Emergencies and critical incidents can have both physical and psychological effects on those involved and can also impact program delivery and the safety of staff and visitors. The purpose of this policy is to ensure MakeWay staff are prepared to respond effectively to emergency situations and critical incidents in order to minimize negative impacts.

The emergencies and critical incidents contemplated by this policy include:

• natural disasters or weather-related events, such as a wildfire, severe storm, flood, earthquake or tornado;
• facilities problems, such as a fire, gas leak, broken pipes or chemical spill;
• threats against a colleague or the organization, such as a bomb threat, suspicious package, stalker, or threat of violence;
• accidents, including vehicular accidents;
• robbery or vandalism;
• physical assault, including sexual assault;
• civil unrest, terrorism or hostage taking; and
• an injured person or a death.

This policy applies to

• all MakeWay colleagues: staff volunteers, and board members of the Society and Foundation, and
• all MakeWay premises: regular work locations for which the Society or Foundation is the owner or party to a rental, lease, or usage agreement.   

For greater clarity, this policy does not apply to home offices or event spaces.

An emergency may be a specific event with a clear beginning, end and recovery process, or it could be a situation that develops over time and has gradual, rather than immediate, implications. Emergencies are unplanned events that affect or threaten the health, safety or welfare of people, property or infrastructure. A critical incident is an unexpected, traumatic event, involving personal or professional threat, which evokes extreme stress, fear or injury. To minimize physical and psychological impacts of an emergency or critical incident, and to minimize damage to assets, operations and reputation, a coordinated response is necessary.

MakeWay endeavors to identify, prevent and, if necessary, manage emergency situations until the arrival of emergency service personnel. We are committed to the protection of staff, volunteers, Board members, and visitors at all times. In the event of an emergency or critical incident, we aim to respond swiftly and effectively with the principle goals of preventing physical and psychological harm, preserving life, protecting the organization’s property, and restoring operations as quickly as possible. The negative impacts of emergency situations and critical incidents are minimized through effective emergency planning and management.

MakeWay has developed Emergency Preparedness and Response Guidelines, which include Critical Incident Operating Procedures. All employees, board members and volunteers will receive a copy. In addition, all staff are trained in emergency response and evacuation procedures. The Health and Safety Committee and Fire Marshals will run practices and drills as necessary for their workplaces. In the event of an emergency or critical incident, these procedures will be followed by all staff.       

All MakeWay premises will have appropriate equipment including first aid kits, earthquake kits (where relevant), fire extinguishers, and other equipment deemed necessary by the Health and Safety Committee in the course of site inspections and emergency planning. The SMT Operations Team will verify that all MakeWay premise landlords have appropriate procedures and equipment (e.g., sprinklers, regular testing of fire alarms) as relevant to the space.

All incidences will be summarized in a Critical Incident Report. Emergency management procedures and the Guidelines are reviewed annually and/or following the event of an emergency or critical incident situation by the MakeWay SMT Operations Team.

MakeWay provides counselling, as appropriate, to staff, contractors and volunteers who are affected by an emergency or critical incident at work. This may include an intervention within two hours of the event (to defuse the situation and implement necessary actions) followed by critical incident debriefing within 72 hours afterwards.