to prevent casualties – both on-site and off-site  to reduce damage to property, machinery, public and environment  to develop a state of readiness for a prompt and orderly response to an emergency and to establish a high order of preparedness (equipment, personnel) commensurate with the risk  to provide an incident management organogram with clear missions and lines of authority (incident command system, field supervision, unified command)  to ensure orderly and timely decision-making and response process (notification, standard operating procedures)  to maintain good public relations