Other Local Risks

Fire

Fires in the home are a common emergency, with the majority originating in the kitchen.

Fitting a smoke alarm, whilst not preventing fires, is the best way of helping you survive a fire.

You can get more fire safety information on the Essex Fire and Rescue fire safety information page.

Make sure that you test your smoke alarm on a weekly basis to make sure it works, and never remove the batteries (unless changing them over).

In the event of a fire:

• ‘GET OUT’,
• ‘STAY OUT’,
• Call the ‘FIRE SERVICE OUT’
• dial 999 and ask for the Fire Service.
   

Coastal Pollution

Coastal pollution refers to materials and substances, primarily from ships, which wash up on the shoreline, items such as oil, cargo containers, barrels and debris, unexploded ordnance such as old shells, bombs and mines.

This does not apply to general rubbish that washes up on the shore, unless in large quantities.

Materials and substances may be hazardous and we strongly advise that you do not touch items that wash up on the shore.

 If you discover materials or substances on the shoreline please call one of the following:

• Castle Point Borough Council - 01268 882200
• Maritime & Coastguard Agency - 02083 127 380 (or 999 for an emergency)
• If the material poses an obvious risk to the public, always dial 999.
   

Power Outage

Power outages can happen at any time, night or day and can be a nuisance to many as it can restrict daily activities such as cooking, watching TV and using computers etc.

However, power outages can have a far greater impact as they can prevent; provision of heating, businesses from operating, money being withdrawn from ATMs, and use of vital medical equipment, etc.

UK Power Networks provide lots of free advice on power outages.

The Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) works closely with government agencies to continuously plan for a wide range of scenarios such as flooding, extreme weather, power supply disruption and many other possible events. It’s the ERF’s duty to make sure that people and property and our way of life is protected, whatever we might face together now and in the future.

Power outages are one element of the civil protection work the ERF delivers and this is done collectively across the partnership through planning, preparing and putting in place contingencies to respond and recover from potential incidents.

Put simply, we do exercises on a regular basis that bring together councils, the health service, a range of utility providers, the emergency services, charities and others. This involves drawing up business continuity plans to make sure we can all deliver our services to the public.