Training + Drills = Safe Evacuations

All employees should be able to recognize the emergency alarm and know what to do when they hear it. They should also know how and when to activate alarms—and the appropriate person to contact if they spot a hazardous situation that could turn into an emergency.

Additionally, all employees should be trained to follow your evacuation and shelter-in-place procedures. It’s not enough to just hand them a sheet of paper with instructions or post instructions on a bulletin board (although you should do that, too). You have to sit them down and explain the whole thing in a detailed training session.

Then you have to practice the procedures you teach them. Regular emergency drills ensure that employees really know what to do and can move swiftly and calmly in any emergency situation.

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Think you have no time to train? Think again. BLR’s 7-Minute Safety Trainer helps you fulfill key OSHA-required training tasks in as little as 7 minutes. Try it at no cost and see!

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Get Specific

For employees who don’t have specific emergency responsibilities, the following evacuation rules apply when the alarm is sounded:

• Quickly turn off equipment.
• Close windows or doors not needed for escape.
• Alert other employees to evacuate.
• Assist any employees whose disabilities could slow their evacuation.
• Evacuate quickly by the assigned route.
• Go directly to the designated meeting area outside the building and stay there until given further instructions. Do not leave the premises or try to reenter the building.
• Stay out of the way of emergency personnel.

For employees who have emergency duties, these rules apply:

• Learn everything necessary about assigned emergency tasks, including required personal protective equipment (PPE) and other equipment.
• Get answers to questions about how to perform tasks or about potential hazards.
• Coordinate actions with other employees who are also performing emergency duties.
• Listen for and follow the directions of emergency management personnel and emergency responders (firefighters, spill teams, etc.)
• Perform assigned tasks only if—and only for as long as—it is safe to do so.
• Know when to evacuate and know the assigned evacuation route.
• Have an alternate evacuation route in case the primary route is blocked.

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Can you picture safety training in effective, 7-minute sessions? Get the details.

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Emergency Training—Fast and Effective

To help you train employees in emergency response, the BLR^® 7-Minute Safety Trainer has the perfect session called “Preparing for Emergency Evacuations.” The session provides you with a detailed trainer’s outline as well as an illustrated handout, quiz, and quiz answers to get your points across quickly and cost-effectively.

All told, this “trainer’s bible” contains 50 prewritten meetings covering almost every aspect of safety you’d want or need to train on, in a format designed to be taught in as little as 7 minutes. Major topics include:

—Confined spaces
—Electrical safety
—Fire safety and emergency response
—HazCom
—Machine guarding and lockout/tagout
—Material handling
—PPE use and care
—Housekeeping/slips, trips, and falls
—and dozens more

Just make as many copies as you need of the included handouts and quizzes, and you’re ready to train.

Equally important is that the program ships new meetings every quarter to respond to new and changed regulations. This service is included in the program price, which averages just over $1 a working day. In fact, this is one of BLR’s most popular safety programs.

If you’d like to personally evaluate 7-Minute Safety Trainer and see how it can build safety awareness, we’ll be happy to send it to you for 30 days on a no-cost, no-obligation trial basis. Just let us know, and we’ll arrange it.

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