Conducting a risk analysis

• Conducting a risk analysis is an important start to an emergency management plan.
• Employers should identify the products, services and operations that are critical to the business, as well as internal resources that may be needed.
• Some types of employers will benefit from having a fire prevention plan.

Employers should gather information about the company’s current capabilities and about possible hazards, and then conduct a risk analysis to identify likely threats. It may help to brainstorm the worst-case scenarios and to consider:

• What types of emergencies have occurred in the community, at this facility, and at other facilities in the area?
• What could happen as a result of the facility’s location?
• What could result from a process or system failure, or what emergencies could be caused by employee error?
• What types of emergencies could result from the design or construction of the facility?
• What emergencies or hazards must be considered under applicable state or federal regulations?

Estimating the probability of an emergency occurrence can help in determining priorities and allocation of resources.

Identifying critical products, services, and operations

To determine the need for backup systems, employers should identify the products, services, and operations that are critical to the business. Areas to review include:

• Company products and services, and the facilities and equipment needed to produce them.
• Products and services provided by suppliers, especially sole-source vendors.
• Lifeline services such as electrical power, water, sewer, gas, telecommunications, and transportation.
• Operations, equipment, and personnel vital to the continued functioning of the facility.

Identifying internal resources and capabilities

Employers should look at the resources and capabilities that could be needed, including:

• Personnel — fire brigade, hazardous materials response team, emergency medical services, security, emergency management group, evacuation team, and public information officer.
• Equipment — fire protection and suppression equipment, communications equipment, first aid supplies, emergency supplies, warning systems, emergency power equipment, and decontamination equipment.
• Facilities — emergency operating center, media briefing area, shelter areas, first aid stations, and sanitation facilities.
• Organizational capabilities — training, evacuation plan, and employee support system.
• Backup systems — arrangements with other facilities to provide for payroll, communications, production, customer services, shipping/receiving, information systems support, emergency power, and recovery support.

Fire prevention plan

Not all employers are required to have a fire protection plan. Even if not required, however, many employers choose to create one. Things to consider include:

• Major fire hazards, proper handling and storage procedures for hazardous materials, potential ignition sources and their control, and the type of fire protection equipment necessary to control each major hazard.
• Procedures to control accumulations of flammable and combustible waste materials.
• Procedures for regular maintenance of safeguards installed on heat-producing equipment to prevent the accidental ignition of combustible materials.
• The name or job title of employees responsible for the control of fuel source hazards.

Designating responsible persons

• An emergency management group is a team responsible for the big picture in an emergency.
• An emergency operations group oversees the technical aspects of the response to an emergency.

Effective leadership can be the determining factor in whether an emergency response has a positive or negative outcome. Implementing a system for managing resources, analyzing information, and making decisions is the foundation necessary for enabling direction and situation control.

Emergency management group

The emergency management group is a team responsible for the big picture. It controls all incident-related activities including interfacing with the community, media, outside response organizations, and regulatory agencies.

This group generally consists of an affected area unit manager or supervisor, security coordinator, environmental coordinator, maintenance coordinator, human resources coordinator, planning and logistics coordinator, and public relations coordinator.

Other emergency management group members to consider would be senior managers who have the authority to:

• Determine the short-term and long-term effects of an emergency.
• Order the evacuation or shutdown of the facility.
• Interface with outside organizations and the media.
• Issue press releases.

Emergency operations group

The emergency operations group oversees the technical aspects of the response. It usually consists of the safety officer, operations officer, emergency medical technicians team, and fire/hazmat team.

At the core of this group is an Incident Command System, which provides a coordinated response and a clear chain of command to ensure safe operations. An incident commander could be any member of management with the authority to make decisions who is responsible for the following:

• Front-line management of an incident.
• Tactical planning and execution.
• Determining whether outside assistance is needed.
• Relaying requests for internal resource or outside assistance.

The incident commander must have the capability and authority to:

• Assume command.
• Assess the situation.
• Implement the emergency management and business continuity plan.
• Determine response strategies.
• Activate resources.
• Order an evacuation.
• Oversee all incident response activities.
• Declare that the incident is “over.”

Planning considerations

When developing a direction and control system, employers should:

• Define the duties of personnel with an assigned role. Establish procedures for each position. Prepare checklists for all procedures.
• Define procedures and responsibilities for firefighting, medical and health, and engineering.
• Determine lines of succession to ensure continuous leadership, authority, and responsibility in key positions.
• Determine equipment and supply needs for each response function.

At a minimum, employers should assign all personnel responsibility for:

• Recognizing and reporting an emergency.
• Warning other employees in the area.
• Taking security and safety measures.
• Evacuating safely.
• Providing training.

Facility shutdown

Facility shutdown is generally a last resort but always a possibility. Some facilities require only simple actions such as turning off equipment, locking doors, and activating alarms. Others require complex shutdown procedures. Employers should work with department heads to establish shutdown procedures. Such procedures should include information about when and how to shut off utilities. Employers must identify:

• The conditions that could necessitate a shutdown.
• Who can order a shutdown.
• Who will carry out shutdown procedures.
• How a partial shutdown would affect other facility operations.
• The length of time required for shutdown and restarting.

Emergency operations center

Every facility should designate an area where decision makers can gather during an emergency. The emergency operations center (EOC) serves as a centralized management center for emergency operations. Here, the emergency management group makes decisions based on information provided by the incident commander and other personnel. The EOC should be located in an area not likely to be involved in an incident. An alternate EOC should be designated in case the primary location is not usable.

Each facility must determine its requirements for an EOC based upon the functions to be performed and the number of people involved. Ideally, the EOC is a dedicated area equipped with communications equipment, reference materials, activity logs, and all the tools necessary to respond quickly and appropriately to an emergency.

Coordination of outside response

In some cases, the emergency requires the incident commander to turn operations over to an outside response organization. The facility’s incident commander provides the community’s incident commander a complete report on the situation, and keeps track of which organizations are on site and how the response is being coordinated. This helps increase personnel safety and accountability and prevents duplication of effort.

To accomplish this task, the incident commander may want to keep detailed logs of actions taken during an emergency—describe what happened, decisions made, and any deviations from policy. Also, the time should be logged for each event.

Establishing communication systems

• Communications are critical for everything from reporting emergencies to keeping in contact with customers and suppliers.
• Employers should prioritize their facility communications to understand which communications need to be restored first in an emergency.
• Employers need to establish procedures for their employees to report emergencies, and train employees on those procedures.

Communications are needed to report emergencies, warn personnel of the danger, keep families and off-duty employees informed about what’s happening at the facility, coordinate response actions, and keep in contact with customers and suppliers.

Employers must plan for all possible contingencies from a temporary or short-term disruption to a total communications failure. Some things to consider include:

• Everyday functions performed by the facility and the communications, both voice and data, used to support them.
• Business impact if communications were inoperable. How would this impact emergency operations?
• Prioritization of all facility communications, and determining which should be restored first in an emergency.
• Procedures for restoring communications systems. Employers should talk to communications vendors about emergency response capabilities and establish procedures for restoring services.
• The need for backup communications for each business function. Options include messengers, telephones, portable microwave, amateur radios, point-to-point private lines, satellite, and high-frequency radio.

Employers must establish procedures for employees to report an emergency and then train employees on those procedures. Personnel assigned to specific notification tasks must be trained on those tasks. Employers should:

• Post emergency telephone numbers near each telephone, on employee bulletin boards, and in other prominent locations.
• Maintain an updated list of addresses and telephone numbers of key emergency response personnel (from within and outside the facility).
• Explain to each employee the preferred means of reporting emergencies such as manual pull box alarms, public address systems, radio, or telephones.
• Listen for tornado, hurricane, and other severe weather warnings issued by the National Weather Service.
• Determine government agencies’ notification requirements in advance. Notification must be made immediately to local government agencies when an emergency has the potential to affect public health and safety.
• Prepare announcements that could be made over public address systems.
• Make sure that all emergency messages have priority over all non-emergency messages.

Employee alarm systems

• Employers must install and maintain alarm systems to warn employees of fire and other dangers.
• Alarm systems should be inclusive of persons with disabilities (for example, a flashing light to warn hearing impaired employees and visitors).

Employers are required to install and maintain an alarm system that has a distinctive signal to warn employees of fire or other emergencies. The system should:

• Provide warning for necessary emergency action as called for in the emergency action plan.
• Be capable of being perceived above ambient noise or light levels by all employees in the affected portions of the workplace.
• Be distinctive and recognizable as a signal to evacuate the work area or to perform actions designated under the emergency action plan.
• Employers need to make plans for warning persons with disabilities. For instance, a flashing strobe light can be used to warn hearing-impaired people.

Other steps to take include:

• Familiarizing employees with procedures for responding when the warning system is activated.
• Establishing procedures for warning customers, contractors, visitors, and others who may not be familiar with the facility’s warning system.
• Testing the facility’s warning system at least monthly.

Evacuation planning

• An evacuation plan requires determining when evacuation is necessary and establishing procedures for a safe evacuation.
• A disorganized evacuation can result in confusion, injury, and property damage.

A common means of protecting workers is evacuation. In case of fire, an immediate evacuation to a predetermined area away from danger may be necessary. In a hurricane, evacuation could involve the entire community and take place over a period of days.

When developing an emergency action plan, employers should:

• Determine the conditions under which an evacuation would be necessary.
• Establish a clear chain of command. Identify employees with the authority to order an evacuation. Designate “evacuation wardens” to assist others in an evacuation and to account for personnel.
• Establish specific evacuation procedures. Establish a system for accounting for employees. Consider employees’ transportation needs for community-wide evacuations.
• Establish procedures for assisting persons with disabilities and those who do not speak English.
• Post the company’s evacuation procedures.
• Designate employees to continue or shut down critical operations while an evacuation is underway. They must be capable of recognizing when to abandon the operation and evacuate themselves.
• Coordinate plans with the local emergency management office.

A disorganized evacuation can result in confusion, injury, and property damage. An evacuation floor plan should designate at least one primary and secondary evacuation route and exit. These must be:

• Located as far away as practical from each other.
• Clearly marked and well lit.
• Equipped with emergency lighting in case a power outage occurs.
• Wide enough to accommodate the number of evacuating employees.
• Clear and unobstructed at all times.
• Unlikely to expose evacuating employees to additional hazards.

Obtaining an accurate count of employees after evacuation requires planning and practice. To ensure the fastest, most accurate accountability, employers should consider including these steps in an emergency action plan:

• Designating assembly areas where employees should gather after evacuating.
• Taking a head count after the evacuation. The names and last known locations of employees not accounted for should be determined. Confusion in the assembly areas can lead to unnecessary and dangerous search and rescue operations.
• Establishing a method for accounting for non-employees such as suppliers and customers.
• Establishing procedures for further evacuation in case the incident expands. This may consist of sending employees home by normal means or providing them with transportation to an off-site location.

Shelter-in-place

• Employers should plan for a shelter-in-place option by identifying shelter space, gathering emergency supplies, establishing a procedure for sending employees to shelter, and more.

In some emergencies, the best option is to shelter either within the facility or away from the facility in a public building. When developing an emergency action plan, employers should:

• Consider the conditions for taking shelter, e.g., a tornado warning.
• Identify shelter space in the facility and in the community.
• Establish procedures for sending employees to shelter.
• Establish procedures for locking the building down including turning off, sealing, or disabling the mechanical systems.
• Determine needs for emergency supplies such as water, food, and medical supplies.
• Consider having a hard-wired telephone installed or other communication system.
• Designate shelter managers, if appropriate.
• Coordinate plans with local authorities.

Protecting property and records

• Employers should have procedures in place for protecting equipment, identifying sources of backup equipment, and preserving important company records.

Protecting facilities, equipment, and vital records is essential to restoring operations once an emergency has occurred. Employers should establish procedures for:

• Fighting fires.
• Closing or barricading doors and windows.
• Shutting down equipment.
• Covering or securing equipment.
• Moving equipment to a safe location.

Other steps to take include:

• Identifying sources of backup equipment, parts, and supplies.
• Designating employees to authorize, supervise, and perform a facility shutdown.
• Training employees to recognize when to abandon shutdown effort.
• Obtaining materials to carry out protection procedures and keeping them on hand for use only in emergencies.

Preserving records

Preserving vital records is essential to the quick restoration of operations. Vital records may include:

• Financial and insurance information.
• Engineering plans and drawings.
• Product lists and specifications.
• Employee, customer and supplier databases.
• Formulas and trade secrets.
• Personnel files.

When analyzing vital records, employers should consider:

• Classifying operations into functional categories, e.g., finance, production, sales, administration.
• Determining essential functions for keeping the business up and running, such as finance, production, sales, etc.
• Identifying the minimum information that must be readily accessible to perform essential functions (for example, maintaining customer collections may require access to account statements).
• Identifying the records that contain essential information and where they are located.
• Identifying the equipment and materials needed to access and use essential information.

Next, a procedure should be established for protecting and accessing vital records. Among the many approaches to consider are:

• Labeling vital records.
• Backing up computer systems.
• Making copies of records.
• Storing tapes and disks in insulated containers.
• Storing data off-site where they would not likely be damaged.
• Increasing security of computer facilities.
• Arranging for evacuation of records to backup facilities.
• Backing up systems handled by service bureaus.
• Arranging for backup power.

Media relations

• The media can provide an important link to the public when emergency communications are needed.
• Employers should develop and maintain positive relationships with local media.

In an emergency, the media can be a company’s most important link to the public. Business leaders should develop and maintain positive relations with local media outlets in case there’s a need to communicate important public information through the media. It’s an opportunity to share the organization’s plan for protecting employees and preventing emergencies.

Employers should consider taking the following steps:

• Designate a trained spokesperson and an alternate.
• Set up a media briefing area.
• Establish security procedures.
• Establish procedures for ensuring that information is complete, accurate, and approved for public release.
• Determine an appropriate and useful way of communicating technical information.
• Prepare background information about the facility.

When providing information to the media during an emergency, a business should:

• Give all media equal access to information.
• When appropriate, conduct press briefings and interviews.
• Give local and national media equal time.
• Try to observe media deadlines.
• Escort media representatives to ensure safety.
• Keep records of information released.
• Provide press releases when possible.

A business should not:

• Speculate about the incident.
• Permit unauthorized employees to release information.
• Cover up facts or mislead the media.
• Place blame for the incident.

A threatening or actual crisis often poses a volatile equation of public action and reaction. A crisis + heightened public emotions + limited access to facts + rumor, gossip, speculation, assumption = an unstable information environment.

The who, what, when, where, why, and how are critical questions to answer after the incident. Business representatives should carefully consider what to say before making any public comment.

Conducting training

• Emergency action plan training should be conducted when new employees are hired, new equipment, materials, or processes are introduced, or procedures are updated or revised.
• Training requirements depend on the size of the workplace and workforce, processes used, materials handled, and more.
• Training should address emergency response procedures, individual roles and responsibilities, notification, warning, and communications procedures, and more.

Before implementing the emergency action plan, employers should designate and train enough people to assist in the safe and orderly emergency evacuation of employees. Depending on the hazards, training sessions may need to be conducted at least annually or when:

• Employees are hired.
• Evacuation wardens, shelter managers, and others with special assignments are designated.
• New equipment, materials, or processes are introduced.
• Procedures are updated or revised.
• Exercises show that employee performance must be improved.

The size of the workplace and workforce, processes used, materials handled, and the availability of on-site or outside resources will determine the training requirements. General training for all employees should address:

• Individual roles and responsibilities.
• Information about threats, hazards and protective actions.
• Notification, warning and communications procedures.
• Means for locating family members in an emergency.
• Emergency response procedures.
• Evacuation, shelter and accountability procedures.
• Location and use of common emergency equipment.
• Emergency shutdown procedures.

Training should discuss any special hazards such as flammable materials, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources, or water-reactive substances. Employees should learn of the fire hazards to which they are exposed and each employee should learn whichever parts of the fire prevention plan are necessary for self-protection.

Assigning training responsibilities

Employers should assign responsibility for developing a training plan. A plan should take into account the training and information needs for employees, contractors, visitors, managers and those with an emergency response role identified in the plan.

A training plan should determine for a 12-month period:

• Who will be trained?
• Who will do the training?
• What training activities will be used?
• When and where each session will take place?
• How the session will be evaluated and documented?

Other steps to take include:

• Considering how to involve community responders in training activities.
• Conducting reviews after each training activity, making sure to involve both personnel and community responders in the evaluation process.

Implementing the emergency action plan

• To be effective, emergency planning must become part of the corporate culture.
• Employers must determine ways to engage all levels of the organization in evaluating and updating an emergency action plan.

Implementation means more than simply exercising the emergency action plan during an emergency. It means acting on recommendations made during the vulnerability analysis, integrating the plan into company operations, training employees, and evaluating the plan.

Emergency planning must become part of the corporate culture. Employers should look for opportunities to build awareness; to educate and train personnel; to test procedures; to involve all levels of management, all departments, and the community in the planning process; and to make emergency management part of what employees do on a day-to-day basis.

• A company can test how completely the plan has been integrated by asking:
• How well does senior management support the responsibilities outlined in the plan?
• Have emergency planning concepts been fully incorporated into the facility’s accounting, employee, and financial procedures?
• How can the facility’s processes for evaluating employees and defining job classifications better address emergency management responsibilities?
• Are there opportunities for distributing emergency preparedness information through corporate newsletters, employee manuals, or employee mailings?
• What kinds of safety posters or other visible reminders would be helpful?
• Do employees know what they should do in an emergency?
• How can all levels of the organization be involved in evaluating and updating the plan?

Evaluating and modifying the plan

• An emergency action plan should be audited at least once a year.
• Other times to evaluate and modify an emergency action plan may include after training drills, after an emergency, after personnel changes, and more.

A formal audit of the entire emergency action plan should be conducted at least once a year. Among the issues to consider are:

• How can all levels of management become involved in evaluating and updating the plan?
• Are the problem areas and resource shortfalls identified in the vulnerability analysis being sufficiently addressed?
• Does the plan reflect lessons learned from drills and actual events?
• Do members of the emergency management group and emergency response team understand their respective responsibilities?
• Have new members been trained?
• Does the plan reflect changes in the physical layout of the facility? Does it reflect new facility processes?
• Are photographs and other records of facility assets up to date?
• Is the facility attaining its training objectives?
• Have the hazards in the facility changed?
• Are the names, titles, and telephone numbers in the plan current?
• Are steps being taken to incorporate emergency management into other facility processes?
• Have community agencies and organizations been briefed on the plan? Are they involved in evaluating the plan?

In addition to a yearly audit, a business may need to evaluate and modify the plan at these times:

• After each training drill or exercise.
• After each emergency.
• When personnel or their responsibilities change.
• When the layout or design of the facility changes.
• When policies or procedures change.
• Remember to brief personnel on changes to the plan.

Key definitions

• Key terms for emergency exits are defined in this section.

Exit: That portion of an exit route that is generally separated from other areas to provide a protected way of travel to the exit discharge. An example of an exit is a two-hour fire-resistance-rated enclosed stairway that leads from the fifth floor of an office building to the outside of the building.

Exit access: That portion of an exit route that leads to an exit. An example of an exit access is a corridor on the fifth floor of an office building that leads to a two-hour fire-resistance-rated enclosed stairway (the Exit).

Exit discharge: The part of the exit route that leads directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside. An example of an exit discharge is a door at the bottom of a two-hour fire-resistance-rated enclosed stairway that discharges to a place of safety outside the building.

Exit route: A continuous and unobstructed path of exit travel from any point within a workplace to a place of safety (including refuge areas). An exit route consists of three parts:

• The exit access;
• The exit; and
• The exit discharge. (An exit route includes all vertical and horizontal areas along the route.)

High hazard area: An area inside a workplace in which operations include high hazard materials, processes, or contents.

Occupant load: The total number of persons that may occupy a workplace or portion of a workplace at any one time. The occupant load of a workplace is calculated by dividing the gross floor area of the workplace or portion of the workplace by the occupant load factor for that particular type of workplace occupancy. Information regarding the occupant load is in NFPA 101® Life Safety Code®, and in IFC-2009, International Fire Code (incorporated by reference, see 1910.6).

Refuge area: A refuge area may be a space along an exit route that is protected from the effects of fire by separation from other spaces within the building by a barrier with at least a one-hour fire resistance rating. A refuge could also be a floor with at least two spaces, separated from each other by smoke-resistant partitions, in a building protected throughout by an automatic sprinkler system that complies with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s requirements at 1910.159.

How many exits?

• At least two exit routes must be available at all times. Depending on building size and number of occupants, more than two exits may be required.
• Common path of travel means the distance occupants must travel before they have a choice of exits.
• The specific travel distance allowed to the nearest exit depends on factors such as the intended use of the facility and the materials present.

At least two exit routes must be available to permit quick evacuation of employees and other occupants, unless one route is specifically permitted. Depending on the number of employees, the size of the building, the occupancy load, and the arrangement of the workplace, more than two exit routes may be necessary to safely evacuate all employees.

The exit routes must be located as far away from each other as possible so that, if one route is blocked by fire or smoke, employees can use the other route to escape. Construction materials used to separate the exit from other parts of the workplace must have a one-hour fire-resistance rating if the exit connects three or fewer stories and a two-hour fire-resistance rating if the exit connects four or more stories.

A single exit route is allowed where the number of employees, the size of the building, its occupancy, or the arrangement of the workplace indicates that a single exit will allow all employees to exit safely during an emergency.

Common path of travel

One factor affecting the number of exits from a room or area within a building is the common path of travel. The common path of travel is the distance people must travel before they have a choice of exits. The measurement for this path ends where occupants have two or more options to continue toward an exit. In most building types, the common path of travel may be no more than 50 feet if the structure does not have overhead sprinklers, or no more than 100 feet if the structure does have sprinklers.

Some employers assume that the number of exits required depends upon the occupancy load of an area, and to a certain extent that is true. However, the common path of travel is also important to determine how many options are needed based on how far people must travel before they have a choice of paths leading to an exit discharge. Employers should refer to NFPA 101® Life Safety Code® for specific paths of travel based on the occupancy type (industrial, education, retail, warehousing, etc.).

Travel distance

Another factor affecting the number of exits is the travel distance. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has incorporated by reference the NFPA 101® Life Safety Code®, which describes maximum travel distances to the nearest exit. Maintaining these distances is particularly important if a facility is undergoing construction or renovation work that temporarily makes one or more exits unavailable.

A typical travel distance would be 150 feet if a facility does not have an overhead sprinkler system, or 200 feet if the facility does have a sprinkler system. However, the specific travel distance allowed depends on factors such as the intended use of the facility (education, commerce, health care, etc.) and the materials present. For example, in warehouse areas where flammable materials are stored, the travel distance may be as short as 75 feet. Conversely, in low-hazard warehouses, the permissible travel distance might be 400 feet. Employers should check NFPA 101® or contact the state fire marshal or local fire department for details.

Safety of exits

• Several specific factors will determine whether or not an exit route or exit door is safe.
• Exit routes must be maintained regularly, including during construction activities in the workplace.

The following are some things to consider about exits and their safety:

• Exit routes must be free of obstructing material or equipment and there must be adequate lighting.
• The exit route cannot lead employees toward a dead end or through a room that can be locked.
• Exit routes must be free of highly flammable furnishings or decorations.
• Employees cannot be required to travel toward areas where there are unshielded materials that burn very quickly, emit poisonous fumes, or are explosive.
• Exits must lead directly outside or to an open space with access to the outside. The area beyond the exit must have enough room to accommodate the people likely to use the exit.
• Exit doors must be able to be readily opened without having to use keys, tools, or special knowledge. Exit doors cannot have any alarm or device that would restrict emergency use of the exit if the device fails.
• When exit route stairs continue beyond the floor where people are to exit, there must be doors or partitions at the exit discharge floor to ensure that the direction of exit travel is clear to employees.
• A side-hinged exit door must be used to connect any room to an exit route. A door leading from a room that may be occupied by more than 50 people, or from a room that contains highly flammable or explosive materials, must swing out from the room.
• An exit route must be able to support the maximum permitted occupant load for each floor of the building that is served by the exit route. The exit route’s capacity must not decrease along the direction of exit travel.
• Exit routes must be at least 6 feet, 8 inches high and at least 28 inches wide. They must be wider if necessary to accommodate the occupant load. These minimum sizes must be met even if objects project into the exit route. Note: Other codes, such as local fire/building and disability-access, may have additional requirements.
• Outdoor exit routes are allowed but must meet the same requirements that apply to indoor exit routes. In addition, outdoor exit routes:
  • Must have guardrails to protect unenclosed sides;
  • Must be covered if accumulation of snow or ice is likely and is not removed regularly;
  • Must be reasonably straight with smooth, solid, substantially level floors; and
  • Must have no dead ends longer than 20 feet.

Doors that lead to a stairway are examples of how exits are separated and protected by fire doors. These doors must not be blocked open — they are designed to automatically close behind people to protect them from smoke, heat, and fire as they exit during an emergency evacuation.

Maintaining exit routes

Exit routes must remain free of highly flammable furnishings or other decorations. When the workplace contains fire retardant paints or other coatings, their fire-retardant properties must be maintained.

Employees should not be allowed to occupy a workplace under construction until an adequate number of appropriate exit routes are available. During building repair activities, employees may only occupy a workplace as long as all exits and existing fire protection is maintained or if alternate, equally protective, fire protection is provided.

When flammable or explosive materials are used during construction, employees may not be exposed to hazards that are not otherwise present, and employee emergency escape may not be impeded by the use of these materials.

Exit signs and directional markings

• Exits must be clearly visible, properly illuminated, and marked by “Exit” signs.
• Employees should be able to see one or more exit signs from any point inside the building.

Each exit must be clearly visible and marked by a distinctive sign that reads “Exit.” The line of sight to each exit must be kept free of displays, objects, and other items that would detract attention from the exit sign. Exit signs must be properly illuminated.

If the direction of travel is not immediately apparent, signs should be used to indicate the direction to the exit. The line of sight to an exit sign must clearly be visible at all times. From any point in the building, employees should be able to see one or more signs indicating the nearest exits.

All doorways or passages that could be mistaken for an exit must be distinctly marked with a sign stating “Not an Exit” or indicating its actual use, such as “Linen Closet.” Employees must also be able to navigate the exit route safely. Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not specify a particular level of illumination, the standard requires that each exit route be adequately lighted so that a person with normal vision can see along the exit route.

Employers may use non-illuminated exit signs as long as they are suitably illuminated by a reliable light source providing at or above five foot-candles on the illuminated surface. Electrical power from a public utility is considered to be reliable. The exit sign surface may be passive, electrically internally illuminated, luminescent, fluorescent, reflective, or radioactive isotope self-energized.

Although a glow-in-the-dark sign might be sufficiently illuminated when fully charged, the brightness may fade in the absence of direct light. Exit signs must be sufficiently lit from within or sufficiently illuminated by external lights at all times, including when the overhead lights have been off for some time. A glow-in-the-dark sign might not sustain the required visibility in the absence of area lighting to keep it charged.

Exit route maps

• OSHA recommends, but does not require, that employers post exit route maps.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t specifically require employers to post evacuation maps but does strongly recommend them. The regulations don’t mention maps, but the non-mandatory Appendix to Subpart E says maps should be part of the employer’s planning:

“The use of floor plans or workplace maps which clearly show the emergency escape routes should be included in the emergency action plan. Color coding will aid employees in determining their route assignments.”

In addition, OSHA Publication 3088 on evacuations says that an emergency action plan must include: Emergency escape procedures and route assignments, such as floor plans, workplace maps, and safe or refuge areas.

The Appendix to 1910 Subpart E suggests that exit route maps would help, and Publication 3088 lists maps as an option. OSHA doesn’t explicitly require maps, but they are a good way to show exit routes to employees and visitors. Employers can determine how many maps they want and where to post them. There is no requirement on where to display them.

Employers should check with a local fire marshal for any code requirements. The OSHA regulations cover only employees, not visitors; local codes may cover places of business that are open to the public.

Insurance

• Many companies only learn that they are not properly insured after a loss occurs. Employers should be sure to work carefully with an insurance advisor to determine the company’s insurance needs.

Most companies discover that they are not properly insured only after a loss. Lack of appropriate insurance can be financially devastating. Employers should discuss the following topics with the facility’s insurance advisor to determine needs:

• How will the property be valued?
• Does the policy cover the cost of required upgrades to code?
• What perils or causes of loss does the policy cover?
• What are the deductibles?
• What does the policy require management to do in the event of a loss?
• What types of records and documentation will the insurance company want to see?
• Are records in a safe place where they can be obtained after an emergency?
• To what extent is the company covered for loss due to interruption of power? Is coverage provided for both on- and off-premises power interruption?
• Is the company covered for lost income in the event of business interruption because of a loss? For how long is coverage provided?
• How long is coverage for lost income if the business is closed by order of a civil authority?
• To what extent is the company covered for reduced income due to customers’ not all immediately coming back once the business reopens?
• How will the company’s emergency management program affect the rates?

Outside resources

• Employers may need to engage the services of outside contractors for records preservation, equipment repair, engineering, and more.

Employers should plan to make contractual arrangements with vendors for such post-emergency services as records preservation, equipment repair, earthmoving, or engineering. Company officials will need to meet with insurance carriers to discuss business resumption policies. Leadership should determine critical operations and make plans for bringing those systems back online. The process may entail:

• Repairing or replacing equipment.
• Relocating operations to an alternate location.
• Contracting operations on a temporary basis.

Someone from the employer’s facility should take photographs or record video to document company assets, and should keep those records updated regularly.

Administration and logistics

• Maintaining complete and accurate records before, during and after an emergency may help ensure a more efficient emergency response and recovery.
• Acquiring equipment, designating emergency facilities, and providing backup power and communications are just a few logistics requirements in an emergency.

Maintaining complete and accurate records helps ensure a more efficient emergency response and recovery. Certain records also may be required by regulation or by insurance carriers, or may prove invaluable in the case of legal action after an incident.

Administrative actions Administrative actions that should be taken prior to an emergency include:

• Establishing a written emergency management and business continuity plan.
• Maintaining training records.
• Maintaining all written communications.
• Documenting drills and exercises and their critiques.
• Involving community emergency response organizations in planning activities.

Administrative actions during and after an emergency include:

• Maintaining telephone logs.
• Keeping a detailed record of events.
• Maintaining a record of injuries and follow-up actions.
• Accounting for personnel.
• Coordinating notification of family members.
• Issuing press releases.
• Maintaining sampling records.
• Coordinating personnel services.
• Documenting incident investigations and recovery operations.

Logistics Before an emergency, logistics may entail:

• Acquiring equipment.
• Stockpiling supplies.
• Designating emergency facilities.
• Establishing training facilities.
• Establishing mutual aid agreements.
• Preparing a resource inventory.

During an emergency, logistics may entail the provision of:

• Providing utility maps to emergency responders.
• Providing material safety data sheets to employees.
• Moving backup equipment in place.
• Repairing parts.
• Arranging for medical support, food and transportation.
• Arranging for shelter facilities.
• Providing for backup power.
• Providing for backup communications.

Recovery efforts

• Priorities after a disaster may include stabilizing the work environment, assessing and documenting damage, and retrieving and protecting salvageable property.

Steps to take after a disaster (depending on the situation) include:

• Gathering staff off-site to assign tasks and review salvage priorities, making sure the team is big enough for the work.
• Establishing a command center with office equipment (computers, photocopier) and communications tools (walkie-talkies, cell phones).
• Creating a secure salvage area with locks, fans, tables, shelves, plastic sheeting, drying materials and clean water.
• Notifying emergency officials of the extent of damage, and contacting peer or professional groups for help.
• Appointing a media liaison to report conditions and need for help/volunteers.
• Verifying financial resources: amount and terms of insurance, government assistance, potential outside funding.
• Contacting service providers for generator, freezer, and drying or freeze-drying services.
• Arranging for repairs to security system.

Stabilization

The following steps should be taken to stabilize the work environment after a disaster:

• Some building contents may be contaminated. Employees should not enter without necessary personal protective equipment.
• Identifying and repairing structural hazards and removing debris from floors.
• Reducing the temperature and relative humidity to prevent mold outbreak.
• If warm outside, setting the air conditioning to its lowest setting, and covering broken windows with plastic.
• In cool, low-humidity weather, opening windows and using circulating fans. (If mold is already present, it is not recommended to circulate air.)
• Leaving the heat off, unless required for human comfort.
• Removing standing water and emptying items containing water; removing wet carpets and furnishings.
• If everything is soaked, using commercial dehumidification.

Documentation

Employers should plan on the following to document property damage after a disaster:

• Once it is safe to enter the building, making a preliminary tour of all affected areas. Employees should wear protective clothing.
• Documenting the condition of all objects before moving them.
• Taking pictures or video to record conditions, making sure the images clearly record any damage.
• Making notes and voice recordings to accompany photographs.
• Assigning staff to keep written records of contacts with insurance agents and other investigators, and staff decisions on retrieval and salvage.
• Making visual, written and voice records for each step of salvage procedures.

Retrieval and protection

Employers should plan to do the following to retrieve and protect remaining property after a disaster:

• Leaving undamaged items in place if the environment is stable and area secure. If not, moving them to a secure, environmentally controlled area.
• If no part of the building is dry, protecting all objects with loose plastic sheeting.
• Giving priority to undamaged items, and separating undamaged from damaged items.
• Until salvage begins, maintaining each group in the same condition it was found in; i.e., keeping wet items wet, dry items dry, and damp items damp.
• Retrieving all pieces of broken objects and labeling them.
• Checking items daily for mold and isolating any that are found with mold. Moldy objects should be handled with extreme care.

Assessing the damage

Employers will want to consider the following to assess damage following a disaster:

• Notifying the insurance representative or risk manager. An on-site evaluation may be required before taking action.
• Making a rough estimate of the type of materials affected and the extent and nature of damage. A detailed evaluation can slow recovery.
• Looking for threats to worker safety and determining status of security systems.
• Looking for evidence of mold. This includes keeping note of how long the materials have been wet, as well as the current inside temperature and relative humidity.
• Documenting the damage for insurance to help with recovery.

Establishing salvage priorities Employers should establish salvage priorities by groups of materials, not item by item. It can be helpful to focus first protection efforts and salvage work on:

• Vital institutional information like employee and accounting records, and database backups.
• Items most prone to continued damage if untreated.
• Materials most likely to be successfully salvaged.

Earthquake

An earthquake is a sudden, rapid shaking of the ground caused by the breaking and shifting of rock beneath the earth’s surface. This shaking can cause buildings and bridges to collapse; disrupt gas, electric, and phone service; and sometimes trigger landslides, avalanches, flash floods, fires, and destructive ocean waves (tsunamis). Buildings with foundations resting on unconsolidated landfill, old waterways, or other unstable soil are most at risk. Buildings or trailers and manufactured homes not tied to a reinforced foundation anchored to the ground are also at risk since they can be shaken off their mountings during an earthquake. Earthquakes can occur at any time of the year.

Plan considerations. Consider the following when developing your plan:

• Establish procedures to determine whether an evacuation is necessary after an earthquake.
• Designate an emergency shelter and safe places employees could go (i.e., under a sturdy table or desk or against an interior wall away from windows and bookcases). The shorter the distance to move to safety, the less likely you will be injured. Injury statistics show that people moving as little as 10 feet during an earthquake’s shaking are most likely to be injured.
• Get training. Take a first aid class from your local Red Cross chapter. Get training on how to use a fire extinguisher. Keep your training current. Training will help you to keep calm and know what to do when an earthquake occurs.
• Discuss earthquakes with workers. Everyone should know what to do. Discussing earthquakes ahead of time helps reduce fear and anxiety and lets everyone know how to respond.
• Keep copies of design drawings of the facility to be used in assessing the facility’s safety after an earthquake.

Other steps to take include:

• Have the facility inspected by a structural engineer and develop strengthening measures.
• Ensure equipment such as racking are designed and installed properly.
• Train employees how to drop, cover, and hold-on in each safe place. Practice these actions at least twice per year so that they become an automatic response.
• Instruct employees to wait in your safe place until the shaking stops, then check to see if they’re hurt.
• Instruct employees to be on the lookout for fires. Fire is the most common earthquake-related hazard, due to broken gas lines, damaged electrical lines or appliances, and previously contained fires or sparks being released.
• Instruct employees to use the stairs, not the elevator.
• Train employees on what to do if they’re outside in an earthquake. They should stay outside, according to OSHA and move away from buildings, trees, streetlights, and power lines. They should also crouch down and cover their heads. Many injuries occur within 10 feet of the entrance to buildings. Bricks, roofing, and other materials can fall from buildings, injuring persons nearby. Trees, streetlights, and power lines may also fall, causing damage or injury.

Fire

Fire is among the most deadly of workplace hazards and the most preventable of accidents. Because of the serious danger of fire, it’s to your benefit to know about fires and what to do should a fire erupt. OSHA regulates several aspects of fire prevention and response.

Emergency planning, fire prevention plans, and evacuation that would need to be done in the event of a serious fire are addressed in the OSHA standards, §1910.38 and .39. In addition, the provision of fire extinguishers and other protection is addressed in 1910.157.

Plan considerations. Consider the following when developing your plan:

• Meet with the fire department to talk about the community’s fire response capabilities. Talk about your operations. Identify processes and materials that could cause or fuel a fire, or contaminate the environment in a fire.
• Have your facility inspected for fire hazards. Ask about fire codes and regulations.
• Ask your insurance carrier to recommend fire prevention and protection measures. Your carrier may also offer training.
• Distribute fire safety information to employees: how to prevent fires in the workplace, how to contain a fire, how to evacuate the facility, where to report a fire.
• Instruct employees to use the stairs — not elevators — in a fire. Instruct them to crawl on their hands and knees when escaping a hot or smoke-filled area.
• Conduct evacuation drills. Post maps of evacuation routes in prominent places. Keep evacuation routes including stairways and doorways clear of debris.
• Assign fire wardens for each area to monitor shutdown and evacuation procedures.
• Establish procedures for the safe handling and storage of flammable liquids and gases. Establish procedures to prevent the accumulation of combustible materials.
• Provide for the safe disposal of smoking materials.
• Establish a preventive maintenance schedule to keep equipment operating safely.
• Place fire extinguishers in appropriate locations.
• Train employees in use of fire extinguishers.

Other steps to take include:

• Install smoke detectors. Check smoke detectors once a month, change batteries at least once a year.
• Establish a system for warning employees of a fire. Consider installing a fire alarm with automatic notification to the fire department.
• Consider installing a sprinkler system, fire hoses and fire-resistant walls and doors.
• Ensure that key personnel are familiar with all fire safety systems.
• Identify and mark all utility shutoffs so that electrical power, gas or water can be shut off quickly by fire wardens or responding personnel.
• Determine the level of response your facility will take if a fire occurs. Among the options are:
  • Option 1: Immediate evacuation of all employees on alarm.
  • Option 2: All personnel are trained in fire extinguisher use. Personnel in the immediate area of a fire attempt to control it. If they cannot, the fire alarm is sounded and all personnel evacuate.
  • Option 3: Only designated personnel are trained in fire extinguisher use.
  • Option 4: A fire team is trained to fight incipient-stage fires that can be controlled without protective equipment or breathing apparatus. Beyond this level fire, the team evacuates.
  • Option 5: A fire team is trained and equipped to fight structural fires using protective equipment and breathing apparatus. Note: If you form an in-house fire brigade, be aware there are very specific training requirements that must be in place. See 1910.156 and NFPA 600 (www.nfpa.org).

Hazardous materials incidents

Hazardous materials are substances that are either flammable or combustible, explosive, toxic, noxious, corrosive, oxidizable, irritant, or radioactive.

A hazardous material spill or release can pose a risk to life, health, or property. An incident can result in the evacuation of a few people, a section of a facility, or an entire neighborhood.

There are a number of federal laws that regulate hazardous materials, including: the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA), the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and the Clean Air Act.

Title III of SARA regulates the packaging, labeling, handling, storage, and transportation of hazardous materials. The law requires facilities to furnish information about the quantities and health effects of materials used at the facility, and to promptly notify local and state officials whenever a significant release of hazardous materials occurs.

In addition to on-site hazards, you should be aware of the potential for an off-site incident affecting your operations. You should also be aware of hazardous materials used in facility processes and in the construction of the physical plant.

Detailed definitions as well as lists of hazardous materials can be obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Planning considerations. Consider the following when developing your plan:

• Identify and label all hazardous materials stored, handled, produced and disposed of by your facility. Follow government regulations that apply to your facility. Obtain safety data sheets (SDSs) for all hazardous materials at your location.
• Ask the local fire department for assistance in developing appropriate response procedures.
• Train employees to recognize and report hazardous material spills and releases. Train employees in proper handling and storage.
• Establish a hazardous material response plan:
  • Establish procedures to notify management and emergency response organizations of an incident.
  • Establish procedures to warn employees of an incident.
  • Establish evacuation procedures.
  • Depending on your operations, organize, and train an emergency response team to confine and control hazardous material spills in accordance with applicable regulations.
• Identify other facilities in your area that use hazardous materials. Determine whether an incident could affect your facility.
• Identify highways, railroads and waterways near your facility used for the transportation of hazardous materials. Determine how a transportation accident near your facility could affect your operations.

Hazardous waste operations & emergency response (HAZWOPER)

Certain types of work involve potential exposure to hazards. This is certainly true of both handling hazardous waste and responding to chemical emergencies. Several hazards at a work site can precipitate an emergency: chemicals, biologic agents, radiation, or physical hazards may act alone or in concert to create explosions, fires, spills, toxic atmospheres, or other dangerous and harmful situations.

Therefore, every employer who has operations whereby employees handle emergency releases must develop a written emergency response plan.

However, employers who plan to evacuate their employees from the workplace when an emergency occurs, and who do not permit any of their employees to assist in handling the emergency, do not have to develop an emergency response plan under HAZWOPER. But these employers must still provide an emergency action plan.

Plan considerations. Consider the following when developing your emergency response plan:

• Pre-emergency planning and coordination with outside parties.
• Personnel roles, lines of authority, training, and communication.
• Emergency recognition and prevention.
• Safe distances and places of refuge.
• Site security and control.
• Evacuation routes and procedures.
• Decontamination.
• Emergency medical treatment and first aid.
• Emergency alerting and response procedures.
• Critique of response and follow-up.
• PPE and emergency equipment.

Floods

Floods are the most common hazards and widespread of all natural disasters. Most communities in the United States can experience some degree of flooding after spring rains, heavy thunderstorms, or winter snow thaws.

Most floods develop slowly over a period of days. Flash floods, however, are like walls of water that develop in a matter of minutes. Flash floods can be caused by intense storms or dam failure.

Planning considerations. Consider the following when preparing for floods:

• Ask your local emergency management office whether your facility is located in a flood plain. Learn the history of flooding in your area. Learn the elevation of your facility in relation to streams, rivers and dams.
• Review the community’s emergency plan. Learn the community’s evacuation routes. Know where to find higher ground in case of a flood.
• Establish warning and evacuation procedures for the facility. Make plans for assisting employees who may need transportation.
• Inspect areas in your facility subject to flooding. Identify records and equipment that can be moved to a higher location. Make plans to move records and equipment in case of flood.
• Purchase a NOAA Weather Radio with a warning alarm tone and battery backup. Listen for flood watches and warnings. Flood watch means flooding is possible. Flood warning means flooding is already occurring or will occur soon. Take precautions at once. Be prepared to go to higher ground. If advised, evacuate immediately.
• Ask your insurance carrier for information about flood insurance. Regular property and casualty insurance does not cover flooding.
• Consider the feasibility of flood-proofing the facility.
• Consider the need for backup systems.
• Participate in community flood control projects.

Tornadoes

Planning for tornadoes requires identifying a place to take shelter, being familiar with and monitoring your community’s warning system, and establishing procedures to account for individuals in the building. Employers may need to obtain additional equipment and/or resources (e.g., Emergency Supply Kits) identified in the plan.

In addition, workers need to be trained and plans need to be practiced to ensure that personnel are familiar with what to do in the event of a tornado.

Winter storms

Aside from the obvious hazard of workers trying to get home during a winter storm, there are a host of other issues businesses face when it comes to winter storms.

While most workers can stay inside during a winter storm, some workers may be required to go into the storm. These may include utility workers; law enforcement personnel; firefighters; emergency medical personnel; federal, state and local government personnel; military personnel; highway personnel; and sanitation workers. Some of the hazards associated with working in winter storms include:

• Driving accidents due to slippery roadways
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Hypothermia and frostbite due to the cold weather exposure
• Exhaustion from strenuous activity
• Dehydration
• Back injuries or heart attack while removing snow
• Slips and falls due to slippery walkways
• Electrocution due to downed power lines or downed objects in contact with power lines
• Burns from fires caused by energized line contact or equipment failure
• Being struck by falling objects such as icicles, tree limbs, and utility poles
• Falls from snow removal on roofs, or while working in aerial lifts or on ladders
• Roof collapse under weight of snow (or melting snow if drains are clogged)
• Lacerations or amputations from unguarded or improperly operated chain saws and power tools, and improperly attempting to clear jams in snow blowers

As with other emergency situations, communication and early warning is key. Monitor weather conditions and notify employees promptly. Follow instructions and guidance from the local authorities.

Workplace violence/security threats

Workplace violence is any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers and visitors. Homicide is one of the leading causes of fatal occupational injuries in the United States.

However it manifests itself, workplace violence is a major concern for employers and employees nationwide. Nearly 2 million American workers report having been victims of workplace violence each year. Unfortunately, many more cases go unreported. The truth is, workplace violence can strike anywhere, anytime, and no one is immune. Research has identified factors that may increase the risk of violence for some workers at certain worksites. Such factors include exchanging money with the public and working with volatile, unstable people. Working alone or in isolated areas may also contribute to the potential for violence. Providing services and care, and working where alcohol is served may also impact the likelihood of violence. Additionally, time of day and location of work, such as working late at night or in areas with high crime rates, are also risk factors that should be considered when addressing issues of workplace violence. Among those with higher risk are workers who exchange money with the public, delivery drivers, healthcare professionals, public service workers, customer service agents, law enforcement personnel, and those who work alone or in small groups.

In most workplaces where risk factors can be identified, the risk of assault can be prevented or minimized if employers take appropriate precautions. One of the best protections employers can offer their workers is to establish a zero-tolerance policy toward workplace violence. This policy should cover all workers, patients, clients, visitors, contractors, and anyone else who may come in contact with company personnel. By assessing their worksites, employers can identify methods for reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring. OSHA believes that a well written and implemented Workplace Violence Prevention Program, combined with engineering controls, administrative controls and training can reduce the incidence of workplace violence in both the private sector and Federal workplaces. This can be a separate workplace violence prevention program or can be incorporated into an injury and illness prevention program, employee handbook, or manual of standard operating procedures. It is critical to ensure that all workers know the policy and understand that all claims of workplace violence will be investigated and remedied promptly. In addition, OSHA encourages employers to develop additional methods as necessary to protect employees in high risk industries.

Emergency communications

• Employers must have a plan in place to communicate with employees, local authorities, customers, and others in an emergency.
• Employers should encourage their employees to have a plan in place to communicate with family members during an emergency.

Employers should consider the functions needed to perform in an emergency and the communications systems needed to support those functions. This should include details on how the organization plans to communicate with employees, local authorities, customers, and others during and after an emergency situation.

Employees: Employers need to be prepared to provide employees with information on when, if, and how to report to work following an emergency. A telephone call tree, password-protected page on the company website, an email alert, or a call-in voice recording can be used to communicate with employees in an emergency. Messaging should be clear about how employees’ jobs may be affected.

Management: Top company executives should have all the relevant information they need for the protection of employees, customers, vendors, and nearby facilities.

Public: Organizations may need to update the general public about what resources are being used to protect workers and the community. The ability to communicate what plans are in place for recovery may be especially important.

Customers: Customers should be kept up to date on whether and when products will be received and services rendered.

Government: Officials need to be informed about what the company is prepared to do to help in the recovery effort. Local, state, and federal authorities need to understand what emergency assistance is needed for essential business activity to continue.

Other businesses/Immediate neighbors: Competing and neighboring companies may need a prompt briefing on the nature of the emergency so they may be able to assess their own threat levels.

Family communications. In an emergency, employees need to know whether their families are okay. This requires plans for communicating with employees’ families in an emergency.

Also, employers should encourage employees to:

• Consider how they would communicate with their families in case they are separated from one another or injured in an emergency.
• Arrange for an out-of-town contact for all family members to call in an emergency.
• Designate a place to meet family members in case they cannot get home in an emergency.

Key elements of a media statement

• Effective crisis communication helps a business to establish trust and credibility with the public.

A strong initial response sets the tone for a press meeting and is crucial in attempting to establish trust and build credibility with an audience.

The key elements of a response include:

• A statement of personal concern. The statement should express empathy and humanity. It should let people know that the company understands how they’re feeling. Perceived empathy is a vital factor in establishing trust and building credibility, and it is assessed by an audience in the first 30 seconds. For example, a statement might say, “I can see by the number of people here today that you’re as concerned about this issue as ABC Company is.”
• A statement of organizational commitment and intent. For example, “We are committed to protecting the health and safety of the public.”
• A statement of purpose and a plan for the meeting. “Today, we would like to share with you the findings of our investigation, then we would like to open the floor for questions.” It’s important that the business leaders control the meeting as much as possible.
• Key messages. The key messages are points the business wants the public to have in mind after the meeting. Key messages should address central issues and be short and concise. For example, “We have performed extensive tests over the last four hours, which have failed to find any evidence that X remains in the building. It is now safe to return there.”
• A conclusion. Summarize the main points and reiterate key messages.

The goal of crisis communication is to appeal to the rationality of individuals, so they can better understand the crisis and what’s being done to control it.

Training activities

• Types of training can range from orientation and education sessions to functional drills and full-scale simulations of emergency situations.

Training can take many forms:

• Orientation and education sessions. These are regularly scheduled discussion sessions to provide information, answer questions, and identify needs and concerns.
• Tabletop exercise. Members of the emergency management group meet in a conference room setting to discuss their responsibilities and how they would react to emergency scenarios. This is a cost-effective and efficient way to identify areas of overlap and confusion before conducting more demanding training activities.
• Walk-through drill. The emergency management group and response teams actually perform their emergency response functions. This activity generally involves more people and is more thorough than a tabletop exercise.
• Functional drills. These drills test specific functions such as medical response, emergency notifications, warning and communications procedures, and equipment though not necessarily at the same time. Employees are asked to evaluate the systems and identify problem areas.
• Evacuation drill. Employees walk the evacuation route to a designated area where procedures for accounting for all employees are tested. Participants are asked to make notes as they go along of what might become a hazard during an emergency, e.g., stairways cluttered with debris, fake smoke in the hallways. Plans are modified accordingly.
• Full-scale exercise. A real-life emergency situation is simulated as closely as possible. This exercise involves company emergency response personnel, employees, management, and community response organizations.