Administration

Revision

This HASP will be a working document once it is modified by the SO to be incident-specific. In the field, it shall be updated by the Field Team as new information is gathered or made available.

Revision suggestions for the HASP template can be submitted to the SHEWB staff for review.
The incident specific document will be treated as controlled.

Availability

This HASP template will be distributed to Program Heads, Safety Officers, and Incident Commanders. This template will also be available via the APHIS intranet.
It should be noted that the incident-specific HASP is available for review by all deployment personnel. The Incident Commander will have the overall responsibility for safety.  The Safety Officer role is filled to ease the overall burden of the Incident Commander and to assure that at least one officer is engaged in assuring the health and safety of deployment personnel on a full-time basis. In addition, each supervisor is responsible for following safe procedures, assuring that needed safety training has been conducted, reporting unsafe conditions to the Safety Officer and reporting all injuries to subordinates. It is the responsibility of all deployment personnel to follow safe work procedures, use the prescribed PPE, and report unsafe conditions and actions that are observed and to report all injuries to their supervisors.

Communication Plan  

This plan must be followed (when feasible) to ensure effective, accurate, and efficient communication between the Field Team and all involved parties to ensure appropriate Incident Command System (ICS) guidelines are followed. The Communication Plan will be consist of the communication logistics and scheme as developed between the Command and General Staff.

• Efforts will be made to relay accurate and objective information.
• Chain of command inquiries that cannot be verified by the Field Team will be added to an action list, and responded to, as more information becomes known.
• Orders received from the Incident Commander, Designated Agency Safety and Health Official (DASHO), APHIS Emergency Operations Center (AEOC), or Director of Safety, Health and Employee Wellness Branch (SHEWB) Chief, will be repeated back by the Field Team, to confirm the order’s intent, ensure clear understanding, and will be written & put into the activity log.

The Field Team will maintain an activity log recording all pertinent telephone calls and activities, including the date and time.

i.) Email Communication: A general e-mail address will be used for e-mails to all Field Team members. The e-mail address can be a specific APHIS employee’s e-mail address or a general e-mail account established for a specific deployment. All email for the Field Team shall be directed to the general e-mail address. Email responses from the general account will be copied to all deployment members, unless otherwise directed.

ii.) Field Team Accountability: A buddy system will be used in any hazardous area or unknown situation. The Field Team will check in with the Information Officer regularly as determined. Frequency of Field Team check-ins with Headquarters will be proportional to potential hazards & assessed danger level for each event. Best efforts will be made to maintain regular contact with the Chain of Command. If communications are not possible, the field team leader will make decisions base on available information and as the situation warrants.

iii.) Telephone Communication: All mobile telephone communications with the Field Team should be done in the order dictated by the Incident Commander. A Satellite Phone should only be used when regular cellular service cannot be obtained.