Community awareness (public education)

 

A change in attitude

There is currently a change in attitude occurring as to what the community should be told about hazards and emergencies, and how they should be told. In the past, if a community was told anything, it was on a need-to-know basis and often only covered those facts that the emergency managers wished to be made public. One reason for this historical error in many areas has been the strong association between emergency management, civil defence and national defence. The secrecy required by defence matters seems to have percolated down into the emergency management arena. The provision of information to the public has been, and often still is, called 'public education'.

More recently the provision of information in communities has altered towards 'community awareness'. This is more than just a name change, and it involves the sharing of more information (and often more sensitive information), and in some cases allows the public to participate in decision making with regard to hazards and the means of managing them. We only have to look at some of the issues relating to public information and awareness during the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster in the USA to value the need for increased public awareness through the provision of accurate, reliable and needed information.

Communicating with the community

Rather than provide a checklist in this area, I will describe a process* for communicating information regarding hazards with the community. This process has been developed for communicating information about hazards from industrial sites, but it is equally useful for communicating about other hazards. The steps of this process could be incorporated into your planning process as required.

* This process is adapted from Awareness and preparedness for emergencies at local level- A process for responding to technological accidents (APELL) 1988, Industry and Environment Office, United Nations Environment Programme, Paris, pp. 26-7. This text is available online at http://www.unep.org/publications/contents/pub_details_search.asp?ID=1078

What and how to communicate to build community awareness

1.

Define the community concerned

  • geographic or administrative boundaries
  • government organisations
  • influential social or religious organisations
  • major media outlets
  • concerns of local residents

2.

Inventory existing local community contacts

  • clubs and associations
  • elected officials
  • prominent community leaders
  • local emergency and fire management officials
  • school administration
  • industry contacts

3.

Contact other industrial facilities

  • establish preliminary contact with other plant managers
  • consult state, regional or local associations
  • form a local coalition for external outreach
  • assign responsibilities among participants
  • have each industry representative handle a portion of the outreach efforts
  • form a network with other plant managers

4.

Plan an initial meeting of the APELL process coordinating group

  • consider including a representative from the local news media management in the group
  • assign responsibilities among industry representatives for contacting local authorities/leaders as potential participants
  • plan for a meeting, and prepare and distribute a draft agenda

5.

Develop fact sheets or kits on each industrial operation

  • size of facility
  • products
  • description of operations
  • safety record and environment protection programmes
  • hazard information
  • on-site emergency plan
  • information on worker safety training
  • specific contributions to the local community
  • photographs and videos of plant operations
  • organise the fact sheet and other resources into a media/visitor file

6.

Developing fact sheets on community preparedness

  • population within defined area
  • special population groups (schools, aged care, etc.)
  • community emergency response capabilities and plans
  • emergency response equipment available
  • health facilities

7.

Assign responsibility for communication tasks

  • consider outside assistance
  • select someone generally available and known to the public as spokesperson
  • consider and develop communications skills
  • involve locally prominent/active employees

8.

Select methods of communication appropriate to local circumstances

  • identify and seek appropriate audiences within the local area
  • consider the following:

    - fact sheets and brochures
    - slide/speech presentations
    - small group meetings
    - direct mail
    - business associations publicity
    - community newsletters
    - news releases
    - plant tours
    - advertising
    - visits to schools

9.

Get outside help

  • consider which organisations could help such as:

    - internal public relations section
    - local or national industry association
    - other industries
    - public relations consultants
  • consider which services these organisations could provide:

    - developing fact sheets
    - developing community relations plan
    - converting technical information into user-friendly format
    - management training in communications


Activity 7.4

Read

learning portfolio activity

Textbook

Carter, Disaster management: A disaster manager's handbook, Chapter 22.

Again, as you read through the text, bear in mind the following questions and see how Carter addresses them.

  1. What are the three main aspects of public awareness that need to be determined?
  2. What do you consider are the factors that will determine the most appropriate forms in which information should be communicated?

Print this activity

 

 

 

how to use this CD | site-map |© Charles Sturt University