What plans should a business have in place in the event of an emergency?
Safety professionals from local businesses learned more about Emergency Action Plans, or EAPS, at the Aug. 16 meeting of the Coweta County Safety Council.
Tomas Motiejunas of Orizon IPE presented a slide show to the group, which met in the Sage Café at The Summit in Newnan. Motiejunas serves as director of environmental health and safety at Orizon IPE, an Atlanta company that addresses the ongoing environmental health and safety needs of business and industry. He first discussed some well-known emergencies in history, including the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York in 1911, the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine in 1986, and the Great White nightclub fire in Rhode Island in 2003.
For businesses today, he noted, possible emergencies include such things as severe weather, an active shooter situation, an airplane crash, flooding, or a chemical release or explosion.
“Failure to plan is a plan to fail,” Motiejunas said, and he gave the group members handouts he suggested they use in their homes as well as their businesses for creating an Emergency Action Plan. In business, he said, the EAP should cover such matters as the chain of command during an emergency, evacuation procedures for the business, rescue and medical duties for those employees assigned to perform them, and names and job titles of those who can be contacted by family members seeking information.
Motiejunas suggested companies regularly take a look at their EAPs and update them as needed. He said a good tool to use is the OSHA Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool, which is available at www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation.
During his presentation, Motiejunas also showed the group images from businesses who were violating OSHA regulations that could have affected them in the event of an emergency. The photos showed exit doors that were completely blocked, materials obstructing the path to an exit, and even a fire extinguisher that was locked and inaccessible.
He also distributed copies of a handout from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that suggested bomb threat procedures and included a “Bomb Threat Checklist” for companies to use.
“Don’t hang up” on a caller with a bomb threat, Motiejunas said. “Keep that individual on the phone. You want to keep that individual talking.”
The Coweta County Safety Council will not meet in September since many members will be attending a statewide safety conference this month. The group normally meets the third Tuesday of each month at 3 p.m. in the Community Room at The Summit, 1825 Highway 34 East in Newnan.
To find out how your business can become involved with the Safety Council or for further information, contact CCSC President Ken Pinkerton at [email protected] or call the Newnan-Coweta Chamber at 770-253-2270.
