Emergency Plans--Preparing for the Unexpected

Introduction
Establishment of well thought out emergency plans is one of the cornerstones of an effective safety program. Evaluating potential emergency situations, developing emergency procedures, and conducting practice exercises (e.g., fire drills) can help save lives and reduce personal injury. It can also help prevent or minimize property damage. In addition to being good management and prudent practice, state and federal regulations require the University to have plans for ensuring employee safety from fire and other emergencies.

The University Fire Marshal's office has developed the following general guidelines to assist units in developing their own emergency procedures. Ideally, all occupied University buildings should have an emergency plan. At a minimum, all buildings should have a posted evacuation plan for fires. Instructions for preparing evacuation plans are found in Appendix I. A model evacuation plan is included which may be sufficient for many simple, low-hazard buildings. More complex facilities have the potential for other types of life-threatening emergency conditions (e.g., chemical releases). Units should designate individuals to develop appropriate emergency plans. The following departments can provide helpful information and other resources to those who are developing emergency plans:

University Fire Marshal (257-6326)
Occupational Health and Safety (257-3827)
UK Police Department (257-1616)
Hazardous Materials Management (323-6280)

To be effective, people must be informed about the plan in an emergency, it's too late to go read the procedures. Plans should be posted in conspicuous places and, if possible, distributed to all personnel. Training and practice exercises should be provided wherever practical.

Fundamental Components of Emergency Plans
Emergency Plans must be written and must include, at a minimum, the following components:

  • How to report fires and other emergencies.
  • Emergency evacuation procedures and route assignments.
  • Procedures to be followed by employees (if any) who remain to conduct some critical functions before they evacuate.
  • Procedures to account for all employees after emergency evacuation.
  • Rescue and medical duties for those employees (if any) who are designated to perform them.
  • Names and phone numbers of persons who can be contacted for further information on the emergency plan.

These fundamental concepts are discussed in more detail below. Appendix I provides a model evacuation plan with all of these components in place.

Reporting fires and other emergencies -- The plan must tell how to report fires and other emergencies. For fires this will generally be by pulling the fire alarm. For some types of emergencies (e.g., medical or personal), it will be by calling 911. It may be helpful to state that the person reporting the incident should remain available in a safe location to relay relevant information to Fire Department or other emergency personnel. If a department wishes to incorporate the use of fire extinguishers into their emergency procedures, the plan should state that any employee who uses a fire extinguishers must be properly trained and that they should only use a fire extinguisher if they feel it is safe to do so (training is available from the University Fire Marshal's office). The plan should also state that the fire alarm should always be pulled first.

Emergency evacuation procedures -- Every building must have emergency escape procedures and route assignments developed and displayed. In most cases, it is acceptable to state that upon activation of the fire alarm system the emergency escape procedure is simply to evacuate the building by the nearest exit and to assemble at the predesignated safe location outside the building. The plan should state that when the alarm sounds everyone must evacuate the building (except for designated personnel for whom specific procedures have been developed, see below). Special consideration must be given for evacuation of handicapped individuals.

Employees conducting critical functions before evacuating -- If there are any critical processes or operations that need to be shut down before total evacuation, then these processes must be identified by the units. Specific written emergency procedures must then be developed; employees must be designated and properly trained.

Accounting for all persons after emergency evacuation -- At a minimum, the plan should designate a safe area(s) outside the building. For small buildings with fewer than 20 occupants there should be a roll call at the designated safe area following an emergency evacuation. For larger buildings, including most academic buildings, such a roll call system is impractical. For these buildings, all staff and students should assemble at the designated safe zones outside the building. The plan should direct individuals who have knowledge of any person(s) still inside the building due to injury or other cause to inform the emergency responders (e.g., Fire Department or Police Department).

Rescue and medical functions for those employees who are to perform them -- If there are situations that may require employees to perform rescue or medical functions in an emergency, then these situations must be identified by the units. Specific written emergency procedures must be developed; employees must be designated and properly trained.

The plan may indicate that other personnel may perform these functions only if they consider it safe to do so. For example, if an incident occurs in an area, the occupants may attempt to pull an injured person out of the area in an effort to literally save a co-worker's life, if they personally consider it safe.

Person(s) to contact for information about the emergency plan -- The plan should list the name, title, department, and phone number of any individuals who may be contacted for information about the plan.

Severe Weather
Procedures should be developed for dealing with severe weather conditions. This should include the identification of severe weather "shelter areas" within buildings and procedures for notifying occupants of an emergency. The fire alarm system should not be used to warn occupants. Additional information is available on the fire marshal home page.

Extreme Hazards
Potential emergency conditions of each building need to be identified, especially those where special emergency procedures need to be developed for extreme hazards. These are hazards that could result in conditions immediately dangerous to life or health, such as extremely toxic compressed gases, Level 3 biohazards, or curie quantities of radioactive materials. The University of Kentucky Fire Marshal and the local fire department should be informed of extreme hazards.

Signage
Building occupants are encouraged to develop a list of persons who may need to be contacted in the event of emergencies. The UK Chemical Hygiene Plan requires laboratory signage identifying emergency contacts for all laboratories; all departments are strongly encouraged to provide signage listing emergency contacts that will facilitate prompt emergency notification of appropriate faculty and staff. Quick notification can help protect facilities, equipment and research data. This list may also be provided to the UK Police Department (the UKPD requests that this information be submitted by the unit head's office).

Appendix I Preparing an Emergency Evacuation Plan
An essential component of emergency planning is preparing an evacuation plan for a facility. The plan is basically a schematic of the building layout showing escape routes and a brief narrative of the emergency procedures. It is the familiar plaque found on all hotel room doors. A different plan is needed for each level of the building. Copies of the plan should be prominently posted throughout the facility.

To prepare the evacuation plan for a facility, first obtain copies of the floor plan. These should be available from the building operator or maintenance department.* Mark the escape routes and exits (preferably in red). If separate plans are being prepared for each room, color code the room (preferably in yellow). The University Fire Marshal can assist you in designing the optimal escape routes.

Next, the building's emergency procedures should be added below the floor plans. Plans should then be posted. In general, more complex facilities and facilities with a large number of occupants will need more plans posted. As an extreme example, UK's residence halls have a plan posted in each dorm room. Whenever possible, the posted floor plans should align with the actual directions of travel.

The model evacuation plan shown on the following page (with the addition of actual floor plans and escape routes) will be sufficient for many UK buildings. More detailed written plans will have to be developed and additional training conducted in cases (1) where emergencies other than fire or severe weather are likely, (2) where employees are assigned special rescue or medical duties, or (3) where employees are assigned other critical functions during emergencies.

Contact the University Fire Marshal's office (257-6326) for assistance in any aspect of preparing evacuation plans.

Insert

Floor Plan

Showing

Evacuation Routes

(Name of Building)

Evacuation Plan

The evacuation plan illustrates the exits for evacuation of this building and lists emergency procedures that have proven to be beneficial for personal safety during a fire emergency. All occupants should become familiar with this plan and be able to implement it.

PERSON DISCOVERING A FIRE SHALL (RACE)

  • R- rescue, if possible without endangering yourself, anyone in immediate danger: NEVER enter an unknown (or unfamiliar) area, especially if smoke is visible,
  • A- activate the fire alarm system: DIAL 911 as soon as possible and report the incident,
  • C- confine the fire by closing doors as you leave the building,
  • E- evacuate the building and report the situation to the first arriving firemen or police.
    NOTE: you are not required to Extinguish a fire with a fire extinguisher and should use an extinguisher only if you have been trained and the situation does not present a personal safety hazard.

WHEN THE FIRE ALARM SOUNDS

  • FEEL THE DOOR. a "too hot to touch door" means the fire is outside the door.
  • IMMEDIATELY EVACUATE the building. Go to your predesignated area. Treat all alarms as a real emergency. Always use the exit stairs. Never use an elevator. Close the door as you leave the room.
  • CRAWL should you get caught in smoke. If necessary, go to the window and signal for help.
  • ASSIST A PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED PERSON TO THE CLOSEST EXIT STAIRWELL and advise emergency personnel of this condition.
  • NEVER RE-ENTER THE BUILDING until fire officials give the approval.
  • REPORT anyone causing a false alarm to the emergency responding personnel.

FOR ANY EMERGENCY DIAL 911

TORNADO/SEVERE WEATHER

  • If a TORNADO WARNING is sounded immediately proceed to designated inside safe zone. The inside safe location for this building is ________________________________________.
  • DO NOT ACTIVATE THE FIRE ALARM.

Fire Marshal