Brad Elloy – Emergency Management Consultant / Trainer

Bradley (Brad) Elloy

54 years young

I am an Emergency Management Consultant / Trainer.

My role includes:

• Providing training to the full range of workplaces.
• Training includes Basic Emergency Response, Basic Fire Safety, First Attack Fire Fighting, Evacuation and Evacuation exercises.
• Conducting site inspections for Emergency Management Plans, Evacuation Diagrams, WHS Management Plans
• Developing Site specific Emergency Management Plans, Bush Fire Emergency Plans and Emergency Procedure Flip Charts and other related resources.
• Risk assessment of workplaces
• Developing BLOGs relating to our company’s scope of services.
• Supporting and working with the WEM Team to ensure the provision of quality services to our clients
• Supporting the health and welfare of our WEM Team members.

I commenced working with WEM in March 2018 when I happened to be chatting with Steve and asked him if he had a job for me.  Steve had just taken on some new clients so I think it was good timing for both of us.  At that time, I was heavily involved in servicing the new Goodstart Early Learning client across Australia.  I now work with pretty much all of our client base.

One thing keeping me motivated/busy during lockdown?  

Balancing my work and life activities.  The world is a different place now and we have to change, adapt and balance how we go about our business and way of life.  The way we work has changed and I now do a lot of my training and site visits virtually, via TEAMs or ZOOM to ensure our clients are continuing to meet their compliance requirements.  Just don’t ask me to stand up during the online meetings as you may get a shock.  Business up top and casual down below.

I miss the personal interactions though that come with face-to-face meetings and training.  I really enjoy having that rapport and relationship with the people.

I make sure I give myself short breaks to clear my head, a bit of music playing in the background to maintain my productivity and sanity.  When work has finished for the day, I connect with my family and slip in some ‘me’ time as well, which under lockdown might be going for a walk on my property, playing with the animals (dogs and goats) or listening to music.  I also enjoy my volunteer work with the Ambulance Service as a Clinical Volunteer responding to medical emergencies in our community.

What events led you to be in this industry, doing what you do?

I have been involved with the Emergency Services for almost all of my working life.  I have always had a desire to help people in need.  I joined the NSW Police Force in 1987 and spent the next 24 years as a police officer working in the Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Maitland and Port Stephens areas before retiring in 2011.  I then worked for a few of years doing something totally different at Newcastle airport in a customer service role then as a mortgage broker and financial planner.

For the past five years, since January 2016, I have been a volunteer with the NSW Rural Fire Service and with Ambulance NSW as a Clinical Volunteer.

My background has made it a very easy transition into doing what I do with WEM and I have a lot of knowledge and experience that I can put into the practical application of what I provide to our clients.

The recent earthquake in Melbourne brought back memories of the Newcastle earthquake when I was working as a police officer in the Wallsend area.  I was at home painting the house when the earthquake occurred at 10.27am on Thursday the 28^th of December 1989.  I felt the ground shake and my painting strokes went a bit astray.  After the realisation of what had just happened and checking to make sure my family were all okay, I put on my uniform and made my way to the station.  The rostered crews were using the available vehicles, so I had to use my private vehicle to start responding to jobs.  I initially dealt with a motor vehicle collision at Cardiff before making my way into Newcastle to assist in the worst hit areas of Newcastle and Hamilton.  I spent the next 13 hours on point duty and managing the flow of traffic and people into and out of the Newcastle CBD areas and keeping them away from dangerous locations.  The Newcastle West and Hamilton areas was where the most amount of damage occurred and where people lost their lives and were injured.  The Newcastle Workers Club was the seat of the most number of deaths where 9 people lost their life.  A big component of the response to the emergency was preserving life and the rescue of those unaccounted people.  In such an emergency it was a natural thing for people to want to get in and help those affected by what happened.  However, it was very clear to emergency services that there was still a high-level risk and danger in many locations due to damaged buildings and the potential for after-shocks.  The actions of police in stopping people going into collapsed and partially collapsed buildings to search for victims, such as the workers club, potentially saved a lot more lives.  It was so important to assess and identify the associated dangers and implement strategies and safe procedures to keep rescuers safe whilst attending to the victims and preventing other people from becoming victims.   As a permanent reminder of the earthquake, it was somewhat eerie when police discovered the clock in the meal room of the Wallsend Police Station has stopped working at exactly 10.27.

What do you like most about your role? 

Besides working with a really good team of people, I get to have a positive impact on workplaces in enhancing the safety, health and wellbeing of the people that work and visit there.  I also like the fact that I can tailor what I do to the specific needs of the client.

What’s the #1 safety advice you could give someone?

I think this would have to be about being prepared and remaining situationally aware.  It is important to recognise the risks and hazards that could affect you, be vigilant and aware of your surroundings and have a good knowledge of what you need to do if something does happen.