The decision to close your workplace in an emergency should be an integral part of emergency planning and not a spur-of-the-moment afterthought.
You should have a detailed plan for closing your facility, including:
- What circumstances will lead to a closing
- Who makes the decision
- How the decision is communicated
- What to do about employee compensation
These are decisions that should be made in well in advance of a workplace emergency and clearly communicated to employees. Leaving such decisions to chance or to the conditions of the moment will most likely lead to confusion, mistakes, and even greater problems to overcome in the aftermath of the emergency.
Here are six major issues your emergency closing plan should anticipate:
1. Mandatory evacuations. Local and state authorities may issue mandatory evacuations, enforced by police, with which companies must abide. Have policies in place to address when a facility is in an evacuation area and when employees are under mandatory evacuation from their homes.
2. National emergencies. National emergencies may justify a workplace closing, even if the emergency is not happening at a particular worksite or even close by. For example, during the 9/11 attacks, many employers across the country closed down for the day until the scope of the disaster was better understood and because employees were anxious to return to their homes and families.
Checklists keep your workplace and your workers safe. See how with the award-winning Safety Audit Checklists program from BLR®. Try it at no cost and no risk. Get the full story.
3. Local emergencies. Such untoward events as power outages, highway closings, hazardous spills, and equipment failures may sometimes make it so impractical to operate the workplace that it is not worthwhile to open until the situation is corrected.
4. Weather. In the case of weather emergencies, travel is the major problem. Critical consideration includes the time the weather event is expected to occur and, of course, the severity of the event. New Doppler radar makes weather predictions more time-sensitive and accurate; go to http://weather.noaa.gov to access local information.
5. Notification. You should have a written policy in place that instructs employees how they can expect to receive notice of a closing. Local radio and television stations often announce business closings. There may be a special telephone number for employers and other organizations to use on such occasions, especially as ordinary phone lines might quickly become inaccessible. Many companies also set up a chain telephone system for notifying employees about closings or delays or post notice on the company website.
6. Alternate workplace. Employers should also communicate where an alternate workplace is located and direct employees there when appropriate.
Examine the best-selling Safety Audit Checklists program for 30 days at no cost … not even for return shipping. Get the details.
Check Up on Emergency Preparedness
To check up on emergency preparedness and response in your facility, turn to Safety Audit Checklists, which provides a multitopic section on workplace emergencies, with dozens of OSHA compliance checklists as well as general emergency action checklists that can be circulated to supervisors and posted for employees.
All told, this best-selling program provides you with more than 300 separate safety checklists keyed to three main criteria:
- OSHA compliance checklists, built right from the government standards in such key areas as HazCom, lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and many more.
- “Plaintiff attorney” checklists, built around those non-OSHA issues that often attract lawsuits.
- Safety management checklists that monitor the administrative procedures you need to have for topics such as OSHA 300 Log maintenance, training program scheduling and recording, and OSHA-required employee notifications.
Make as many copies as you need for all your supervisors and managers, and distribute. What’s more, the entire program is updated annually. And the cost averages only about $1 per checklist.
If this method of ensuring a safer, more OSHA-compliant workplace interests you, we’ll be happy to make Safety Audit Checklists available for a no-cost, no-obligation, 30-day evaluation in your office. Just let us know, and we’ll be pleased to arrange it.