AS 3745-2010 Planning for Emergencies in Facilities 5.7: Give life safety priority and assign the pre-emergency, emergency and post-emergency duties

The ECO's primary role is the safety of occupants and visitors, and protecting people comes ahead of protecting property. The duties of each warden role before, during and after an emergency must appear in the response procedures, and be handed to existing members where the organization lacks some roles. In an emergency the chief warden must respond and take control, find out the nature of the emergency, make sure the emergency service has been notified, advise floor or area wardens, start the action plan, monitor the evacuation and record actions in an incident log, and brief the emergency service on arrival; the deputy takes over if needed; the communications officer confirms the emergency service has been notified, notifies ECO members, transmits instructions and logs events; floor or area wardens implement the procedures for their area, direct wardens to check it, begin evacuation if warranted, report to the chief warden and confirm wardens have finished; wardens carry out their activities including searching the floor to ensure everyone has left, which matters more than a later head count; and a response team member responds as directed and briefs the emergency service. After an emergency duties should include notifying the return of occupants, a debrief, reports, securing records and servicing specialised equipment.