Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey addresses the workshop in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Government offices would soon have a standard operating procedure in place to ensure timely and better management of situations arising out of disasters.

“The Bihar State Disaster Management Authority is working on a plan to ensure the procedure is in place,” Anil Kumar Sinha, the vice-chairman of the authority, said on Wednesday after inaugurating a three-day workshop.

“Every government office, medical college, primary health centre and additional primary health centre would soon have a standard operating procedure to handle situations emerging out of disasters. Our aim is to create a culture of prevention. Disaster can strike at any moment but if we take the necessary precautions, we can minimise the level of damage,” he added.

Sinha urged the government to conduct a case study on the Chhath stampede in which at least 18 persons died on November 19 last year.

He added that the authority was also working on a home disaster management plan to help families deal with disasters.

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said: “The hospitals need to form a special cell for disaster management. We are also planning to start mini-trauma centres at district hospitals.”

The state-level level workshop, Standard Operating Procedure for Mass Casualty Management and Hospital Management, has been organised by the health and disaster management departments in collaboration with Unicef and non-government organisation Oxfam at AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies.