Emergency Action Plans: What Must Be in Yours

An emergency action plan (EAP) tells your employees what to do when there is a fire or other emergency: how to report it, how to get out, and who to ask about their role. 29 CFR 1910.38 does not leave the contents up to you. It sets a short list of things the plan must cover, and it adds duties for alarms, training, and reviewing the plan with employees.

Who it applies to

The standard does not say that every employer must have an EAP. It says you must have one "whenever an OSHA standard in this part requires one" (1910.38(a)). "This part" is 29 CFR part 1910, the general industry standards. In other words, 1910.38 is switched on by other standards.

Once another standard requires an EAP, the requirements in 1910.38 apply to that plan (1910.38(a)).

One example of a standard that points to an EAP

The portable fire extinguisher standard is one place where an EAP comes up. These paragraphs are not worded as an order that every employer have an EAP. They make an EAP a condition of a reduced set of requirements or an exemption:

• If extinguishers are provided but are not intended for employee use, and you have an EAP and a fire prevention plan that meet 1910.38 and 1910.39, then only paragraphs (e) and (f) of the extinguisher standard apply (1910.157(a)).
• If you have a written fire safety policy that requires immediate and total evacuation when a fire alarm sounds, that policy includes an EAP and a fire prevention plan meeting 1910.38 and 1910.39, and extinguishers are not available in the workplace, you are exempt from the extinguisher standard unless a specific standard in part 1910 requires that a portable fire extinguisher be provided (1910.157(b)(1)).
• If your EAP designates certain employees as the only ones authorized to use the available extinguishers, and requires all other employees in the fire area to evacuate the affected work area immediately when the fire alarm sounds, you are exempt from the distribution requirements in paragraph (d) of the extinguisher standard (1910.157(b)(2)).

This is not a list of the standards in part 1910 that require an EAP. Check each standard that applies to your workplace.

What the standard requires

A written plan (with one exception)

The plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review (1910.38(b)).

The exception: an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally to employees (1910.38(b)).

Minimum elements of the plan

At a minimum, the plan must include all six of these (1910.38(c)):

1. Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency (1910.38(c)(1)).
2. Procedures for emergency evacuation, including the type of evacuation and exit route assignments (1910.38(c)(2)).
3. Procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate (1910.38(c)(3)).
4. Procedures to account for all employees after evacuation (1910.38(c)(4)).
5. Procedures to be followed by employees performing rescue or medical duties (1910.38(c)(5)).
6. The name or job title of every employee who may be contacted by employees who need more information about the plan or an explanation of their duties under the plan (1910.38(c)(6)).

Employee alarm system

You must have and maintain an employee alarm system (1910.38(d)). The system must:

• Use a distinctive signal for each purpose (1910.38(d)).
• Comply with the requirements in 1910.165, the employee alarm systems standard (1910.38(d)).

Among other things, 1910.165 says the alarm must be capable of being perceived above ambient noise or light levels by all employees in the affected portions of the workplace (1910.165(b)(2)), and must be distinctive and recognizable as a signal to evacuate the work area or to perform actions designated under the EAP (1910.165(b)(3)).

You must also establish procedures for sounding emergency alarms. For employers with 10 or fewer employees in a particular workplace, direct voice communication is an acceptable procedure for sounding the alarm, provided all employees can hear the alarm (1910.165(b)(5)).

Training

1910.38 has two separate duties here.

Evacuation assistance. You must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees (1910.38(e)).

Reviewing the plan with employees. You must review the EAP with each employee covered by the plan at these times (1910.38(f)):

• When the plan is developed or the employee is assigned initially to a job (1910.38(f)(1)).
• When the employee's responsibilities under the plan change (1910.38(f)(2)).
• When the plan is changed (1910.38(f)(3)).

1910.38 does not set a calendar interval, such as annual, for this review. The review is tied to the three events above.

Written programs and records

The EAP itself is the written document this standard requires. It must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review, unless you have 10 or fewer employees and communicate it orally (1910.38(b)).

The text of 1910.38 does not call for a training certification or state a record retention period.

Easy-to-miss requirements

• A contact person is a required plan element. The plan must give the name or job title of every employee who may be contacted for more information about the plan or an explanation of duties under it (1910.38(c)(6)).
• A distinctive signal for each purpose. If your alarm system is used for more than one purpose, the standard calls for a distinctive signal for each (1910.38(d)).
• Critical operations and rescue or medical duties need procedures. The plan must cover employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate, and employees performing rescue or medical duties (1910.38(c)(3), 1910.38(c)(5)).
• A change to the plan triggers a review. You must review the plan with each covered employee when the plan is changed, and also when that employee's responsibilities under the plan change (1910.38(f)(2), 1910.38(f)(3)).
• The oral option is narrow. The 10 or fewer employees provision appears in paragraph (b), which is about putting the plan in writing. Paragraphs (c) through (f) of 1910.38 do not state an employee-count exception (1910.38(b)). The separate provision on direct voice communication for workplaces with 10 or fewer employees is in the alarm standard (1910.165(b)(5)).

Related guides

• Exit routes
• Fire extinguishers

Source

This guide is based on the text of 29 CFR 1910.38 as published on osha.gov. The regulation itself always controls. States that run their own OSHA-approved State Plans may have additional or stricter rules.