Emergency Action & Fire Prevention Plan

In the previous blog, I provided a link to our poster version of an Emergency Action & Fire Prevention Plan which is especially appropriate for use on construction sites and small fixed businesses.  I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight its special feature – the second line that starts with “here is how to find this site….”

I’m a volunteer member of a rural rescue squad and I have lots of horror stories concerning how my unit has driven all around the countryside, trying to find our patient.  Enhanced 911 systems can’t help locate the emergency caller who is using a cell phone while standing on the side of an unidentified road or in the middle of a site being cleared for construction or in other scenarios where a land-line phone is not available.

How do you tell the 911 operator where you are?  Even when using a land-line phone during an emergency, it is very helpful to have posted by the phone a neatly written and well-thought-out “script” to read from.  People panic during emergencies – give them as many tools as possible to make the job of proper response as easy as possible.

(By the way, thanks go to one of our clients – Taylor and Parrish, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia.  I believe it was Superintendent Roy who improved our poster by adding the 911 script.)

Old Civil Defense biscuit containers found during a demolition project. Photo: Jan Thomas

While conducting a recent safety audit at a demo project, I came across this box containing 75 pounds of “survival ration biscuits” which had been located in the building’s Civil Defense Shelter.  You can hardly see it but the expiration date on the box says “Jan 1963.” 

I originally took this as a funny picture showing a piece of history quickly being bulldozed out of our memories.  But then I got to thinking about how this old box of outdated emergency supplies can actually be a lesson for those of us responsible for writing, implementing, and using workplace emergency action plans. 

There is not much difference between this outdated cardboard box and a chapter in a out-of-date safety manual that only provides generic responses for a few OSHA-required emergency plans.  All are outdated and won’t be helpful if an emergency strikes.

Instead, we like to see the general written EAP policies supplemented at the level of endeavor – the job site level on construction projects and department or shift level for fixed worksites – with posted information and lots of training and drills.  Click here for one example of a simple EAP poster for a small construction site.

Emergency Numbers Poster

Note: here is an interesting link http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/ .