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Incident
Commander
The following
sections provide information on this position:
Related Information:
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| Incident
Commander - General |
The
Incident Commander - (IC) is responsible
for directing and/or controlling resources by virtue of
explicit legal, agency, or delegated authority. The individual
responsible for the overall management of the response
is called the Incident Commander. For responses under
the National Response System (NRS), the pre-designated
On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) generally assumes the role
of Incident Commander.
The IC is responsible for all aspects of the response,
including developing incident objectives and managing
all incident operations. The IC sets priorities and defines
the ICS organization for the particular response. Even
if other positions are not assigned, the IC will always
be designated.
The IC may assign deputies, who may be from the same agency,
or from assisting agencies. Deputies may also be used
at section and branch levels of the ICS organization.
Deputies must have the same qualifications as the person
for whom they work, as they must be ready to take over
that position at any time.
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| Incident
Commander - Specific Responsibilities |
The IC is faced with many responsibilities when he/she
arrives on scene. Unless specifically assigned to another
member of the Command or General Staffs, these responsibilities
remain with the IC. Some of the more complex responsibilities
include:
- Review
Common Responsibilities.
- Assess the situation and/or obtain a briefing from
the prior IC.
- Brief Command Staff and Section Chiefs.
- Review
meetings and briefings.
- Establish immediate priorities especially the safety
of responders, other emergency workers, bystanders,
and people involved in the incident.
- Establish an appropriate organization.
- Approve the use of trainees, volunteers, and auxiliary
personnel.
- Stabilize the incident by ensuring life safety and
managing resources efficiently and cost effectively.
- Determine incident objectives and strategy to achieve
the objectives.
- Authorize release of information to the news media.
- Ensure planning meetings are scheduled as required.
- Establish and monitor incident organization.
- Approve the implementation of the written or oral
Incident Action Plan (IAP).
- Ensure that adequate safety measures are in place.
- Coordinate activity for all Command and General
Staff.
- Coordinate with key people and officials.
- Approve requests for additional resources or for
the release of resources.
- Keep agency administrator informed of incident status.
- Ensure incident Status Summary (ICS Form 209,
8 KB PDF)
is completed and forwarded to appropriate higher
authority.
- Order the demobilization of the incident when appropriate.
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| Incident
Commander - Relation to ICS Structure |
The modular organization of the
ICS allows responders to scale their efforts and apply
the parts of the ICS structure that best meet the demands
of the incident. In other words, there are no hard and
fast rules for when or how to expand the ICS organization.
Many incidents will never require the activation of Planning,
Logistics, or Finance/Administration Sections, while others
will require some or all of them to be established. A
major advantage of the ICS organization is the ability
to fill only those parts of the organization that are
required. For some incidents, and in some applications,
only a few of the organization’s functional elements may
be required. However, if there is a need to expand the
organization, additional positions exist within the ICS
framework to meet virtually any need. For example, in
responses involving responders from a single jurisdiction,
the ICS establishes an organization for comprehensive
response management. However, when an incident involves
more than one agency or jurisdiction, responders can expand
the ICS framework to address a multi-jurisdictional incident.
The roles of the ICS participants will also vary depending
on the incident and may even vary during the same incident.
Staffing considerations are always based on the needs
of the incident. The number of personnel and the organization
structure are totally dependent on the size and complexity
of the incident. There is no absolute standard to follow.
However, large-scale incidents will usually require that
each component, or section, is set up separately with
different staff members managing each section. A basic
operating guideline is that the Incident Commander (IC)
is responsible for all activities until command authority
is transferred to another person.
Another key aspect of an ICS that warrants mention is
the development of an Incident Action Plan (IAP). A planning
cycle is typically established by the IC and Planning
Section Chief, and an IAP is then developed by the Planning
Section for the next operational period (usually 12- or
24-hours in length) and submitted to the IC for approval.
Creation of a planning cycle and development of an IAP
for a particular operational period help focus available
resources on the highest priorities/incident objectives.
The planning cycle, if properly practiced, brings together
everyone's input and identifies critical shortfalls that
need to be addressed to carry out the IC's objectives
for that period.
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| Incident
Commander - Related OSHA Standards |
- Hazardous
Waste Operations and Emergency Response 29 CFR 1910.120
- Paragraph
Q relates directly to Emergency Response.
It says:
- The senior emergency response official responding
to an emergency shall become the individual
in charge of a site-specific Incident Command
System (ICS). All emergency responders and their
communications shall be coordinated and controlled
through the individual in charge of the ICS
assisted by the senior official present for
each employer. [1910.120(q)(3)(i)]
NOTE TO PARAGRAPH (q)(3)(i). - The "senior
official" at an emergency response is the
most senior official on the site who has the responsibility
for controlling the operations at the site. Initially
it is the senior officer on the first-due piece
of responding emergency apparatus to arrive on
the incident scene. As more senior officers arrive
(i.e. , battalion chief, fire chief, state law
enforcement official, site coordinator, etc.)
the position is passed up the line of authority
which has been previously established. You should
italicize that.
- The individual in charge of the ICS shall
identify, to the extent possible, all hazardous
substances or conditions present and shall address
as appropriate site analysis, use of engineering
controls, maximum exposure limits, hazardous
substance handling procedures, and use of any
new technologies. [1910.120(q)(3)(ii)]
- Based on the hazardous substances and/or conditions
present, the individual in charge of the ICS
shall implement appropriate emergency operations,
and assure that the personal protective equipment
worn is appropriate for the hazards to be encountered.
However, personal protective equipment shall
meet, at a minimum, the criteria contained in
[29
CFR 1910.156(e)] when worn while performing
fire fighting operations beyond the incipient
stage for any incident. [1910.120(q)(3)(iii)]
- Employees engaged in emergency response and
exposed to hazardous substances presenting an
inhalation hazard or potential inhalation hazard
shall wear positive pressure self-contained
breathing apparatus while engaged in emergency
response, until such time that the individual
in charge of the ICS determines through the
use of air monitoring that a decreased level
of respiratory protection will not result in
hazardous exposures to employees. [1910.120(q)(3)(iv)]
- The individual in charge of the ICS shall
limit the number of emergency response personnel
at the emergency site, in those areas of potential
or actual exposure to incident or site hazards,
to those who are actively performing emergency
operations. However, operations in hazardous
areas shall be performed using the buddy system
in groups of two or more. [1910.120(q)(3)(v)]
- The individual in charge of the ICS shall
designate a safety officer, who is knowledgeable
in the operations being implemented at the emergency
response site, with specific responsibility
to identify and evaluate hazards and to provide
direction with respect to the safety of operations
for the emergency at hand. [1910.120(q)(3)(vii)]
- When activities are judged by the safety officer
to be an IDLH and/or to involve an imminent
danger condition, the safety officer shall have
the authority to alter, suspend, or terminate
those activities. The safety official shall
immediately inform the individual in charge
of the ICS of any actions needed to be taken
to correct these hazards at the emergency scene.
[1910.120(q)(3)(viii)]
- After emergency operations have terminated,
the individual in charge of the ICS shall implement
appropriate decontamination procedures. [1910.120(q)(3)(ix)]
- On scene incident commander. Incident commanders,
who will assume control of the incident scene
beyond the first responder awareness level,
shall receive at least 24 hours of training
equal to the first responder operations level
and in addition have competency in the following
areas and the employer shall so certify: [1910.120(q)(6)(v)]
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