Stage 3 – Preparedness Assessment – consequence-based planning
Stage 3 of the RRP RPA moves from focusing on risk to the assessment of preparedness, where RRPs consider their level of preparedness to deal with the consequences of risks.
Emergencies can be caused by a wide range of factors but the effects will often share identical or similar consequences. For instance, care for people issues can arise from a wide range of incidents which share few other characteristics. A flood, a terrorist attack or an industrial incident can all lead to similar requirements for shelter and support to a local community. As a result, many aspects of preparation can be generic in nature, focusing on managing the consequences of an emergency whilst, from a planning perspective, paying relatively little attention to the cause of the disruption.
This all-risks approach, concentrating on consequences rather than causes, allows a process of generic planning which can be adapted readily to fit a wide range of issues around response and recovery. It helps avoid duplication and allows resources to be allocated optimally, reserving more resource intensive specific planning for risks which are very high priority risk or have unique consequences which generic planning cannot cover.
Whilst the all-risks approach is effective, each emergency will have unique aspects, some of which may be unforeseen. Therefore, the ability to be flexible and adaptable is a crucial quality. Emergencies cannot always be accurately predicted and responders must always be ready to adapt plans to suit a situation unfolding in an unforeseen way.
The 12 common consequences
To assist with a consequences-based planning approach, the consequences of emergencies have been broadly grouped into 12 groups, the '12 common consequences', as detailed in Table 1.
The 12 common consequences have been developed using the meaning of 'emergency' as defined in section 1, parts 1 to 3 of the CCA:
1. In this part, 'emergency' means:
- an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom
- an event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment of a place in the United Kingdom, or
- war, or terrorism, which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom
2. For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) an event or situation threatens damage to human welfare only if it involves, causes or may cause:
- loss of human life
- human illness or injury
- homelessness
- damage to property
- disruption of a supply of money, food, water, energy or fuel
- disruption of a system of communication
- disruption of facilities for transport
- disruption of services relating to health
3. For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) an event or situation threatens damage to the environment only if it involves, causes or may cause:
- contamination of land, water or air with biological, chemical or radioactive matter
- disruption of destruction of plant life or animal life
For each consequence either one risk, or a smaller number of risks, that has the potential to cause the greatest severity of that particular consequence is used to define the level of preparedness required. These are often referred to as 'driver risks' during planning activities.
Details of the potential severity of the 'driver risks' are included in the NSRA and SRA, and where applicable, local risk assessment.
In addition, the UK Government produces National Resilience Planning Assumptions (NRPAs) that define the impact that should be prepared for nationally, and Local Risk Management Guidance containing non-statutory guidance and advice for local responders, as NRPAs should be scaled down to regional and local levels.
| Number | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Human fatalities – extensive | FHuman fatalities which are not generally localised and where the general circumstances of the deaths are often already known such as widespread disease. |
| 2 | Human fatalities – intensive | Human fatalities which are a result of a single or a related group of incidents such as an industrial accident or criminal attack. They are generally localised and usually require investigation to assess criminality or negligence. |
| 3 |
Human casualties – extensive |
Human casualties which are not generally localised and are usually associated with widespread disease. |
| 4 |
Human casuaFlties – intensive |
Human casualties which are a result of a single or a related group of incidents such as an industrial accident or a criminal attack. They are generally localised and usually require investigation to assess criminality or negligence. |
| 5 | Displaced people | The evacuation or movement of people from an affected area to a place of safety. If applicable, consideration should be given to incidents that may result in an influx of non-resident British Nationals to the UK. |
| 6 | Loss of staff | Any negative impact on the ability of an organisation's staff to attend their place of work – both public and private sector. |
| 7 | Damage to property and places | Any impacts related to damage to property or places. This includes structural damage and economic damage to an area. Consideration should be given to responder or government buildings in the area that could be affected and how this would impact response. Planning should take into account that rubble and debris may affect the response site. |
| 8 | Disruption to transport | Any negative impact on transport infrastructure. |
| 9 | Disruption to financial services, food, water, energy or fuel supplies | Any negative impact on the supply of money (payment, clearing and settlement systems; markets and exchanges; public finances), food, water, electricity, gas, fuel or any other type of energy supply. |
| 10 | Disruption to communications | Any incident which may impact negatively upon communications infrastructure. This includes telecommunications, postal services and broadcast. |
| 11 | Contamination of land, water or air | Any contamination of land, water or air. This can be as a result of biological, chemical or radioactive matter. |
| 12 | Disruption or destruction of plant life or animal life | Any negative impacts on plant or animal life. |