Note: This information is a draft version only and all content is currently being reviewed.
This guideline is intended to assist those involved in the implementation of a capital works project, in project construction and in the management and operation of facilities to address risks associated with those activities through a risk management approach.
The approach is derived from Australian Standard AS/NZS 4360:1999 Risk Management. Risk management is the application of a logical and systematic method of establishing the context, identifying, analysing, evaluating, treating, monitoring and communicating risks associated with any activity, function or process in a way that will enable organizations to minimize losses and maximize opportunities.
This document provides general guidance for implementing a risk management strategy to address issues of Essential Engineering Services (EES) in critical Departmental facilities such as:
Agencies responsible for the delivery of health and community services require reliable supplies of EES in order to meet the Government's commitments for the provision of those services. The required level of security of reliable EES is governed by a number of factors including:
The aim of this publication is to provide guidance on the provision of essential engineering services that are secure against long-term outages to agencies responsible for the delivery of health and community services.
This guideline is directed at ensuring the continuation of delivery of essential engineering services over a period of extended outage and is not intended to cover the very short duration discontinuities such as those encountered periodically, e.g. in grid electricity supplies.
The guideline is an integral part of the Department’s procedures for the continued provision of health and community services to the community in emergency situations. The Emergency Management Planning Group controls these procedures for the Department. The application of the principles and requirements of this guideline will provide the engineering services essential to support an integrated structure of health and community service delivery. This will ensure appropriate responses in circumstances of disruptions in the supplies of critical services.
This publication is not to be considered as a replacement or alternative to current regulatory standards that apply to specific services and equipment and building codes, such as the Building Code of Australia and Australian Standards issued by the Standards Association of Australia, eg: Australian Standard AS 3009 - Electric Installations – Emergency Power Supplies to Hospitals.
Where the application of this guideline indicates a requirement for a capability, that facility must still be planned, constructed and maintained to comply with all existing requirements of the applicable standards and codes.
The Health Service/Agency will need to confirm the classification, ie criticality, of the facility with the responsible divisional representative planning manager. It should be considered carefully as the associated costs will be substantial to establish Category 1 plant, control and associated equipment.
The engineering services included in this guideline are:
Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) and battery packs are not the main focus of this guideline. By their nature UPS and battery packs are designed for short-term power loss situations and therefore do not contribute to the extended outage situation.
A number of other services are essential for the continued operation of a facility and should be considered in the same way as the essential engineering services in regard to establishing risk mitigation measures such as redundancy and backup. These include:
This guideline is to be used when:
The guideline may also be applied when assessing facilities for compliance with DHS standards and requirements.
Consultants engaged in any of these activities are to be referred to this guideline and instructed to consider its implications in the preparation of their plans and reports.
A major consideration in determining site requirements is the criticality of the role of each facility in the Statewide strategic service delivery plan and the Department’s community service obligations. Each facility is allocated a facility category that is determined by consideration of:
Facility categories are determined by DHS after consultations with the management of the particular site and liaison with representatives of the State Emergency Recovery Unit and Medical DISPLAN. Categories may change as required by circumstances and as agreed between DHS and site management. The manager planning of the appropriate division should be consulted when establishing the facility category.