Published 2 Nov 2023
What is an Emergency Action Plan Template?
An emergency action plan template is a digital tool used by safety and health managers of large enterprises or owners of small to medium businesses to record their guidelines for workplace emergencies. According to the federal regulations for occupational safety and health standards, here are the minimum elements of an emergency action plan:
In this article
- Benefits of Templating Your EAP
- What Should an EAP Template Include?
- Most Common Uses for EAP Templates
- FAQs about EAP Templates
- Get Ahead in the Event of Any Workplace Emergency/Protect Workers in Emergencies with SafetyCulture
- Related Emergency Action Plan Templates
Benefits of Templating Your EAP
A typical emergency action plan, as per the federal regulations for occupational safety and health standards, should do the following:
- Prepare the procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency, as well as procedures for emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation and exit route assignments
- Communicate the procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate
- Account for all employees before, during, and after evacuation
Depending on your organization or team, it can be difficult or tiresome to constantly create and fill up emergency action plans. Hence, the need for an emergency action plan template.
Templating your emergency action plan offers several benefits, such as the following:
- Ensuring consistency for creating emergency action plans to make it easier for everyone involved to understand and follow the plan, reducing confusion during an emergency
- Saving time in emergencies by providing a structured framework
- Complying with legal requirements and best practices regarding emergency plans and safety practices
What Should an EAP Template Include?
Emergency action plans can differ based on the industry and the specific business needs itself. These are, however, are the key components of an emergency action plan template:
- Individual roles and responsibilities
- Emergency communication procedures
- Emergency evacuations procedures
- Protection and safety equipment
- First Aid
- Emergency shutdown procedures
Here is an example of an emergency action plan template in use:
Most Common Uses for EAP Templates
Some of the most common emergencies where emergency action plan templates are useful include the following:
- Hurricanes
- Floods
- Earthquakes
- Acts of sudden violence
- Equipment malfunctions
- Extreme weather changes
- Fires
FAQs about EAP Templates
Emergency action plans cover all planned tasks and procedures in case of an unexpected event or emergency, including evacuations. An emergency evacuation plan is only focused on leaving the premises once emergency strikes.
Generally, it is all employers’ responsibility to create and manage an emergency action plan for their organization. However, in some cases, the employer designates specific representatives, managers, and leaders to create team-specific emergency action plans as well.
Ideally, emergency action plan templates should be reviewed yearly. However, in case of large-scale emergencies that alter organizational processes as a whole, it may be necessary to review your templates after each one to see if it is still working as intended.
Get Ahead in the Event of Any Workplace Emergency/Protect Workers in Emergencies with SafetyCulture
Documenting emergency procedures and plans with pen-and-paper can be challenging as it requires demonstrable efforts for developing, implementing, and updating. To improve workflows and increase safety and efficiency in times of emergency in the workplace, consider using a digital solution instead.
In emergencies, having your plans on-hand in your mobile devices or laptops can empower staff to act safely and accordingly. A digital solution can streamline operations, as well as save time, money, and effort that is often associated with managing traditional documents.
SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor) is one such digital platform that you can consider. Mobile-ready and with real-time sync across devices, SafetyCulture is the world’s leading inspection, operations, and auditing platform, aiming to empower emergency coordinators with a training and preventive action tool. Through its free premade editable emergency action plan templates in the Public Library, you can quickly and easily get started by editing them as you need and storing all files in the cloud for quick reference anytime and anywhere. Each file in your cloud comes with its own customizable access controls for data security and integrity. You also have the option to create your own plan using SafetyCulture’s drag-and-drop form builder, or upload your existing one for SafetyCulture use to get the same benefits.
Additionally, SafetyCulture also works as an operations improvement tool. On top of managing, implementing, and creating emergency action plans, you can also use SafetyCulture to do the following:
- Take pictures of emergency reporting and evacuation procedures, notify your staff, and instantly document changes to be applied
- Raise issues spotted in your plan or in emergencies and facilitate and organize emergency actions with confidence, aligning employee performance with emergency procedures
- Disseminate information across your team or organization with one click by raising a Heads Up to easily notify them of changes in your emergency action plan
- Train employees on proper safety procedures, emergency practices, emergency planning, and contingency plan implementation through interactive courses accessible at all times
- Monitor equipment and assets that can cause harm in times of emergency or evacuation
- Link monitoring sensors to track possible fires, leaks, and the like in order to properly follow the emergency action plan of choice
- Keep track of lone workers in emergency situations with SHEQSY by SafetyCulture
- Generate analytical reports and export them and your template in PDF, Word, Excel, and Weblink formats for easy exporting
Related Emergency Action Plan Templates
OSHA Emergency Action Plan Template
This OSHA emergency action plan template is used by organizations to evaluate their emergency action plans and improve them accordingly. With this, you can analyze external and internal emergencies that could disrupt the workplace, the impact of emergencies and their appropriate responses, and existing evacuation policy and procedures. This can also be used in reporting emergencies and alerting employees in an emergency.
Emergency Action Plan Checklist
This emergency action plan checklist is used by a provider of highly-engineered support structures for a wide variety of industries, including electric transmission and distribution, wireless communications, renewable energy, oil and gas, and government defense to audit their emergency action plan. This checklist encompasses emergency procedures for exit doors, egress, fire protection, combustible and flammable materials, and general work environment.
EAP Template
This EAP template is used by one of the premier electrical contractors in the United States to create an emergency action plan for every project. This template includes emergency procedures for assembly points, evacuation routes, alarm system, and training requirements. Use SafetyCulture’s drag-and-drop template editor to customize this EAP template to fulfill your business needs.
Emergency Action Plan Form
This Emergency Action Plan form is used to facilitate and organize employer and employee’s actions during workplace emergencies. It has been created to verify the emergency action plan was understood by all employees.
