Emergency Preparedness
Preparing for emergencies is an important part of your workplace health and safety program and is a legal requirement throughout Canada. Besides the major benefit of providing guidance during an emergency, the planning process may bring to light deficiencies, such as the lack of resources (equipment, trained personnel, supplies), or items that can be corrected before an emergency occurs. In addition, an emergency plan promotes safety awareness and shows the organization’s commitment to the safety of workers.
Not having an emergency plan could lead to severe losses including casualties and the possible significant financial burdens.
Emergency Plan Objectives
Objectives:
- Accelerate the resumption of normal operations
- Prevent fatalities and injuries
- Reduce damage to buildings, stock, and equipment
- Protect the environment and the community
Development of the plan begins with a vulnerability assessment. The results of the assessment will show:
- How likely a situation is to occur
- What means are available to stop or prevent the situation
- What is necessary for a given situation
An emergency preparedness plan should include:
- All possible emergencies, consequences, required actions, written procedures, and the resources available.
- Detailed lists of emergency response personnel include their cell phone numbers, alternate contact details, and duties and responsibilities.
- Large-scale maps showing evacuation routes and service conduits (such as gas and water lines).
- Floor plans
Hazards
Types of hazards:
- Loss of electricity or water
- Fire
- Flood, earthquakes, tornadoes
- Wind and snowstorms
- Explosion
- Building collapse
- Major structural failure
- Spills
- Unintentional release of products
- Deliberate release of products
- Other terrorist activities
- Exposure to ionizing radiation
Drills and Training
The best thing you can do for your team is to conduct drills. Mother Nature is an unpredictable force, and you never truly know what she will do next. Humans are even less predictable. Prepare for earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, windstorms, and man-made disasters.
Emergency drills for responses such as lockdown, shelter-in-place or employee injury provide the training and route memorization of the skill sets necessary for emergency situations. All emergency drills should be highly controlled, test a single procedure and involve all employees. Drills should be unannounced and performed under varying and nonideal conditions (e.g., different times of day, different weather conditions, different times during the year or during the absence of key personnel) In most real emergencies, employees must seek alternate evacuation routes because some doors are blocked or unsafe. So, instead of just letting employees pour out of their familiar exits, simulate some of the exits as “blocked.”.
All employees should be trained prior to any drill to make sure they know what is expected. Invite local emergency responders to observe the drill. All employees should be trained at least annually on the emergency response plans and guides and on their roles within the plans.
Why Have an Emergency Preparedness Plan
The lack of an emergency plan could lead to severe losses, such as multiple casualties and the possible financial collapse of your organization. Without a proper emergency plan in place, it leaves you – your employees and customers – vulnerable to the disruption that could potentially shut your doors forever.
Even if the disaster doesn’t shut your business down, half of business owners say it would take their business at least three months to recover from a natural disaster. They stated, “Insurance does not cover all costs and cannot replace customers that defect to the competition”.
There is also the risk that an injured employee could make a claim to the Labour Board, claiming the company was not properly prepared and thus did not create a safe work environment. This risk could open a company up to a plethora of costs and payments where recovery is slim.
Emergency Preparedness
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