Protect your business from bushfires

Having a bushfire plan can lessen damage to your business and speed up recovery.

Bushfires can cause serious damage to property, equipment and infrastructure as well as cause loss of life.

As a business, you must:

• think about ways to prevent or lessen the effects of a bushfire
• prepare steps to take before, during and after a bushfire.

Check your bushfire risk

The danger to your business from a bushfire depends on the local conditions affecting bushfire behaviour. This includes vegetation, fuel loads and weather conditions.

You should check the:

• fire weather forecast for areas that you operate in - Natural Resource maps
• fire danger ratings daily - Bureau of Meteorology website.

Prepare your people

You need to consider how you and others in your organisation will act before, during and after a fire weather warning or a bushfire.

People should be ready physically and mentally, and know about bushfire safety for their workplaces, machines and equipment.

To get ready, you should:

• talk to your staff, clients and contractors about bushfire safety rules and procedures
• train your staff in bushfire safety and add it to their induction process
• give staff access to personal protective clothing and equipment
• discuss and prepare staff roles and responsibilities
• identify at-risk clients and customers.

You may need to take other steps depending on your staff and customer needs.

At-risk clients and customers

Consider how bushfire smoke may affect your staff, clients and customers.

Read about staying safe from bushfire smoke.

Prepare your workplace

You should make preparations ahead of the fire danger season.

Reduce fuel loads at your worksite by:

• cutting long grass
• checking equipment
• installing firebreaks.

Always ensure your business' insurance is adequate and updated.

The better you prepare your buildings, facilities and surroundings, the more likely they will survive a bushfire.

As part of your preparations, check and maintain:

• emergency kits
• vehicles and machinery
• communication equipment
• firefighting equipment.

When fire danger is predicted as catastrophic or extreme, the safest choice is to avoid high-risk bushfire areas or leave early.

Prepare your plan

A bushfire survival plan outlines the steps you need to protect your staff and assets during a bushfire.

It ensures that each member knows the necessary steps to monitor and communicate bushfire risks and emergency warnings.

As an employer, you must:

• review policies, plans and procedures yearly to ensure they are updated with the latest bushfire information
• keep your plan flexible for changing situations because bushfires change
• document and practise your bushfire survival plan.

A bushfire survival plan for businesses should identify:

• clear roles and responsibilities and a chain of command to follow during an emergency
  • people must know what to do in an emergency event
• clear triggers to assist decision-making during times of high stress and uncertainty
• evacuation locations for staff, visitors and customers
• how communications will be delivered to employees, customers, contractors and visitors during an event.

During a bushfire

During a bushfire, you should:

• monitor the incident - find out how to stay informed about bushfires
• activate your bushfire survival plan
  • follow the advice of emergency services
  • collect your emergency kit
  • evacuate premises if required
• communicate updates to staff, visitors and customers.

Caravan parks and tourism operators

As a caravan park or tourism operator, you should:

• call 000 in a bushfire emergency
• follow your bushfire survival plan
• notify park residents and tourists about the bushfire
  • if time permits, brief them more thoroughly on the situation
• advise park residents and tourists that they can stay or leave early
• prepare park residents and tourists for potential evacuation
• open boom gates and emergency access gates
• start property protection if you mentally and physically can and it's safe to do so
• patrol for spot fires and extinguish them if it's safe to do so and if you haven't evacuated
• if advised to evacuate, leave immediately
  • ensure that all occupants have also evacuated
  • take your emergency kit with you
• ensure that nobody re-enters the evacuated area until emergency services say it's safe to do so
• under extreme bushfire behaviour conditions, go to the emergency assembly area until the fire front passes
• control and maintain the movement of occupants to the emergency assembly area.

Contact

If you have any questions, contact Bushfires NT.