How to create an effective emergency evacuation plan

When the unexpected occurs, knowing how to get to a safe place can be the difference that keeps the people in your office safe. A good emergency evacuation plan covers:

• When you should leave the building
• How everyone can evacuate safely
• Who’s in charge, and what they’re responsible for.

Your company is likely required to have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) — an evacuation plan is one part of that. If you don’t have one yet, here are some resources to help you get started:

• How to Plan for Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations (OSHA)
• Preparedness Planning for Your Business (ready.gov)
• A sample emergency plan to record contact people and backup plans (ready.gov)
• Everything your EAP should include (safteng.net)
• Emergency Action Plan template (cdc.gov)

Decide whether you should stay or go

Emergencies can be natural (e.g., storms, earthquakes, wildfires), or caused by something else (e.g., fire, hazardous materials, attack). As soon as someone’s noticed a situation, the first step is to decide how to respond.

When a situation comes up in your office, whether natural or man made, the first step is to decide how to respond. The degree of urgency will vary, but in any emergency situation, you basically have two options: To leave the building — and possibly a larger area — or to stay put (what’s called “shelter-in-place”).

In some situations, you may receive directions from the authorities. But your EAP should explain how to respond to different types of emergencies..

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends that you start by brainstorming about worse-case scenarios: storms, earthquakes, wildfires, fire, hazardous materials, terrorist attacks. Think each one through from start to finish and ask:

• What would someone need to do to stay safe?
• Would everyone need to leave the building, or just a particular area?
• Can the situation be contained by trained staff with access to the right equipment (e.g., a fire extinguisher)?

Sometimes, the safest option might be to stay put. In this case, you’ll need to have designated shelter areas — typically interior rooms with no (or few) windows. In your planning process, be sure to outline any specific steps people might need to take to secure the space.

Get everyone out safely

An office evacuation has two parts: Getting people out of the building, then checking to make sure everyone got out safely.

By law, your organization needs to have evacuation maps that show key features such as:

• Primary and secondary exits and how to find them
• Shelter areas
• The location of equipment such as fire extinguishers and first aid kits
• Rooms where hazardous materials are located
• A designated assembly area, located a safe distance from the building.

Learn more about emergency evacuation floor plans from the OSHA with an interactive demo or their fact sheet on exit routes >>

To check whether everyone is out, you need to know who was in the building at the time of the evacuation: Employees, volunteers, customers, and other guests. With a cloud-based visitor registration system like Envoy, you can access an up-to-date employee directory as well as a real-time registration log through the visitor dashboard.

Who’s responsible in an emergency?

Your organization should have a group of people who are designated points of contact in an emergency situation (e.g. fire wardens, emergency coordinators, etc.). This team is responsible for

• Keeping the EAP up to date
• Maintaining emergency kits
• Assessing situations to determine the appropriate response
• Supervising and directing any response, including an evacuation
• Notifying the authorities

This team should know of anyone who requires special assistance, as well as all escape routes — including alternative options. They may also have received first aid training or been shown how to respond to more minor situations.

Anyone in this position should be easy to identify — e.g., with a bright hard hat and/or vest — and staff should know that they’re the people to turn to in an emergency for guidance.

Feel like you have an effective plan in place? For more information and guidance, check out the OSHA’s Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool.