The Importance of Making and Practicing an Evacuation Plan

11/12/2020 (Permalink)

The best time to plan your evacuation route is now

Creating An Evacuation Plan Is Important For Your Business

A fire drill does not just prepare your employees for potential blazes. It ensures that everyone knows what to do in an evacuation situation. There are many reasons you and your employees may need to leave the premises, including:

• Tornadoes
  
• Floods
  
• Hurricanes
  
• Earthquakes
  
  

Ideally, you would shelter-in-place during one of these disasters. However, if the structural integrity of the building is compromised, you may have to abandon the property. You should thus come up with an evacuation plan and practice it annually.

Making the Plan
Before you conduct the drill, you obviously need to create your evacuation strategy. Start by figuring out how you will alert employees about the emergency. You can use a portable radio or public address system.
Keep in mind that the power may go out during the storm. To ensure that your alarm works at all time, you should thus have an alternate electricity source. You may also want to use tactile alerts in case you have any deaf or blind employees. You can test these alarms during the fire drill.
Similarly, you should make sure that all of the workers understand and can implement the plan. You can even designate one person as an evacuation warden. He or she will be tasked with making sure the escape goes smoothly.
Work with the warden to map out all the possible evacuation routes. The routes should be well lit and clearly marked. You should also assign one person the task of calling the insurance provider and the storm cleanup company once everyone is out of the building.

Testing the Plan
After you develop the plan, hold a fire drill to assess your evacuation strategy. You can even invite the Denver, CO, fire department to participate. Talk to managers and employees after the drill to find out what went well and what needs to improve.
Creating an evacuation strategy is an important part of the storm preparation process. Be sure to run emergency drills in advance so you can work out any kinks before the nasty weather arrives.