There is a wide range of potential emergencies that may effect your business, these include:
- natural disasters – for example earthquakes, slips, flooding or heavy snowfall
- man-made emergencies – for examples robbery, vehicle theft, chemical spill, gas leak, fire
- vehicle accidents – for example minor crashes or serious incidents.
Planning for possible emergencies
Here are some questions to include in your discussions with staff when planning for emergencies.
- What are the types of emergencies specific to your business, industry or region?
- How would you deal with a medical emergency? Have you got the equipment and communications systems to respond effectively?
- What procedures and polices do we need in place to cover the safety of our employees, contractors and other visitors to our workplace in the event of an emergency?
- What procedures and policies do we need in place to deal with an emergency while away from the workplace? Do we have first aid kits in vehicles and a means of communication?
- Who is in charge during an emergency (fire wardens etc) and have they been trained appropriately?
- Are evacuation plans and emergency phone numbers on display at the workplace and available to those that work offsite?
- Have you held an evacuation drill in the past six months? Do staff know what to do?
- Do we regularly check and maintain our emergency equipment eg smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting etc
- Have we considered our health and safety duties under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO 1996) when handling and transporting hazardous substances?