12.2 Managing work hours

Work hours can become very intensive for emergency staff, particularly in the first phase of an emergency. Work hours must be managed carefully when starting up emergency operations, to avoid exhaustion and manage the safety and well-being of staff. It is recommended that COs put in place a rotation system during the initial emergency period to ensure all staff has one day off a week. Once operations have stabilised, the CO must ensure they return to regular leave practices and entitlements applied to staff.