COV Loss Control Articles: Emergency Evacuation Reminders

Emergency Evacuation Reminders

May 2007

Overview

This is the second article in a series on emergency evacuation. It identifies recommendations agencies should consider when determining effective training content, frequency of training, and frequency of policy review for emergency evacuation plans.

The first article in this series, Emergency Evacuation, addresses fundamental emergency evacuation information including recommendations agencies should consider when developing, implementing, and evaluating emergency evacuation programs.

What Constitutes Training?
Training should include policy review and evacuation drills. Instruction is important to review the fundamentals of the evacuation plan with employees and should include actual drills. The drills should be varied to represent a variety of challenges employees may encounter in the workplace. For example, notify employees to pretend that a particular exit has been blocked by a fire or fallen debris during the drill. This allows them to practice identifying alternative routes of escape.

What Information Should Be Included In The Training?
Emergency evacuation training should include:

The purpose for evacuations
- Identify the importance of evacuations and potential consequences for not evacuating

Circumstances for which evacuations may be necessary
- Bomb threats/suspicious substances
- Fire
- Hurricane
- Flood

Circumstances that may warrant sheltering in place
- Person brandishing a weapon on-site
- Severe weather event/tornado

Steps to take if employees cannot evacuate the building

Identification of evacuation routes

Identification of evacuation assembly locations and accountability procedures

Identification of personnel responsible for assisting with the evacuation

A review of policy information, including who is responsible for notifying emergency personnel and how employees are to report emergencies identified in the work environment

Evacuation Drills
Evacuation drills should be practiced by everyone including employees with service animals or other special needs. Practice ensures that everyone understands the evacuation plan and what is expected in the event of an emergency. It also helps identify employees that may need additional assistance and highlights any weaknesses in the plan.

Employees serving in roles identified in the evacuation plan should understand the importance of accounting for all employees prior to leaving the assembly site. If an employee is not accounted for, emergency personnel will be obligated to go back into harm’s way to search for the person.

Floor wardens should be provided the location of all disabled employees to ensure they are evacuated to safety. Floor wardens communicate with the evacuation coordinator or agency warden and that person communicates the status of their agency to the building warden who is ultimately responsible for the safe evacuation of the building occupants. When emergency personnel respond to the emergency, the safety of the building occupants and the direction of the response activities becomes their responsibility.

What about Special Needs Employees?
What is meant by special needs? Wheelchair-bound employees are not the only group with special needs to consider in the evacuation plan. Employee disabilities may be permanent or temporary.

There are five categories of disability¹:

Mobility impairment

Visual impairment

Hearing impairment

Speech impairment (including language barriers)

Cognitive impairment

Some special needs employees may have service animals on-site to assist them with a variety of tasks. Specific preferences for evacuating and handling the service animal should be communicated to emergency management personnel. Developing solutions for these employees is very important because if not handled properly, they may become a hazard to themselves or to other employees attempting to escape a hazard. Employees assigned to assist special needs employees should be easily identified and their duties and responsibilities should be clearly defined. The assigned employees should escort mobility impaired employees to a designated staging area that does not impede the exit of other employees and so emergency personnel can safely and quickly evacuate them from the building.

In short, the training should include:

Notification (what is the emergency?)

Way finding (where is the way out?)

Use of the way (can I get out by myself or do I need help?)

Assistance (what kind might I need?)

How Often Should Employees Be Trained?
Training should be provided to employees before or as soon after starting work in the environment as possible. Additionally, employees with specific roles with regard to the evacuation plan should receive initial role-specific training as well as training when roles, functions, or responsibilities change. Training should also be provided when there are changes to the evacuation plan, changes in the meeting location, or personnel changes.

Evacuation drills should be conducted at least annually and more frequently if needed. Some employers may choose to train employees quarterly or twice per year.

What About Policy Review?
After a drill or event has occurred is a good time to review the policy. During the review, weaknesses in the program may be identified or alternate ways to carry out the intent of the evacuation plan may be discovered. Additional training opportunities will also be identified if employees or those responsible for assisting employees during an evacuation do not respond according to the plan.

Use job titles/positions instead of individual names for employees involved in assisting with emergency evacuations. It is also important to make sure that information pertaining to these positions is frequently updated and maintained.

Additional information about developing a comprehensive emergency evacuation program can be found as an e-tool on the OSHA Website. Developing a living, working, ever-evolving evacuation program with frequent training and drills is the best defense employees have for responding to emergency situations.

¹National Fire Protection Association. (March 2007). Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files//PDF/Forms/EvacuationGuide.pdf. p.9

Resources

National Fire Protection Association. (March 2007). Emergency Evacuation Planning Guide for People with Disabilities. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from
http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files//PDF/Forms/EvacuationGuide.pdf.

National Fire Protection Association. (n.d.). Fact Sheets-For People with Disabilities. Retrieved April 12, 2007 from
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=824&cookie%5Ftest=1.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (n.d.). Evacuation Plans and Procedures e-Tool Retrieved April 23, 2007 from http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/evac.html