When it comes to an emergency action plan, it’s extremely important to carefully think it through while hoping you’ll never need to use it? However – if you suddenly find you need one and don’t have one, it can lead to property damage or worse a serious injury or death. So what’s the best way to get started? Read on!
1.The first thing you should do is take an in depth look at your workplace. Identify potential dangers that could cause emergency situations. Make sure there are multiple exit routes and annually test alarms and/or fire detection systems while having fixed and portable fire extinguishers inspected. If any of these elements are inadequate, obstructed, inoperative or perhaps missing from your workplace property consider plans to have them added.
2.Once reasonable safely items are in place, it’s time to plan. Decide how emergencies should be reported. Choose how and when evacuations should occur and make sure these policies are communicated to employees and directional emergency exit routes are posted. Assign specifically mapped evacuation routes to different areas of the building so confusion does not exist during an emergency.
3.It may be necessary that certain employees remain behind to manage the situation insuring others are evacuated safely. Decide who will stay and what their roles should be with annual drills. Make sure your plan for these employees is detailed and includes the most important elements such as knowing when to abandon their task and evacuate before evacuation becomes impossible. A leading cause of death for those attempting to rescue others unable to exit, is from believing their simply being there means they can deal with the same unsafe conditions that took down others, due to not having the correct protective equipment and not being trained in properly using it. Good intentions do not always go unpunished – so be ready by knowing what you may confront and run drills to develop a reasonable comfort level for action.
4.Once your plan has been developed, train your employees on the procedure. After the initial training, be sure new employees are aware of the plan and current employees are aware of changes to the plan or their roles in it.
With a carefully developed and thought-out emergency plan, you’ll hopefully be able to put this potential life changing situation away, leaving your mind at ease, while trusting you will never have to use it.
-Steve Petty, Director of Risk Management
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Steve Petty joined the Insured Solutions team as Director of Risk Management in 2010. The lessons he has learned from thirty-five years in risk management formed a foundation for what is today a unique Workers’ Compensation program, generating exemplary results for employers. |
Contact Steve at [email protected], (229) 207-0664.