Best practices for emergency planning

1. Emergency Planning
BY
Dr.(Mrs.) Felicia Chinwe Mogo
Contact me: felichimogo@yahoo.com
LinkedIn: Felicia Chinwe Mogo

2. WHAT ARE EMERGENCIES/CRISIS
• These are sources of risk and therefore have
the probability of causing an undesired event.
• Types of crisis that may be encountered
include:-political and social unrest, Personal tragedy, Threats to personal
safety, Injury or serious illness,Harassment,Natural disasters, crime and
industrial accidents.

3. RISK CONTROL ACTIVITIES
• These are steps that are taken to change the
level of risk involved with the hazard. These
include:-
design,construction,maintenance,operations,p
ublic awareness, and developing of local
response teams.

4. Emergency response plan
• -Actions an employer puts down in writing to that defines
actions that must be taken to tackle emergencies when
they arise. It is company specific and it must cover areas
wherever the company has assets, or wherever an
emergency could have an impact. The facility must address
areas even if they are not on company property.
• Emergency responders:
-workers who perform rescue duties/evacuation during
emergencies
- Employer provides training and proper equipment so that
these responders carry out their duties safety.

5. PURPOSE
-Emergency action plan provide guideline to
workplaces during emergency.
- Improve the handling of a crisis, reduce costs
and injuries, and prevent a chain reaction of
crises.
- -Crises are always unexpected. It is important
to decides how accessible your organization
will be in case of emergencies

6. THE SCOPE OF AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN
ERP’S must contain the following:
-facility description and site plan;
-impact maps;
Emergency procedures;
Resources list;
-incident command systems;
-Emergency planning;
-Hazard identification;
-Training and
- documentation

7. FACILITY DESCRIPTION AND SITE PLAN
• This shows the possible extent of an
emergency
• Detailed information:
• -Public,private;commercial ; industrial;
geological ;roads etc.

8. IMPACT MAP
• Public,private,commercial ,industrial facilities
including;
-churches/mosques;
-schools;
-Homes;
-Hospitals;
-Parks;
-markets and stores;
-highways etc

9. EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
• Only authorised persons are competent to
perform the duties involved in safely
controlling an incident such as:
-stopping the source
-activating foam systems;
-Shorting down pumps;
-using portable fire extinguishers ; and
-Rescue
* Do not attempt to perform emergency response duties unless you are trained and
authorized!

10. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES
• Who to notify:
-Emergency responders;
-Agencies(police,fire,medical,environmental;
-Supervisors;
-Management etc
.Details on what type of incidents to report, when to
report them, who is to make the report and how
the notifications are to be made should be included
in the plan.

11. NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES cont’d
• ALARM/COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AND HOW ALARMS
WILL BE ACTIVATED
- In a situation requiring evacuation, the first step is to let
all occupational know they must leave the building
- Occupants must know which alarm means to evacuate
- Once the alarm has gone off, everyone(except key
personal assigned to special operations) must leave the
facility and not return until an “All Clear” signal is given
- The all clear is usually given by whoever is designated in
the plan.

12. RESOURCES
• Contains the details and locations of the
equipment,supplies,tools,vendors, and
contractors, that are available for an
emergency response

13. INCIDENT COMMAND CENTER(ICS)
• Each facility should have an ICS prepared in
case of an emergency

14. EMERGENCY PLANNING
• This has to do with:
• Building competence in the responders and
employees for various types of
emergencies.e.g fire or explosions, medical,
natural disaster,bussiness interruptions

15. HAZARDS IDENTIFICATIONS
1. EMERGENCIES THE EMPLOYER MAY REASONABLY
EXPECT IN THE WORKPLACE
- Material safety data sheets.
-Do Potential risks(Vulnerability Analysis)
• First determine what emergencies are most likely to occur in
the facility and
• What level of harm they might cause-could result from
natural causes
• Prioritize those emergencies with the highest risk. Although
the emergency action plan will address all the emergencies in
some way,
• In the plan focus on the most likely event.

16. TRAINING
• Fight or Flight....
- Different people react in different ways, some may
have the instinct to call for help ,others may rush in
to attempt to rescue or put out a fire
- -regardless of the type of emergency, proper training
will help emergency responders protect themselves
and others.
- -without proper training emergency responders can
place themselves at risk and actually worsen the
situation.

17. EMERGENCY ESCAPE PROCEDURES AND ROUTES
-Escape routes must meet the following criteria:
.There are enough exists
.Exits are not blocked
.Exits are clearly marked with( many emergency situations involve smoke and
fire that make it difficult to see)
.The routes to the exits must be wide enough to accommodate the number of
occupants normally in the building
.Exit leads to a public thoroughfare( not to a closed area like a courtyard)
.Escape route do not lead through any area that may cause more danger to
the evacuees(such as an area where hazardous materials are stored)
.secondary routes are available incase the primary routes are blocked.

18. 5.PROCEDURES FOR ASSISTING WORKERS AND VISITORS WITH
DISABILITY
-The plan must address how workers, guest and
visitors with disabilities will be assisted out of the
building and who will help them
-staff and other occupants must be moved to a safe
area.
.The safe area must be far enough from the building
so as to not hamper emergency operations and
also provide safety for those evacuated.
.Emergency shelter may be needed in some
situations.

19. 6.PROCEDURES TO ACCOUNT FOR ALL
EMPLOYEES AFTER An evacuation
• .Once workers are safely out of the building, there
must be a way to account for the occupants of the
building.
• .The plan must be designate where people will gather
to be accounted for, and who will take attendance.
• .it is important that workers know not to leave the
area until they have been accounted for!
• It is vital that the employer knows how many visitors
and guests are in the building and account for them.

20. 7.PROCEDURES FOR THOSE WHO REMAIN BEHIND TO
OPERATE CRITICAL OPERATIONS
-Procedures for staff who do not immediately evacuate.
.In some cases some staff may need to perform particular tasks before getting
out of the workplace such as :
.shutting down heating ventilation and air conditioning(HVAC) systems to stop
the spread of smoke, fire and/or contaminants.
.shutting down key processes such as critical systems in hospitals,
experiments in the laboratory or chlorine processes in waste water
treatment.
.backing up information systems
.Acting as floor captains to make sure that everyone lives.
.Giving first aid
.

21. 8.NAMES OF KEY PERSONNEL
• List of Key Personnel
.If workers are to perform any duties other than
evacuation during an emergency, the names
of these individuals must be listed in the plan
and they must be trained in the duties

22. 9.RESCUE AND MEDICAL PROCEDURES
- In an emergency there is always the potential that workers and responders may be injured.
The employer should find out which medical facilities are closest to them.
- It is crucial that that the emergency medical services(EMS) be able to get to the facility in a
seasonable amount of time.
- Contact names and numbers must be listed in the plan and kept current.
- In certain cases, it may be necessary to have emergency medical and rescue services on site
for example.
. Employers in remote areas
.high security situations or
.employers with high hazard operations
.employers providing emergency medical care on site must be sure to keep all supplies stocked
and easy to get to in an emergency
.procedures for special situations, such as precautions involving certain chemicals and
equipment.

23. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Decontamination:
- Workers may become contaminated either during
an emergency or during evacuation processes if
the employer uses certain hazardous materials
such as corrosives ,toxics or radioactive agents)
.Procedures to decontaminate workers and usually
they must be decontaminated before emergency
medical services will take them to a medical
facility.

24. SHELTERING IN -PLACE
• In some situations evacuation is not always the proper response or only a certain
section of a facility is evacuated “Shelter in-place” may be necessary in:
- Correctional facilities
- Health care facilities
- During certain chemicals releases or high winds
- Sheltering in-place may require staff to take actions such as
. Shutting down the HVAC systems.
.Blocking air/smoke/ contaminants from coming inside the “safe areas using towels,
blankets, duct tape etc
.Moving to a basement or shelter area
.shorting up glass doors and windows
.Procedures to shelter in-place need to be in writing. Staff who have to perform ant of
the action listed above must be trained and have an opprtunity to prctice the
required procedures.

25. DOCUMENTATION
• Serves three purposes
- As a learning tool;
-As a planning tool;
-To protect the company in case of future litigation
-Required documentations:
-Incident action plan
-press releases
-Personal log
-Notification logs
-Incident maps;
-And
-Detailed plans that are provided to government

26. CONCLUSION:
• Address workers’ needs following an emergency and resuming operations
• Evaluate and modify the plan as needed after drills and/or a real event.
• Display the final plan conspicuously for all to see and be familiar with
•“ A little caution
saves dangerous
situation”

27. REFERENCES
www.naoc.org
www.wikipedia.org