scope:

Purpose of Exercise

An important factor to consider prior to undertaking exercise planning is to determine what the 'aim' is and "why is this exercise required?

There are a number of possible answers to these questions, which may include:

• In response to a specific gap in capability which requires urgent action.

• To identify or study the response to a risk, particularly a new risk that has been identified through the appropriate risk assessments.

• To validate plans - new or existing.

• To evaluate different strategies, tactics or procedures by artificially simulating circumstances in a safe environment.

• To explore various command and communication networks or practices.

• To meet the requirements of current or new legislation.

• To review lessons identified from a previous event or operation and analyse the actions that were taken against those that could have been taken.

• To evaluate or test current equipment and develop new procedures.

• As part of the training cycle to develop responders further in their roles or future roles (one-up).

Note: Regardless of the reason for the exercise, it should assist when trying to achieve the exercise 'aim' and 'objectives'. These will be integral in determining the direction and eventually the success of your exercise.

Types of Training

Most training events can be considered as either an Individual training event or a collective training event. Both these events target exactly who they state in their title.

An individual training event is where some form of training targets an individual or group of individuals looking specifically at there own performance in response to the activity.

Collective training events are normally the end product (but not exclusively) of individual training where personnel are required to respond to a training event as a group (>2)

Examples of this training are as follows;

Training for individuals (Individual Training)

Exercises are a useful tool both in training personnel and confirming the appropriateness of the training in developing staff competencies irrespective of whether they have an emergency management role or are carrying out their normal employment. However, exercises are not an end in themselves and staff must have appropriate training prior to taking part in exercises. Exercising likely foreseeable risk scenarios hones and embeds the skills, experience and culture to respond to exceptional events, which can mitigate the size and impact of an event and speed up the return to normality and reduce the psychological impact upon staff.

Testing of plans (Collective Training)

Emergency and contingency plans are produced upon the identification of likely foreseeable risks and potential malicious acts such as terrorism to minimise the interruption to business operations and the service provision to the customer. A test of a contingency plan can be a forced failure, under specific conditions, to verify that participants or technical systems respond effectively. Testing these plans ensures that planning assumptions are checked, that the plans are fit for purpose and that staff involved in the incident understand their responsibilities, the tasks they are expected to carry out and possible scenarios or unforeseen events that may affect their judgement during an incident.

Demonstrating capability as a statutory or regulatory requirement (Collective Training)

The exercise programme and TfL's capabilities can be used to demonstrate to internal audit, external auditors, stakeholders and regulators that the company is in compliance with regulatory and legislative obligations.

Testing Operational Continuity (Collective Training)

As well as testing processes and individuals' training, exercises can test the supply chain, equipment availability, communications and mutual aid arrangements with external partner organisations. By carrying out these exercises they contribute to a more robust business and bring in improved performance and reduced costs due to the reduction in unplanned events and systems outages.

Types of exercise

When deciding what type of exercise to run you should consider exactly what it is that you are trying to achieve and the best way to achieve it. On occasion the type of exercise may be directed to you by a higher authority, such as a regulator or higher management. If this is not the case exercise planners should choose a format for the exercise which is the most appropriate and cost effective way of achieving the specific aim and objectives.

There are a variety of different types and styles of exercise and they should be designed to be progressive and sequential. The various types of exercises are described in appendix A

Exercise Roles

The roles required for exercises are described in appendix B