You have an emergency plan. Your employees have been told where to go. There’s a first aid kit somewhere in the building. You’ve got a spill kit on the jobsite. So you’re prepared…right?
Maybe.
The problem with emergency preparedness is that the gaps often don’t become obvious until something goes wrong.
A plan can look perfectly good on paper and still fail when employees don’t know who is responsible for what, an evacuation route has changed, a spill kit isn’t appropriate for the material released, or nobody remembers where the emergency contacts are.
OSHA recommends emergency action planning as a way to help employers and workers respond effectively when an emergency occurs. For employers subject to OSHA’s Emergency Action Plan requirements, the plan must address specific elements including reporting emergencies, evacuation procedures, accountability, rescue or medical duties, and responsible contacts.
Here are 10 common mistakes worth checking before you need your emergency plan.
1. Your Emergency Plan Exists—but Nobody Knows It Exists
One of the easiest mistakes to make is assuming that because an emergency plan exists, employees know what it says.
They may not.
Employees should understand the portions of the plan that apply to them, including how to report an emergency, where to evacuate or shelter, how accountability works, and what responsibilities they may have.
OSHA requires review of applicable emergency action plans with employees at specified points, including when the plan is developed, when responsibilities change, and when the plan changes.
Ask yourself:
If you stopped five employees at random today and asked, “What do you do if the alarm sounds?” would you get five reasonably consistent answers?
If not, there’s work to do.
2. The Plan Is Outdated
This is especially important for construction sites and other workplaces where conditions change.
A new piece of equipment is installed.
A wall is moved.
A chemical is introduced.
An excavation changes access to part of the site.
A new employee takes over an emergency responsibility.
A subcontractor joins the project.
Suddenly, the plan that was accurate six months ago may not accurately describe today’s workplace.
OSHA recommends reviewing and updating emergency plans when changes to layout, equipment, hazardous materials, processes, personnel responsibilities, or hazards affect emergency procedures.
If your workplace changes, your emergency plan should change with it.
3. You Have an Evacuation Route—but No Backup
What happens if the primary exit is blocked?
A fire, structural problem, equipment incident, severe weather event, or other emergency could make a normally usable route unavailable.
Your emergency planning should consider alternate routes and the different types of emergencies that could require evacuation or shelter.
OSHA notes that evacuation procedures should address the different types of emergencies that may occur and the appropriate response for each.
Ask:
“If our normal exit were blocked right now, where would everyone go?”
If the answer is silence, you found a gap.
4. Nobody Has a Reliable Way to Account for Employees
Getting everyone out of a building or away from a hazard is only part of the problem.
How do you know everyone is out?
Your plan should establish a method for accounting for workers after evacuation.
That becomes more complicated when you have:
- Multiple shifts
- Contractors
- Temporary workers
- Visitors
- Employees working away from the main facility
- Large construction sites
- Multiple crews
OSHA identifies employee accountability after evacuation as a required element of EAPs covered by 29 CFR 1910.38 and 29 CFR 1926.35.
A headcount process that only works when everyone is standing at the front door isn’t much of a process.
5. You Forgot About Contractors and Visitors
Your employees may know the emergency procedures.
But what about the electrician who arrived this morning?
The delivery driver?
The subcontractor working on the other side of the site?
The customer visiting the facility?
The temporary worker who started yesterday?
Emergency planning should account for everyone who may be exposed to the emergency—not just the people who appear on the payroll.
This is especially important on construction sites and multi-employer worksites.
A good question to ask:
“If a visitor arrived five minutes before an emergency, how would we get them to safety?”
6. Your Emergency Equipment Is There—but You Can’t Find It
This one sounds ridiculous until you need something immediately.
Where’s the first aid kit?
Where’s the spill kit?
Where are the emergency lights?
Where are the fire extinguishers?
Where are the radios?
Where’s the eyewash?
Who knows?
OSHA’s emergency preparedness guidance recommends identifying common emergency equipment and assigning responsibility for inventorying and maintaining emergency equipment and supplies.
Emergency equipment should be:
Accessible.
Identifiable.
Appropriate for the hazard.
Maintained.
And, most importantly:
Known to the people who may need it.
Southern Safety Tip
Don’t just ask whether you have an emergency kit.
Ask:
“Could a new employee find it in under two minutes?”
If not, consider improving signage, location, training, or all three.
7. You Bought a Spill Kit—but Didn’t Consider What Could Actually Spill
A spill kit isn’t a universal solution.
The right response equipment depends on the material and the circumstances.
For example, a workplace dealing primarily with oils and fuels may have different spill-response needs than a facility handling corrosive or hazardous chemicals.
Before buying emergency spill supplies, identify:
- What materials are present?
- How much could potentially be released?
- Where are those materials stored or used?
- What PPE may be needed?
- Who is trained and authorized to respond?
- When should employees evacuate instead?
- When should outside emergency responders be contacted?
Some hazardous-substance emergency response activities can trigger OSHA’s HAZWOPER requirements. Employers should not assume that every employee is authorized or trained to handle a hazardous-material emergency simply because a spill kit is available.
Related Southern Safety resource:
Spill Happens: What Should You Do During a Workplace Spill?
Need spill-response supplies?
8. You’ve Never Actually Practiced the Plan
This may be the biggest one.
A plan can look great in a meeting.
Then the alarm goes off.
Someone asks where everyone is supposed to go.
Someone else can’t hear the alarm.
The assembly area is blocked.
Nobody knows who is counting employees.
And suddenly everyone discovers the plan has some holes.
OSHA recommends practice drills as often as necessary to keep employees prepared and encourages employers to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the plan after each drill.
A drill doesn’t have to be elaborate.
Try a scenario such as:
“At 10:15 Tuesday morning, a forklift strikes a container and a spill occurs.”
Then ask:
- Who reports it?
- Who sounds the alarm?
- Who stops nearby work?
- Who evacuates?
- Where does everyone go?
- Who accounts for workers?
- Who contacts emergency responders?
- Who is authorized to address the spill?
- What happens afterward?
You may learn more from a 15-minute exercise than from another hour spent reading the emergency plan.
9. You Prepared for the Emergency—but Not the Aftermath
The immediate danger isn’t necessarily the end of the problem.
After an emergency or drill, ask:
- Did everyone get accounted for?
- Did communication work?
- Were emergency routes accessible?
- Was the correct equipment available?
- Were there delays?
- Were employees confused about their responsibilities?
- What supplies were used?
- What needs to be replaced?
- Does the plan need to be updated?
OSHA recommends evaluating drills, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and improving the plan based on what you learn.
Emergency preparedness should be a cycle:
Plan → Train → Practice → Evaluate → Improve
Then do it again.
10. You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
This may be the hardest mistake to catch.
Every workplace has hazards that are easy to overlook because they’re part of the normal routine.
A forklift has always operated in that area.
The fuel tank has always been there.
The chemical has always been stored in that room.
The excavation has always been on that side of the site.
The same emergency equipment has been sitting in the same cabinet for years.
Familiar doesn’t mean safe.
Start your emergency preparedness review by walking the workplace with fresh eyes.
Look at:
Environmental risks
Severe weather, flooding, extreme temperatures and other natural hazards.
Operational risks
Equipment failures, vehicle incidents, utility strikes, power failures and machinery emergencies.
Chemical risks
Spills, leaks, releases, incompatible materials and exposure hazards.
Structural risks
Collapse, falling objects, excavation incidents, scaffolding problems and temporary structures.
Fire and life-safety risks
Fire, smoke, explosion, electrical emergencies and gas releases.
OSHA recommends conducting a hazard assessment that considers physical and chemical hazards inside or outside the workplace that could create an emergency, along with the site’s layout, structural features and emergency systems.
The 5-Minute Preparedness Test
Want to see where your plan stands?
Ask your team these five questions:
1. What is the most likely serious emergency we could face?
2. How would you know it was happening?
3. Where would you go?
4. Who is responsible for coordinating the response?
5. What equipment would you need—and where is it?
If your team can answer those questions quickly and consistently, you’re off to a good start.
If they can’t, don’t panic.
You’ve just identified what to work on next.
Ready to Find the Gaps?
Southern Safety Supply can help you identify practical safety and emergency-response equipment for your workplace or jobsite.
That may include:
- First aid supplies
- Spill kits and absorbents
- Safety eyewear
- Gloves
- Emergency eyewash
- High-visibility apparel
- Barricades and warning products
- Emergency lighting
- Jobsite safety equipment
- Other PPE appropriate to your hazards
And if keeping critical PPE and emergency supplies stocked is a challenge, ask us about Never Out™ Inventory Management.
The goal isn’t to sell you a bigger emergency cabinet.
It’s to help make sure that when something goes wrong, your people aren’t standing around asking, “Where’s the stuff we need?”
Keep Building Your Emergency Preparedness Plan
This article is part of Southern Safety Supply’s Workplace Emergency Preparedness Resource Center.
Continue with:
→ What Does OSHA Require for an Emergency Action Plan?
→ Jobsite Emergency Preparedness Checklist
→ Emergency Preparedness for Construction Sites
→ What Should Be in a Workplace Emergency Kit?
→ Spill Happens: What Should You Do During a Workplace Spill?
→ Emergency Drills: Does Your Team Actually Know What to Do?
Sources & Further Reading
- OSHA — Emergency Preparedness and Response: Getting Started
- OSHA — 29 CFR 1910.38, Emergency Action Plans
- OSHA — 29 CFR 1926.35, Employee Emergency Action Plans
- OSHA — Emergency Action Plan guidance and checklist
- OSHA — 29 CFR 1910.120, Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)
- Southern Safety Supply National Preparedness Month
This article is provided for general educational purposes and is not a substitute for a site-specific hazard assessment, emergency action plan, training, or applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
