Contingency Plan
4. CONTINGENCY PLAN - BOMB THREAT
4.1 DEALING WITH TELEPHONE WARNINGS
All bomb threats are to be regarded as real. Most external
telephone calls will be received by the Customer Services
department, however, all staff need to be familiar with the following
procedure which details what action should be taken in the event
of a bomb threat being received.
When a threat is received, the following must be informed
immediately:
The Management team.
The Safety team.
The Police.
Receiving a bomb threat telephone call:
The following procedure should be used in conjunction with Form
A, which can be found at the end of this section.
As soon as it is clear the caller is making a bomb threat:
Allow caller to finish message without interruption.
If any response to a statement or question is essential, keep
it to one or two words.
Whilst the caller talks, get the message exactly and also
listen for clues to:
a) Caller’s sex, nationality and approximate age.
b) Noticeable condition affecting speech, such as
drunkenness, laughter, anger, or excitement.
c) Peculiarities of speech, such as accent,
mispronunciation, speech impediment, tone and pitch
of tone.
d) Background noises audible during the call such as
music, traffic, talking or machinery.
Contingency Plan – Bomb Threat September 2005
Contingency Plan
The following are key questions and should be asked, if
possible, after the caller has given message:
a) Where is the bomb located?
b) What time will it explode?
c) When was it placed?
d) Why was it placed?
e) What does it look like?
f) What kind of bomb is it?
Note whether the caller repeated the message or
any part of it.
Note the exact time of the call.
Use Form A to record the details of the call.
4.2 IN THE EVENT OF FINDING A SUSPICIOUS
PACKAGE
A suspicious package may be received through the post or courier,
or it could be placed somewhere on site by an unknown party.
Whatever form the package takes, the following should be
followed:
Do not touch or move the package.
Move away from the package.
Inform your manager and member of the Safety team.
The Safety team should implement the evacuation action
plan.
The police should be contacted as soon as possible.
Signs and symptoms of suspicious packages:
There are a number of signs that may lead you to become
suspicious of a letter or a parcel. By themselves these signs may
Contingency Plan – Bomb Threat September 2005
Contingency Plan
be innocent, but perhaps a combination of a few will need a
cautious approach.
Try to remember the 7 S’s:
SIZE Is the package large enough to house a device without being
obvious?
SHAPE Is the package not uniform, eg possibility of housing
batteries or a switch system?
SENDER Do you recognise who sent it by the postmark, label or
envelope?
STAMP Are there no stamps or is it over-stamped? Is the
postmark blurred or missing altogether?
SEALHas the package been sealed more securely, denoting it
contains something that must not fall out?
STAIN Is there an oily stain showing through the packaging or
oily fingerprints on the outside? Some explosives
weep small amounts of liquid that will produce stains.
SMELL Explosives can smell of almonds or marzipan. Equally,
an overpowering smell of perfume may be used to
cover up or disguise other smells.
4.3 SEARCH
A search may be undertaken as a matter of routine or in response
to a specific warning. It is not always necessary to evacuate the
premises before carrying out a search.
A search team will be formed and usually made up of members of
the safety team. The exact nature of the team will depend on the
circumstances and reasons for the search.
The most vulnerable areas of the site should be searched first. As
a bomb could take many forms, the search team should look for
unidentified objects which should not be present, cannot be
accounted for or is out of place.
Contingency Plan – Bomb Threat September 2005
Contingency Plan
4.4 EVACUATION
If a suspicious package is found, or if a telephone warning is
received, the decision has to be made on whether to evacuate the
premises.
The purpose of the evacuation is to move people from a place of
risk to a place of safety.
Deciding whether or not to evacuate:
The decision to evacuate should be taken by either a member of
the Management team or the Safety team.
In exceptional circumstances, where for example the Police have
received specific information, they may themselves order
evacuation.
On the other hand, it may be necessary for the Police to insist the
premises are not evacuated. They may, for example, have reason
to believe that there may be an explosive device outside the
building and evacuation would place people at greater risk.
4.5 THE DECISION TO RE-OCCUPY
Once an evacuation has been completed, the senior management
or senior members of the safety team shall decide when the
building can be re-occupied.
It must be taken into account that if one suspicious package has
been found, this does not mean that there are no more in other
areas of the site. Another search should therefore take place to
ensure there are no more packages present.
Where the police have ordered the initial evacuation, they will
remain in control and declare the building safe for re-occupation.
Contingency Plan – Bomb Threat September 2005
Contingency Plan
4.6 Form A – Recording a Bomb Threat Call
1. To be completed during the call:
RECORD THE EXACT WORDING OF THE THREAT:
Did the caller repeat any part of the message? Yes No
(If yes please detail below)
ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
Where is the bomb located?
What time will it explode?
When was it placed?
Why was it placed?
What does it look like?
What kind of bomb is it?
Name of call receiver
Date of call
Time of call
Contingency Plan – Bomb Threat September 2005
Contingency Plan
2. To be completed once the caller has hung up and the
Police and relevant members of staff have been informed:
ABOUT THE CALLER:
Sex of caller: Male Female
Nationality:
Approximate age:
CONDITIONS AFFECTING SPEECH:
Anger Excitement Laughter
Drunkenness Crying Calmness
Others (specify):
PERCULIARITIES OF SPEECH:
Accent (state) ___ Mispronunciation Speech impediment
Disguised Nasal Stutter
Well-spoken Irrational Slow
Others (specify):
BACKGROUND NOISES:
Music Traffic Machinery
Voices Factory machinery PA system
Quiet Animals
Others (specify):
ANY OTHER COMMENTS:
Contingency Plan – Bomb Threat September 2005
