The Emergency Action Plan: Understanding the Basic Principles

5/14/2021 (Permalink)

How ready is your business for an emergency? Everyone should have a contingency plan in place because you never know when you will need it. You need to know that your employees are safe and accounted for in the event of a disaster. Therefore, you should understand the basics of an emergency action plan.

Make a List of Contacts

Every well-crafted evacuation plan requires a list of contacts. By ensuring contacts are regularly updated, you can keep track of people in a more thorough way. For instance, if your business is evacuated because of a fire, you can double-check counts to your list of contacts, and you can reach out to anyone not accounted for.

Designate and Assign Clear Evacuation Routes

An emergency contingency plan should include several exit routes designed to lead outdoors from every point in the building. Additionally, employees should be assigned a route that corresponds to their section of the building. This allows evacuations to happen in an orderly and predictable manner.

Design a Way to Account for Employees

You may also want to assign specific floor managers to specific exit routes, making them responsible for counting and verifying everyone assigned to their route. This will make accounting for all personnel easier, and it will allow a small group of managers to interact and check numbers.

Know Who Is Responsible for Reporting Fires

You should assign the task of reporting fires to specific people yet encourage others to call as well. By assigning the responsibility, you ensure someone reports the problem, but by encouraging others, you make certain that no one drops the ball.

Beyond reporting fires to emergency services and your insurer, you should keep a disaster restoration specialist in the area on file. These professionals may even set up an emergency plan with you, making the process that much easier. A proper contingency plan in the event of an emergency can be the difference between life and death. Keep your employees and yourself safe by planning ahead and seek assistance when and if you need it. SERVPRO of West Hills & North Washington County offer free assessments of your business’s preparedness, so give us a call at 412-299-5520 to schedule!