Communicate with individuals and communities to enable early action and response
Overview
This standard is about communicating with communities and the wider public to enable early action and effective response to emergencies. It covers developing protocols and messaging using scaled risk scenarios and community engagement to ensure coordinated and inclusive approaches. It also includes practising and testing these with at-risk communities.
During an incident, it emphasises issuing timely and targeted warnings, supporting the implementation of incident-specific communication plans, and illustrating impacts and risks to enhance public understanding. It also covers adapting messaging to evolving risks and needs and managing misinformation to maintain public confidence.
Post-incident, the standard reinforces the importance of engaging with affected communities to evaluate the effectiveness of warning and informing, ensuring accountability, and identifying areas for improvement.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- interpret legislation, duties, and guidance to identify responsibilities, priorities, and approaches for warning and informing communities for readiness and response
- identify partners and stakeholders in warning and informing and update partnership, engagement and accountability strategies
- use scaled risk scenarios and profiles to assess likely actions and essential needs of communities and groups
- co-produce suitable actions and messaging that align with the needs and capabilities of vulnerable groups
- agree warning and informing protocols with partners and stakeholders
- evaluate the effectiveness of communication capabilities through stakeholder engagement and community exercises
- disseminate warnings and adapt prepared messages, providing communities with timely, targeted and actionable information
- support the development and implementation of incident specific communication plans
- use a range of methods to capture and illustrate impacts, consequences, and further risks to enhance public understanding
- identify and mitigate misinformation risks to protect public confidence and response effectiveness
- adapt warning and informing approaches to reflect the dynamic nature of risks and evolving needs of those affected
- engage with affected communities during and after incidents to evaluate warning and informing activity, ensuring accountability and identifying areas for improvement
- Undertake continuous professional development and share evidence-based good practice with partners and stakeholders
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- legislation, policies, and good practice to communicate warnings and information
- organisations with duties, responsibilities or missions to support warning and crisis communication
- the role of government, response organisations, voluntary organisations, elected representatives, faith and community groups, and the media in warning and informing during emergencies
- the role of trust and factors that affect the legitimacy of organisations working with and on behalf of the public
- the concept of risk, associated terms and how they are used in relevant sectors
- the impacts of emergencies on communities and vulnerable people
- risk monitoring approaches for preparedness, readiness, and response
- the critical role of community preparedness in effective warning and informing, including its influence on readiness, response capabilities, and actions
- community readiness and response options, and barriers to implementation
- how established communication channels and media relations can be utilised during emergencies
- types of uncertainty in warning and informing and strategies for managing them
- how to adapt communication to meet individual needs
- how social and behavioural science applies to risk awareness, preparedness, and behaviour change in risk contexts
- accessible methods for illustrating hazards, threats, risks, impacts and consequences
- theory and principles of public risks and crisis communication
- methods for evaluating the impact of public and community interventions, ensuring accountability and value
- the role of reflective practice in evaluating performance, identifying areas for improvement and professional development
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Warning and Informing
The process of communicating risk, early warnings, and emergency information to the public, enabling timely, informed, and protective actions before, during, and after incidents.
Risk Communication
The exchange of risk-related information among stakeholders to support awareness, preparedness, and informed action.
Misinformation Management
The identification, monitoring, and correction of false or misleading information during emergencies.
Behavioural insights in emergencies
Behavioural insights play a crucial role in managing emergencies by understanding how people make decisions and behave under stress.
| |
| --- |
|