Employee Evacuation Safety Training

An employee evacuation procedure is a safety must for every company.

As part of crisis management, every company needs to have an emergency evacuation procedure. This emergency could be a fire, tornado, flood, terrorist attack, hostage situation, or one of many other disasters.

Training Issues

All employees should be trained to know how to safely exit their workplace in case of an emergency. Evacuation routes should be posted in the employee break room, locker room, and other places that employees frequent. Employee evacuation training should include the evacuation route, alternative exits, shut-down procedures, location of safety equipment, and first aid training. Phone numbers of employees, their immediate families, and management should be on file and easily accessible. A gathering place should be pre-determined so a head count can be taken to ensure that all employees, vendors and visitors are accounted for.

Leadership

In planning evacuation procedures, a leader needs to be designated. He coordinates the evacuation, takes charge of any rescue or first aid needed, assigns employees to shut down equipment and turn off power, and makes sure all employees are accounted for.

Evacuation Plan Benefits

Having an evacuation procedure will prevent conflict, confusion, injuries and property damage. Periodic drills and training sessions will make actual evacuations safer and smoother for all employees.

References

• The Safe Workplace: Planning for Workplace Emergencies
• OSHA: How to Plan for Workplace Emergencies and Evacuations