Contingency Plan Breakdown

Health of Animals Regulations(HAR) Part XII Section 138.2

1. What is the need for this document?

Contingency plans provide a guide of actions and procedures that could be followed under unusual circumstances which can potentially affect transport or animals. Interpretive Guidance Section 5.0 describe contingency plan as:

“A contingency plan is a set of actions-to-take to address unusual or unexpected transport events.”

2. Who is responsible for developing a contingency plan for animal transportation?

HAR explains that every transporter and consignee is expected to have their own contingency plan for potential hazards and should have the knowledge of helplines and actions to be taken under each unique disturbance(HAR section 138.2(1)). HAR does not specify exact measures to be taken under each different situation but it does provide a guide and possible form templates that could be filled to support transporter's decision under various conditions. Failure to establish a plan for animal transportation would be considered a violation of HAR section 138.2.

3. Is there a guide to establish a successful contingency plan or to evaluate a pre-existing contingency plan?

The evaluation criteria for a contingency plan as defined by Interpretive Guidance Section 5.0 does not include:

• Specification of situations that contingency plan will cover
• Format of contingency plan(transporters are allowed to have written as well as verbal plans)

Instead, they are evaluated based on driver's knowledge of helplines and record of his/her decisions in case of events affecting transport. Some recommendations by Interpretive Guidance for a successful contingency plan include:

• everyone understand the goal (i.e. to prevent animal suffering, injury or death in transport)
• the regulated party accurately assesses a situation, decides what steps and tasks need to be executed
• plans are practical and realistic
• there is a clear communication plan (including backup numbers if people cannot be reached);
• the plan is reviewed, up to date and practiced on a regular basis
• if a contingency plan includes contact information, it must be up to date

4. Is there a specific time that documents need to be stored for?

No, HAR does specify time duration for which this document should be retrievable but a transporter is required to possess a contingency plan during each shipment and must be able to provide a contingency plan if an event causing delay in transportation or animal suffering occurs.

5. Does the contingency plan overlap with other CFIA forms or documents?

A contingency plan could be different for each transporter or consignee and it might have overlapping information with forms including Animal Transport Record(information related to pre-loading inspection) or FWR(information related to animal monitoring during transport).

6. Is there a template for a contingency plan provided by HAR?

Although, HAR does not require a transporter or consignee to follow a specific format, it does provide template forms that could be filled by transporter or consignee to show their compliance with HAR section 138.2. Note: written or printed contingency plan might result in faster emergency response than verbal contingency plan. There are two templates provided by HAR in Appendix 2 for contingency plans which includes a general form/document(indicating potential hazards, various helplines and other information) and an event documentation form(used to record an event, actions followed and decisions made).

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EXAMPLE INFORMATION OF GENERAL CONTINGENCY PLAN:

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1. Company’s Information ( name, address)
2. Driver’s Information (transport training type, expiry, knowledge and awareness about the plan)
3. Goal Statement (company’s goal and purpose of the plan i.e avoid animal suffering)
4. Communication Plan (who should be contacted and who will initiate or permit the process?, company’s emergency contacts and crisis contact numbers i.e. general helpline, industry related links and websites )
5. Expected Preparation Process (what should be done prior to loading animals?)
6. Standard Animal Monitoring
7. Potential Hazard/Events/Challenges
8. Potential Actions to Ensure Human or Animal Safety

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EXAMPLE INFORMATION OF EVENT SPECIFIC CONTINGENCY PLAN/DOCUMENT:

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1. Company’s Information ( name, address)
2. Driver’s Information (transport training type, expiry, knowledge and awareness about the plan)
3. Date and time
4. Producer’s emergency contacts used
5. Receiver’s emergency contacts used
6. Transportation challenges and disturbances identified by driver
7. List of animal welfare related measures and actions taken(specific to the event)
8. Carrier’s communication activities(who was contacted, time and communication method used e.g. email, text or telephone)
9. What instructions were given and decisions made with the guidance of emergency contacts reached.
10. Loading Information(pre-loading assessment and continuous monitoring of animals) or show a copy of Animal Record
11. Describe event or challenges identified