Your Emergency Action Plan (EAP) should address emergencies that you can reasonably expect to occur in your workplace. While OSHA's 1910.38 sets the requirement for an EAP, the non-mandatory appendix suggests planning for events such as:
Your Emergency Action Plan should determine and identify designated refuge or safe areas for evacuation. According to OSHA's emergency planning guidelines, these safe areas can be inside the building but in a separate fire zone, or they can be exterior locations like parking lots or open fields. The external assembly point should be located away from the emergency site and have enough space to accommodate all evacuating employees without hampering emergency operations.
Yes, including floor plans or workplace maps that clearly show the emergency escape routes is a recommended practice for your Emergency Action Plan. The appendix to Subpart E suggests that using color-coding on these maps can further help employees determine their assigned evacuation routes during an emergency.
Your Emergency Action Plan must include specific procedures for employees who are required to remain behind to care for essential plant operations before they can evacuate. The plan must list in detail the procedures these employees must follow, as required by 1910.38(c). The guidelines for Subpart E give examples such as shutting down chemical processes in stages or monitoring power and water supplies to ensure a safe shutdown is completed.
An evacuation warden's role is to help ensure employees move swiftly and safely from a dangerous location to a designated safe area. OSHA guidelines recommend having about one warden for every 20 employees. Their responsibilities include:
Yes, if you are in a multi-employer building, you are strongly encouraged to coordinate your Emergency Action Plan with the other employers. As stated in the appendix to Subpart E, this coordination helps avoid conflicts and confusion during an emergency. A single, standardized plan for the whole building is acceptable, as long as each employer informs their employees of their specific duties and the plan is accessible for review.
Yes, if your plan includes them, you must outline procedures to be followed by employees performing rescue or medical duties. According to OSHA's standard 1910.38(c), this is a required element of the Emergency Action Plan. The non-mandatory guidelines further recommend that the plan explain these duties in detail and specify who will perform them.
Give your crews cited answers they can trust, from any safety document or regulation, with your company policies built in, so work keeps moving and nothing falls through the cracks.