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INTRODUCTION TO THE PROGRAM - EMERGENCY PLANNING

Structure and Organization

The Emergency Planning information in this program is presented in a definite order, so that employees will see the relationships between the various groups of information and can retain them more easily. The sections included in the Emergency Planning program are:

• Causes of Emergencies.

• Effects of Emergencies.

• Preventing the "Domino Effect".

• Creating an Emergency Plan.

• Sources of Assistance and Equipment.

• Warning Sirens and Alarms.

• Asking "What If" Questions.

• Keeping the Emergency Plan Up-to-Date.

• Practices and Drills.

• Paths of Communication.

• Evacuation Procedures.

Each section of the Emergency Planning program covers important information in one topic area, providing employees with general knowledge about the Emergency Planning Process, and their responsibilities in an emergency.

Background

Each year emergency situations cause an untold number of injuries and deaths. Damages to facilities and equipment run into the billions of dollars. While every emergency situation isn't preventable, by implementing Emergency Planning techniques the effects of many of these situations can be minimized.

Emergencies can be caused by any number of things. Natural causes, such as floods and earthquakes... human error... spills and leaks of hazardous materials.., fires and explosions.., even riots and acts of terrorism.

Because of the number of emergencies that occur every year, and the devastating effects that they can have, a number of regulations have been enacted at the Federal, State and Local level. Many of these regulations require that facilities have a comprehensive Emergency Plan, and that they "practice" aspects of this plan regularly.

One of the major components of any Emergency Plan is making sure that employees understand what their facility has done to prepare for emergencies, what they may see occurring during an emergency situation... and most importantly, what their responsibilities are if an emergency occurs.

Objectives

To help facilities with their Emergency Planning efforts, and provide the first level of training needed by employees about how the Emergency Planning process works, as well as their responsibilities in an emergency situation, this program is designed to present fundamental information in the following areas:

• What can cause an emergency.

• How an Emergency Plan is created.

• Activities that take place when combating emergency situations.

• Employees' responsibilities during an emergency.

Upon completion of the program, employees should:

• Know how their facility's Emergency Plan works.

• Know what they can expect to see going on around them during an emergency situation.

• Understand the importance of practices and drills.

• Know what their responsibilities are during and emergency (including equipment shut-down and evacuation).

Reviewing the Program

WIth the Emergency Planning program, as with any educational program, the "presenter" should go through it at least once to become familiar with the content and make sure the program is consistent with facility policy and directives. An "outline" of the points in the Emergency Planning program is included in this Presenter's Guide to help with this task and for general reference.

As part of this review process, you should determine how you, as the presenter, will conduct your session. The use of materials such as handouts, charts, etc., that may be available to you needs to be well thought out and integrated into the overall Emergency Planning program presentation.

Click here for Emergency Planning training videos.