Emergency Action Plans are a topic we have discussed on several occasions in the past. We are repeatedly talking about them because they are of the utmost importance to workplace safety. Just about anything else OSHA regulates or your safety team monitors relates to specific employees or a specific group of employees, involved in potentially dangerous operations. Emergency action plans, on the other hand, relate to your entire staff, and can be needed at any time and for any reason, regardless of your line of business and how safe your facility.

Should you need to use your emergency action plan, it will likely be because something serious happened and your entire staff is, or recently was, in danger. Emergency action plans are used whenever an evacuation of your facility is required, most commonly from natural disasters, though also sometimes from man made disasters, as well. A well designed evacuation plan, however, is just the first step. After employees evacuate, there need to be clearly defined procedures to account for staff, to ensure a quick and effective response from rescue and medical personnel, and to make certain all required safety and management workers are contacted.

An effective emergency action plan has these three key steps, at a minimum. For maximum efficacy, these plans should be readily available to all employees, known by management and safety staff, and should be accessible from numerous locations inside and outside of the facility. Additionally, it is important to have training around the emergency action plan and a working alarm system.

With these steps in place, a disaster does not need to become a tragedy. For help in establishing your emergency action plan, or for a full review of your current plan, please contact us. And if you have anything to add about the importance of an emergency action plan, please leave a comment.