Introduction
A Chemical, Biological or Radiological (CBR) incident can involve a range of unconventional hazardous materials which are varied in their properties and appearance, how they are disseminated, and their effects and overall impact. A successful CBR attack on a site could have a significant impact, causing a high number of casualties, with additional economic and psychological consequences.
The preparatory and responsive actions that are taken before and during a CBR attack can significantly improve the outcome of an incident for all building occupants. In contrast, poor preparation, awareness and response, may worsen the impact of an attack.
CBR incidents can be complex and highly unpredictable. Whilst there is overlap between responding to a CBR incident and other terrorist methodologies, existing procedures for other emergency situations may not be sufficient for CBR incidents where additional response considerations are necessary. Being adequately prepared and responding appropriately is necessary to mitigate and reduce the impact of a CBR incident.
The Preparing and Responding to a CBR Incident guidance provides information to security control room (SCR) staff and security managers/incident managers to support and enhance the protection and safety of building occupants, reduce site vulnerability and mitigate the effects of a CBR attack as far as is reasonably practicable and proportionate for a given site.
Before reviewing this guidance, you should first review the threat to your organisation or sector, ensure an up-to-date risk assessment of your site has been conducted, and the operational requirements process has been followed. NPSA provides guidance on completing a risk assessment and identifying well-defined operational requirements.
This guidance is accompanied by NPSA's Recognise, Assess, React (RAR) for CBR Incidents campaign, which summarises the key actions to be understood and implemented as part of a response in the event of a CBR incident.
Roles and responsibilities for preparing and responding to a CBR incident
The measures that can be taken by SCR staff to reduce the impact of a CBR incident can be summarised in two phases:
- Preparing for a CBR incident: improving CBR-specific knowledge, and understanding pre-planned actions to be mobilised during a CBR incident.
- Responding to a CBR incident: exploiting prior knowledge and making informed choices based on pre-planned actions during a CBR incident.
The following figure indicates a high-level overview of the main responsibilities for SCR staff during the preparing and responding phases of a CBR incident. The responsibilities of security managers are also shown. These roles are explored further in subsequent guidance.
| Preparing Phase | Responding Phase | |
|---|---|---|
| SCR |
Understand:
|
|
| Security managers |
Identify key stakeholders and communicate responsibilities
|
Manage:
|
Further support and guidance
If you require further advice, you should contact the organisation who has remit for your site.
This is likely to be the National Counter-Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) and/or your local Counter-Terrorism Security Adviser for Publicly Accessible Locations (PALs) and hazardous sites.
For further information, please visit the Incident Management page.
This guidance is for Security Managers and/or Incident Managers, providing strategic and practical considerations for a site that they manage.
This guidance is for SCR staff, providing practical guidance for staff on how to prepare for and respond to an incident. This guidance is also useful for organisations that do not have a SCR function.