Human performance standards for selection and service in the incident response regiment
The Incident Response Regiment (IRR) is a part of the Australian Army’s Special Operations Command (SOCOMD). The role of the IRR is to provide integral support to SOCOMD units, particularly in the area of chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats. SOCOMD units have traditionally had specific physical and psychological standards of entry. However, the IRR is relatively new to SOCOMD and, up until now has not had a standard of entry commensurate with that of other SOCOMD units.
Members of the IRR conduct specific tasks in a contaminated environment and therefore must be able to work for extended periods in individual protective equipment (IPE). The physical and psychological stressors of working in IPE are well documented, and these are compounded when conducting operations in a high risk contaminated environment.
In order to effectively screen personnel who consider posting to the IRR, a set of human performance standards has been developed. These standards aim to screen for physical and psychological risk factors relating to working at height and in confined spaces, encapsulation and biomechanical injury. This paper will present the human performance analyses conducted to determine appropriate performance standards, and the development and subsequent validation of the model.
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