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Emergency Action Plan
SAFETY REQUIREMENT
The purpose of an
Emergency Action Plan
is to facili-
tate and organize employee actions during workplace
emergencies. A well-developed emergency plan and
employee training that explains their roles during an
emergency will result in less severe employee injuries
and structural damage to the facility. No pre-planning
may lead to a disorganized evacuation or emergency
response, resulting in confusion, injury, and property
damage.
An employer must have an emergency action plan.
The emergency action plan or EAP is required by
OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.38 for employers with
ten or more employees. An emergency action plan
must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and availa-
ble to employees for review. However, an employer
with less than 10 employees may communicate the
plan orally.
Auto salvage operations that pre-plan for emergen-
cies are more likely to remain in business after a dis-
aster. Using the checklist, identify the type of proce-
dures used at the facility and retain a copy in the SDS
Binder. Work toward implementing applicable safety
measures identified by the
workplace evaluation
. Af-
ter the evaluation, prepare the written emergency ac-
tion plan.
Putting together a comprehensive emergency action
plan that deals with issues specific to the salvage fa-
cility worksite is not difficult. It involves taking what
was learned from the workplace evaluation and de-
scribing how employees will respond to different
types of emergencies, taking into account the specific
worksite layout, structural features, and emergency
systems
available.
An emergency action plan must include:
Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency.
Employees must know how to report emergen-
cies. Some facilities use intra-office phones, radi-
os, or public address systems to notify other em-
ployees. It is important for employees to also noti-
fy the proper authorities such as fire, medical, or
rescue services, if assistance is needed during an
emergency;
Procedures for emergency evacuation, including type
of evacuation and exit route assignments;
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