.
In 2022 the EMV Real Time Monitoring and Evaluation (RTM&E) team produced several Before Action Reports that capture recent learnings in relation to handovers, rostering and incident action planning:
- Emergency Management and Planning (May 2022)
- Handovers (April 2022)
- Establishing and Managing Incident Management Teams in COVID-19 Conditions (January 2022).
Several RTM&E deployment reports from 2022 also identify insights in relation to handovers, rostering and incident action planning.
The Before Action Reports and deployment reports are available to emergency management personnel via EM-COP.
IGEM will revisit this action in its next progress report to provide an update on any improvements proposed or implemented to shift roster and handover processes resulting from RTM&E activities.
Related activity
As part of the Emergency Management Operating Model Review, EMV commissioned research into interstate and international rostering arrangements to identify potential improvements to current Victorian arrangements. Refer to the progress summary for FSIP1 Action 14.6 of IGEM's 2022 progress report for more information