Learning about emergency evacuations in health and safety training

Emergency evacuations are of the utmost importance, which is why it makes sense that learning about them is on the itinerary of our health and safety training course at EMCARE. The actions taken during the initial minutes of an emergency may very well become the difference between life and death. There are various important aspects that go into pulling off a successful emergency evacuation, which is why many company and building heads rely on trained health and safety professionals. In just a few minutes of reading, find out more about what you will learn about emergency evacuations when you take part in EMCARE’s thorough health and safety training course.

Emergency plans

The lifeblood of any good evacuation is having an emergency plan in place before a crisis occurs. The first few minutes of any emergency are critical. For example, a prompt call to public emergency services, comprising accurate and detailed information will make a world of difference. Another example would be timeously informing employees to evacuate, lockdown or take shelter. Both of the aforementioned actions can save lives.

The first step that ought to be taken when developing any emergency response plan is to undertake a risk assessment, that will ideally allow the safety officer or trained professional to identify potential hazards or emergency scenarios that could lead to a need for an emergency evacuation. Having an understanding of the former allows those in charge to determine what resources are needed as well as how plans should be developed to cater to the specific building or workplace.

It is important that every workplace, building and facility develop and implement an emergency plan. This way, contractors, visitors and employees alike are protected when in the relevant space. When any emergency occurs, the first priority must always be life safety. Second in importance is stabilisation of the incident. There are a host of different actions that can be taken in order to stabilise an incident as well as minimise damage. It is up to the safety officer or trained professional who has taken part in health and safety training to pay attention during their studies and apply what they have learned in the workplace.

Emergency preparedness

As previously mentioned, being prepared in the event of an emergency, and evacuation if needed, is of the utmost importance. In fact, being prepared forms an important step of what is known as “emergency management,” the philosophies of which are followed in most of our health and safety training courses. The five steps of emergency management are as follows:

1. Prevention
   
   The first step encompasses all the actions that are taken to avoid an accident or emergency in the first place. This step involves deterrence operations as well as various forms of surveillance.
   
   
2. Mitigation
   
   This step of emergency management refers to the measures that are put in place in order to prevent an emergency, or reduce the chance of one occurring. Further, it refers to the measures used to reduce the damage of emergencies that are unavoidable. Some common mitigation measures include installing first aid kits, constructing safety barriers and special chairs to help disabled persons dismount stairs if lifts are non-functional.
   

3. Preparedness
   
   The third step of emergency management is preparedness, and it involves conducting activities that increase a community or workplace’s ability to respond appropriately in the event of an emergency. Some common preparedness measures include:
   
   
   • Conducting disaster exercises
   • Conducting fire drills
   • Presenting education campaigns
   • Offering first aid courses to employees
   • Developing mutual aid agreements
   • Developing memorandums of understanding
   
   
   
4. Response
   
   Actions that are carried out right before, during and immediately after an emergency – which are aimed at saving lives, alleviating suffering as well as reducing economic losses – all form part of the response step. Some common response actions include evacuating employees, emergency medical care, firefighting as well as activating an emergency operations centre.
   
   
5. Recovery
   
   The fifth and final step of emergency management is recovery. This involves the actions taken to restore a workplace or community to normal or near-normal conditions. This includes the restoration of basic operations, emergency facilities (such as fire extinguishers and first aid kits if used in the emergency) and assisting the families of injured employees.

Workplace emergencies

Workplace emergencies can come in a wide variety of forms. Some of them are specific to certain work environments and industries, while others have to do with global issues that present a risk to all workplaces. Understanding the different types of workplace emergencies is key to planning and executing successful emergency evacuations. A workplace emergency can be defined as an event that takes place that endangers the public, employees or clients, as well as risks disrupting work operations and causing damage.

Emergencies are usually divided into the following categories:

• Work-related
  
  Making up the biggest group of emergencies experienced by workplaces, work-related emergencies take place as a result of factors directly linked to the work that is being conducted. These emergencies often include incidents like dangerous gas releases, fires, machinery malfunctions, chemical spills and explosions. They typically require a building evacuation.
  

• Civil
  
  This category includes emergencies stemming from civil factors, and are more rare than work-related or natural emergencies. This, however, does not mean that they are any less serious. Some civil factors contributing to emergencies could include workplace violence, strikes, harassment or protests. It could also consist of employee-to-employee violence or client-based.
  
  
• Natural
  
  Natural emergencies are arguably the most difficult to predict and plan for, since they are typically fast-occurring and oftentimes bizarre. Natural emergencies may occur as a result of severe weather conditions, like forest fires, tornadoes and hurricanes (although the latter two are unlikely to occur in our country). Flooding is another common natural emergency.

No matter the type of emergency your workplace may experience, it is crucial that those in charge are prepared. Being well-prepared helps to minimise damage and threats to employees and contractors within the workplace. It is also important that there are professionals who have taken part in thorough health and safety, who are prepared able to make decisions amidst a tense emergency situation. Having a well-established emergency plan is also a great help – and in most cases – is legally required.

Evacuations and procedures

Participants in our health and safety training course will learn about a few different types of evacuations. Two of these types are as follows:

• The building evacuation
  
  This type of evacuation is arguably the most common, and it involves everyone inside a building leaving it in as brief a manner as possible. This type of evacuation is regularly practiced in the form of fire drills, so that people can become accustomed to proper evacuation behaviour as well as become familiar with the allocated assembly points. The success of a building evacuation depends heavily on signage, practice as well as having pre-established evacuation routes.
  
  
• The "stay in place"
  
  This type of evacuation involves personnel remaining inside the building. It is usually used during a biological or chemical attack or accident – and as such is a less common type of evacuation. If a chemical agent has been used, safety professionals will know to take personnel up to the highest floor in the building, since most chemicals are “heavy” and do not tend to rise. Alternatively, there may be scenarios where personnel will need to move to the lowest floor possible in a building.

Safe building evacuation procedure

For any type of building evacuation protocol, four main steps should be followed. Participants of our health and safety training course will come to understand the following four steps to evacuating safely in an emergency:

1. Safely cease all work
   
   
   • This step involves shutting down any equipment that could present a hazard if left running during an evacuation.
   • Employees must gather their most important personal belongings, such as prescription medication, wallets, handbags, glasses and keys.
     
     
2. Evacuate the building through the planned EXIT routes
   
   
   • In this leg of the evacuation process, employees must not be allowed to use elevators.
   • They should make their way to the nearest, safe stairway.
   • Those who need special assistance, such as small children and disabled persons, must be offered help.
   • In the event of a fire, all closed doors must be lightly touched before opening – so as to ensure that they are not too hot and could cause injury. If the surface is hot, another exit route should be used.
   • Doors must be closed, but not locked, as employees leave.
   
   
   
3. Report to the designated assembly area
   
   
   • After having evacuated, employees are to stay in their designated assembly areas (should they be declared safe) and wait for a head count.
   • Any missing individuals, and their last known locations, should be reported to emergency responders.
   • Emergency responders should also be notified about important operating equipment, sensitive research and animals left in any buildings.
   
   
   
4. Those assembled must wait for instructions from emergency responders
   
   
   • Employees must remain in the designated assembly area.
   • The building must not be re-entered until a relevant authority has authorised anyone to do so.
   
   
   

Communication channels

A channel of communication refers to the way in which a message is carries. In emergencies and consequential evacuations alike, messages are delivered in various ways. Messages may take the form of signs that indicate exit routes, or more technical, such as radio messages between health and safety officers to coordinate an evacuation. Selecting the most appropriate channel for communication is incredibly important if one wishes an evacuation to go smoothly and a crisis to be averted. The task is simple – deliver short, succinct and accurate information with the aim of keeping as many people safe as possible.

EMCARE’s emergency evacuation training course

We at EMCARE understand the importance of health and safety training in establishing professional, keyed-up and prepared health and safety personnel. Taking part in our health and safety training course for emergency evacuation procedures is one way to ensure that you as a learner are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to manage a real emergency evacuation, and some of the other procedures mentioned in this blog. We also give participants practical knowledge through role play exercises during the course.

We also provide drawn and detailed layout plans for your premises, in which the location of emergency equipment and specified assembly points are located. These layout plans are incredibly useful in helping your employees to become familiar with exit routes and promote the overall safety of your workplace. Since 1999, we have been offering world-class health and safety training – and our emergency evacuation training course is no different.

We recommend that participants enrol in a number of our health and safety training courses to bolster their CVs. Doing so will also ensure that their workplace of choice is in good hands. Employers thinking of sending employees to take part in health and safety training can rest well knowing that their money is an investment in the safety of their company and all those working within it should the need for an evacuation arise, or should any other type of emergency occur.