Emergency plans 1

Emergency plan and contingency plans

Your emergency plan should be appropriate to your premises and should include:

how people will be warned if there is a fire;
what staff should do if they discover a fire;
how the evacuation of the premises should be carried out;
where people should assemble after they have left the premises and procedures for checking whether the premises have been evacuated;
identification of key escape routes, how people can gain access to them and escape from them to a place of total safety;
arrangements for fighting the fire;
the duties and identity of staff who have specific responsibilities if there is a fire;
arrangements for the safe evacuation of people identified as being especially at risk, such as young persons, those with disabilities or lone workers;
any machines/processes/appliances/power supplies that need to be stopped or isolated if there is a fire;
specific arrangements, if necessary, for high fire-risks areas;
contingency plans for when life safety systems, such as evacuation lifts, fire-detection and warning systems are out of order;
how the fire and rescue service and any other necessary services will be called and who will be responsible for doing this;
procedures for meeting the fire and rescue service on their arrival and notifying them of any special risks, e.g. the location of highly flammable materials etc;
what training employees need and the arrangements for ensuring that this training is given.

As part of your emergency plan it is good practice to prepare post-incident plans for dealing with situations that might arise such as those involving:
* young persons;
* people with personal belongings (especially valuables) still in the building
* getting people away from the building (e.g. to transport);
* inclement weather.

You should therefore prepare contingency plans to determine specific actions and/or the mobilisation of specialist resources.

The emergency services may prepare an emergency procedure plan (or major incident plan) for dealing with a major incident (for example, explosion, toxic release or large fire). Your contingency plans and the emergency procedure plans should be compatible. In such cases consultation should therefore take place between yourself and the police, fire and ambulance services, the local health authority and local authority, in order to produce an agreed plan of action, including access for emergency vehicles, for all foreseeable incidents.

Guidance on developing health and safety management policy has been published by the HSE.

Duties of employees to give information
Employees also have a duty to take reasonable care for their own safety and that of other people who may be affected by their activities.
This includes the need for them to inform their employer of any activity that they consider would present a serious and immediate danger to their own safety and that of others.

Dangerous substances
HSE publishes guidance about specific substances where appropriate information may need to be provided. If any of these, or any other substance that is not included but nevertheless presents more than a slight risk, is present in your premises, then you must provide such information to staff and others.

Specifically you must:
* name the substance and the risks associated with it, e.g. how to safely use or store the product to avoid creating highly flammable vapours or explosive atmospheres;
* identify any legislative provisions that may be associated with the substance;
* allow employees access to the hazardous substances safety data sheet;
* inform the local fire and rescue service where the dangerous substances are present on the premises.

Enquire Now