The terminology Gold, Silver and Bronze commands was developed by the emergency services.
Understanding the terminology and relating it to the appropriate liaison roles performed by HSE staff will facilitate mutual understanding of respective areas of responsibility.
Some services use "Strategic", "Tactical" and "Operational" designations, which mirror Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively.
The Gold, Silver and Bronze command structures should be adopted where it will facilitate effective liaison with the emergency services.
The investigation manager liaises with the emergency services' Golds if required.
HSE may appoint an officer to function as the HSE Gold for a Civil Contingency response, at least in the initial stages when a local emergency response may be required. If these arrangements overlap, then the major incident investigation manager should liaise with the HSE Gold.
The HSE investigation team leader will liaise with emergency services' Silvers. They have to maintain communication and liaison arrangements with HSE officers and other emergency responders.
Any HSE person delegated by the investigation team leader to have operational charge of any specific aspect of dealing with the major incident investigation will, as necessary, liaise with emergency services' Bronzes.
