Emergency Action and Fire Prevention Plans

It is often said that if something can go wrong one day it will, we need to plan for that day, accidents will happen, and emergencies do occur. Still, they don't have to become disasters not if we're ready because what we know and what we anticipate, plan for and practice, will keep damage and injury to a minimum.

Emergencies can come at us from any direction at any time, they can stem from natural causes or human error and can include medical emergencies, gas leaks, fires explosions, hurricanes floods, even riots, and acts of terrorism.

The effects of an emergency can devastate people, can hurt them, and people can die.

Your facility can suffer serious physical damage and so can the surrounding community and your company's reputation could be damaged even when the emergency isn't your fault, fortunately, there are steps we can take to reduce risk and avoid worst-case outcomes, of course, we can't prepare for all possibilities and we can't prevent every incident but planning enables us to get a head start on most of them, so we can minimize their effect on our facilities and the people who work there.

One common factor that emergency planning must address is stopping the domino effect that's when an emergency continues to spread as events move from one area to another, intensifying and picking up speed as they go if we're prepared we can shut this process down, and keep problems from growing worse.

Planning ahead enables us to act quickly and effectively, but we need to follow the procedures prescribed in our emergency action plan, your facility's emergency action plan was assembled by your own crisis management team, members of this team come from a different departments they bring with them an assortment of useful skills and experience input may have also been provided by representatives from local emergency response groups like the police and fire department, your community may also have its own emergency management council that coordinates response operations, if so, they probably collaborated on your emergency action plan as well, what all these people have in common is that they bring valuable information to the planning process information that will help your facility deal effectively with emergencies, the emergency action plan that your team has created is a very comprehensive document, it contains information such as the types of emergencies that may arise at your facility, the strategies used to combat these situations, and the names and numbers of facility representatives who should be contacted if an emergency occurs, the plan will also list departments within your facility that can provide emergency assistance and equipment as well, as community groups and other outside resources that can be of help detailed descriptions of all facility warning sirens and alarms will be included, it's critical to be able to recognize these sounds and know what they mean so you can take immediate action if you hear them, one vital information on evacuation routes and procedures will be provided as well.

Approved procedures for the emergency shutdown of department and facility operations are an important part of your emergency action plan - does your name appear in the emergency action plan if you have special skills such as first aid or CPR these abilities can make you very valuable in a crisis.

There's one type of crisis, in particular, that has a lot of people concerned these days terrorist activity is one type of risk that many facilities are starting to focus on in their emergency planning to help companies that want to protect themselves from a terrorist attack, OSHA has developed a planning tool called the OSHA Fire and Explosion Planning Matrix the title reflects the fact that an explosive device or an act of arson can be quick and effective ways for terrorists to target a facility the matrix helps you estimate your risk of a terrorist attack by considering three risk factors how vulnerable your facility is to an attack whether your facility would be a terrorist preferred target and how serious any damage or disruption would be not only to your facility but to the community and other businesses.

Answering questions such as whether your facility uses handles stores or transports hazardous materials provides essential services has a high volume of pedestrian traffic has limited means of egress has a high volume of incoming materials is considered a high-profile site or as part of the transportation or communication systems determines whether each of the risk factors applies to you based on these considerations facilities are classified into one of three risk zones the green zone includes workplaces that are not likely to be a terrorist target either because their vulnerability is limited an attack wouldn't be particularly damaging or little disruption would occur even if an attack were successful the yellow zone includes workplaces that may be attractive targets for terrorists because one but only one of the three risk factors is high the red zone includes workplaces for which two or all three of the risk factors are high if your facility is classified as a yellow or red zone location your emergency action plan will need to address how to respond to a terrorist incident.

The fire and explosion planning matrix can provide guidance here by suggesting planning considerations as well as preparedness measures but overall emergency planning depends on the knowledge and participation of employees like yourself effective emergency planning requires the input and participation of everyone in your facility including you so start thinking like an emergency planner figure out what needs to be done in the event of an emergency in your area and how you can help to stop the domino effect from making things worse remember to ask yourself what-if questions what if the valve on tank number three blew out what if a fire spread into our department these are the same types of questions that the crisis management team asked themselves when they put your emergency action plan together asking questions is one of the best ways that we can prepare ourselves to take action in an emergency.

It's important to take in consideration the preventive maintenance when implementing an effective emergency response plan to spot potential hazards before things become dangerous for example signs of future trouble could include a leaky valve a pile of flammable materials or a broken lock on a security door maintaining a rigorous monitoring and preventive maintenance program is an important facet of emergency planning keeping things shipshape can prevent a lot of problems and be sure to keep accurate records of any repair work because for a plan to be effective the information it contains must be up-to-date, the crisis management team must be made aware of any physical changes that are made in your department as well expansion equipment modifications, new roads or rail lines things like these can significantly alter how an emergency should be handled because this information is vital to effective emergency planning, you need to know the proper channels and procedures for reporting changes or any other potential problems a facility's employees are essential participants and partners with a crisis management team emergency preparedness is something that we all need to think about and practice.

This is a short video showing workers practicing an evacuation drill.

You know how they say practice makes perfect this is especially important with emergency planning your crisis management team will periodically test your emergency action plan in several different ways they may stage tabletop drills using diagrams or models to simulate a crisis at the facility additional complicating problems such as the spread of fire to an adjacent department can be introduced into the exercise to make the emergency more challenging keysight personnel, as well as people from outside agencies, will participate in the drills this will enable them to learn more about potential problems that could occur and to become familiar with their emergency response roles these exercises also give everyone a chance to practice working together afterward the team will critique how well their strategies worked studying how things unfolded will help them determine what parts of the plan may need to be adjusted tabletop drills are useful but the best way to judge your real-world readiness is through a live exercise facility-wide drills allow people to physically interact in a setting that closely mirrors a real emergency participants get more than a taste of what things would be like they work on the same kinds of problems found on a tabletop, but they tackle them in the actual physical plant with their co-workers in real-time.

At the beginning of the exercise key personnel report to their assigned areas where they are briefed on the emergency just as in a real crisis Fire Brigades and emergency response teams are dispatched on rescue missions efficient communication between them and facility personnel is crucial News reporters are often invited to take part as well in a real incident your communications people will need to know how to deal effectively with the press one of the major benefits of a full-scale exercise is that it shows each of us what our own responsibilities are for instance it reminds us that we need to know the locations of alarms fire extinguishers and exits in some situations you may even be called upon to shut down production lines or to cut power to entire work areas smaller pieces of equipment and even break room appliances may need to be unplugged remember to shut windows and doors to prevent fire and smoke from spreading through the building, if time permits you may have to put hazardous materials that you're working with into safety containers and secure storage areas if a chemical spill is involved cleanup procedures will need to be instituted outer doorways and access roads must be kept clear so that rescue teams and emergency vehicles will have the fast easy access, they need practicing evacuation procedures is a major goal of the exercise because it's crucial for personnel to leave their work areas at a quick and orderly fashion.

Be prepared to use alternate escape routes if you discover the main ones are blocked once evacuees have reached the pre-planned safe area or marshaling point a head camp will be taken if all personnel cannot be accounted for the crisis management team will then order a search and rescue attempt if on-the-scene reporters ask you for comment during an exercise or in a real-world emergency.

You should avoid talking to them though they may press you rumors and speculation can create complications both during and after an emergency situation so refer all reporters to the company's official communications people that way you make sure only the real story gets out on the most basic level drills and exercises remind us of the important part we play in handling an emergency situation and how to work together for everyone's safety so it's crucial that everyone participates emergencies almost always catch us by surprise but if we've done our homework they don't have to result in disaster.

Let's review and remember that cooperation is the key to creating and executing a successful emergency action plan ask yourself what-if questions they can help you to identify potential problems and do preventive maintenance on machinery and systems so that they won't create an emergency report or any physical changes to your facility that might require your emergency action plan to be updated know the meaning of alarms the location of fire extinguishers and your best evacuation routes above all get involved take your facility's emergency action plan seriously and participate in keeping it up to date and practicing its procedures the best way to ensure everyone's safety in an emergency is by preparing for it well before it happens.

Here are some additional resources:

• Types of Workplace Emergencies
• Example of an emergency evacuation floor plan
• The PASS method
• Fire extinguisher PASS System
• Workplace Fire Prevention
• Emergency Management Guide for Business and Industry

Emergency equipment:

• Assembly Point Sign
• Emergency Exit Sign (with lights battery backup)
• Smoke Detector
• Emergency Speaker

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