Managing Emergency and Evacuation Procedures to Fosters Teamwork and Avoids Conflict

Once you have completed your emergency action plan, review it carefully with your employees and post it in an area where all employees will have access to it.

The employer should review with each employee upon initial assignment those parts of the EAP that the employee should know to protect him or herself in the event of an emergency. The written plans should be available to the employees and kept at the workplace. For employers with 10 or fewer employees, the plans may be communicated orally, and the employer does not need to maintain written plans.

The plans also should be reviewed with other companies or employee groups in your building to ensure that your efforts will be coordinated with theirs, enhancing the effectiveness of your plan. In addition, if you rely on assistance from local emergency responders such as the fire department, local HAZMAT teams or other outside responders, you may find it useful to review and coordinate your emergency plans with these organizations. This ensures that you are aware of the capabilities of these outside responders and that they know what you expect of them.

It is a good idea to hold practice evacuation drills. Evacuation drills permit employees to become familiar with the emergency procedures, their egress routes and assembly locations so that if an actual emergency should occur, they will respond properly. Drills should be conducted as often as necessary to keep employees prepared. Include outside resources, such as fire and police departments, when possible. After each drill, gather management and employees to evaluate the effectiveness of the drill. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your plan and work to improve it.

Operations and personnel change frequently, and an outdated plan will be of little use in an emergency. You should review the contents of your plan regularly and update it whenever an employee’s emergency actions or responsibilities change; or when there is a change in the layout or design of the facility, new equipment, hazardous materials; or processes are introduced that affect evacuation routes; or new types of hazards are introduced that require special actions. The most common outdated item in plans is the facility and agency contact information. Consider placing this important information on a separate page at the front of the plan so that it can be readily updated.