Developing a plan to minimize all hazards in the workplace is not easy. All employers face potential emergencies. Having a contingency plan for unexpected disasters is one of the best ways employers can protect their jobs from fatal accidents. An Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is a document required by some OSHA standards (Verma & Patra, 2022). When businesses prepare for emergencies, OSHA provides emergency preparedness guidelines that businesses can follow. An emergency is a potentially life-threatening situation that usually occurs suddenly and unexpectedly. Emergency preparedness includes planning, practice, assessment, and adaptation to specific situations. In the event of an emergency, it is best to act quickly. Rapid emergency response is the difference between minimal damage and significant damage. It can also be the difference between life and death. Contingency planning is the first step in the structure.
If the Widget Factory contains toxic chemicals that could harm nearby residents, state and local emergency planning committees should be notified, even if the factory may be affected. Also known as the Contingency Planning and Communities’ Right to Know Act of 1986 (Verma & Patra, 2022). For emergency planning, companies must create an Emergency Action Plan (EAP). Regarding hurricanes, widget factories need to plan step by step. Hurricanes do not come so suddenly, and you can prepare for them in advance.
The purpose of the EAP is to explain to workers and employers what to do in an emergency. It is also a good idea to have them on hand so everyone knows what to do in an emergency and make sure everyone shows up from the emergency safe. For this reason, consider hurricanes and floods. One thing about these two things is that you can get these warnings ahead of time. The first step is to create an emergency evacuation plan. Plans should be site-specific, not just general plans that can confuse employees.
To develop this plan, involve various employees throughout the facility to make sure everything is available. Once administrators have identified all the threats, they may face and their potential consequences, they must develop a response to the hazards. First, in an emergency, you must appoint a compliance officer and encourage others to follow the procedures outlined in the manual (Verma & Patra, 2022). Larger companies may need more than one department as a standalone or a backup, but in this case, the person in charge must ensure that the hierarchy is clearly ordered. Employees should know that this person is responsible and has authority in an emergency.
Second, ensure you understand how to report a fire or other emergency. It may mean dialing 911, calling an internal emergency number, activating a manual fire alarm, or other procedures that may vary depending on the type of emergency. It is essential to make evacuation rules and evacuation routes clear and understandable. The emergency response person or committee should monitor the progress of the exercise to see where there are problems that were not apparent during the planning phase. For example, a fire alarm that is supposed to alert everyone to danger may not be visible in part of a building when the equipment is running. Contingency plans should be reviewed frequently and updated as circumstances change.
Reference
Verma, S., & Patra, K. C. (2022). Dam Break Flow Simulation Model for Preparing Emergency Action Plans for Bargi Dam Failure. In Hydrological Modeling (pp. 271-286). Springer, Cham.