Do You Fall Under OSHA's General Industry Classification? Do You Need An Emergency Action Plan (EAP)? Do You Have One In Place That Is In Compliance?

General Industry Emergency Action plans under OSHA (CFR 1910.38) are broken down into 6 parts.

1.You need one whenever an OSHA standard requires one.  Find out if the OSHA standards that apply to your business mandate an EAP.

2.If you have fewer than 10 employees you can communicate the EAP orally, but if you have more than 10 employees the EAP must be in writing, must be kept in the workplace and must be available for employees to review.

3.The EAP must have at a minimum:

• Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency. 
• Procedures for emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation and exit route assignments.
• Procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate.
• Procedures to account for all employees after evacuation.
• Procedures to be followed by employees performing rescue or medical duties. 
• 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.

 4.  You must have an alarm system that meets the requirements of CFR 1910.165.

 5.  You must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees.

 6.  You must review the EAP with each employee covered by the EAP when the EPA is developed, when an employee is initially assigned to a job covered by the EAP, when an employee's responsibilities under the EAP change and whenever the EAP is changed.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.