What should an emergency plan include

People, equipment, facilities and materials are critical in an emergency response. You should identify which resources are available and have contingency plans to cater for deficiencies. Communication systems are crucial to an effective emergency response, and should relay accurate information quickly. To ensure this, reliable communications equipment must be in placed strategically, procedures developed and personnel trained.

A backup system is necessary in case components like telephone lines are rendered useless by the emergency. Administering the emergency plan is critical for effectiveness. The person charged with this is usually the person in charge of the emergency response operation. They should ensure;. An emergency can be reported by a worker on site, an outside agency or the public.

The following immediate actions are recommended;. The emergency response procedure should be reviewed continually to meet changing conditions. For effectiveness, an emergency response procedure should be communicated to all personnel.

The procedure should be reviewed with the owner or client, subcontractors, new workers, suppliers, and any health and safety committee. In some cases it may be possible to recall off-duty employees to help, but the critical initial decisions usually must be made immediately.

Specific duties, responsibilities, authority, and resources must be clearly defined. Among the responsibilities that must be assigned are:. This list of responsibilities should be completed using the previously developed summary of responses for each emergency situation. Sufficient alternates for each responsible position must be named to ensure that someone with authority is available onsite at all times.

These organizations should be contacted in the planning stages to discuss each of their roles during an emergency. Mutual aid with other industrial facilities in the area should be explored. Pre-planned coordination is necessary to avoid conflicting responsibilities. For example, the police, fire department, ambulance service, rescue squad, company fire brigade, and the first aid team may be on the scene simultaneously.

A pre-determined chain of command in such a situation is required to avoid organizational difficulties. Under certain circumstances, an outside agency may assume command.

Possible problems in communication have been mentioned in several contexts. Efforts should be made to seek alternate means of communication during an emergency, especially between key personnel such as overall commander, on-scene commander, engineering, fire brigade, medical, rescue, and outside agencies. Depending on the size of the organization and physical layout of the premises, it may be advisable to plan for an emergency control centre with alternate communication facilities.

All personnel with alerting or reporting responsibilities must be provided with a current list of cell phone numbers and addresses of those people they may have to contact. Common elements to be considered in all emergencies include pre-emergency preparation and provisions for alerting and evacuating staff, handling casualties, and for containing the hazards. Natural hazards, such as floods or severe storms, often provide prior warning. The plan should take advantage of such warnings with, for example, instructions on sand bagging, removal of equipment to needed locations, providing alternate sources of power, light or water, extra equipment, and relocation of personnel with special skills.

Phased states of alert allow such measures to be initiated in an orderly manner. The evacuation order is of greatest importance in alerting staff. To avoid confusion, only one type of signal should be used for the evacuation order. Commonly used for this purpose are sirens, fire bells, whistles, flashing lights, paging system announcements, or word-of-mouth in noisy environments.

The all-clear signal is less important since time is not such an urgent concern. Completing a comprehensive plan for handling emergencies is a major step toward preventing disasters. However, it is difficult to predict all of the problems that may happen unless the plan is tested.

Exercises and drills may be conducted to practice all or critical portions such as evacuation of the plan. A thorough and immediate review after each exercise, drill, or after an actual emergency will point out areas that require improvement. Knowledge of individual responsibilities can be evaluated through paper tests or interviews. The plan should be revised when shortcomings have become known, and should be reviewed at least annually.

Changes in plant infrastructure, processes, materials used, and key personnel are occasions for updating the plan. It should be stressed that provision must be made for the training of both individuals and teams, if they are expected to perform adequately in an emergency.

An annual full-scale exercise will help in maintaining a high level of proficiency. Add a badge to your website or intranet so your workers can quickly find answers to their health and safety questions. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information, CCOHS does not guarantee, warrant, represent or undertake that the information provided is correct, accurate or current.

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What should be covered in your emergency plan? Bring those plans to life with physical drills involving all service providers: security, janitorial, engineering, fire wardens and tenant representatives.

Your security team can help facilitate these drills. The integrators who install emergency systems need to actively participate in educating security and management on the accurate and efficient use of those systems. Utilize technology to help consistently communicate emergency plans.

Tools such as these can be customized to meet the specific nuances of your property. For example, develop a training CD or online module that houses floor plans, evacuation routes and factors such as fire extinguisher locations.

In multi-tenant buildings, some may have their own emergency plans. Those tenants should be applauded for their efforts but everyone needs to coordinate plans to ensure there are no conflicts and to eliminate confusion during an emergency.