Evacuation Planning and Preparedness Checklist:
Incorporating Terrorist Releases
Red Zone
I. Response Procedures:
Notification
Does the emergency plan identify potential
terrorist releases (chemical, biological,
explosives, radiological, nuclear) as emergencies
that may affect the workplace?
Yes No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
In conjunction with local law enforcement and
local emergency planning officials, evaluate the
risk of a terrorist release in or near your
workplace.
Add terrorist releases to the list of potential
emergencies the emergency plan covers OR
state that the emergency plan does not address
terrorist releases and indicate where the
information about responding to these emergencies
is located.
Review the rest of the emergency plan and ensure
that the current procedures (e.g., evacuation,
shelter-in-place, critical operation, etc.) for
potential emergencies are appropriate for
terrorist releases that may affect the workplace
and address the considerations identified in the
rest of this checklist OR develop an
emergency plan (or use an existing plan-State or
Local Emergency Response Plan) that addresses
anticipated terrorist releases and is consistent
with the considerations identified in the rest of
this checklist.
employees can activate the response
system during a terrorist release?
employees can activate the response system
if they suspect a terrorist release?
other employees would be alerted if a
terrorist release were detected?
Yes No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Consider modifying your employee alarm system to
include a function to indicate a terrorist
release. These system modifications can be done
by using a different tone/message in the employee
alarm system.
Identify how an employee who suspects a terrorist
release can activate the response system, and how
other employees will be alerted about a terrorist
release.
Identify how employees in adjacent work
locations, including those employed by other
employers, will be alerted about a terrorist
release. Consider modifying your employee alarm
system and/or notification procedures to include
this function. This may involve coordinating your
plan, alarm, and notification procedures with
other employers.
Ensure that any modifications to the alarm system
and to the response system activation procedures
accommodate the needs of all employees, in
accordance with any applicable provisions of the
Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA).
emergency response organizations will be
notified concerning an attempted terrorist
release or during a terrorist release?
other outside organizations, including
adjacent workplaces, will be notified if a
terrorist release is detected?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify how employees will contact emergency
response organizations concerning an attempted
terrorist release or during a terrorist release
if these notification procedures will differ from
those for other workplace emergencies.
Identify how designated employees will warn
individuals outside the workplace (e.g. other
tenants, surrounding businesses/community
facilities) that a terrorist release is detected
if these notification procedures will differ from
those for other workplace emergencies.
Contact your local emergency response
organizations to discuss effective notification
procedures for terrorist releases. This would
help ensure that your procedures are coordinated
with any existing community network.
On-line Resources
The Environmental Protection Agency's database of
Local
Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) can provide:
community emergency response resources, contacts, and
procedures; information about other facilities in the
community that store hazardous substances; and
assistance in integrating your procedures with those of
adjacent facilities and local emergency responders.
The Department of Justice, Office
for Domestic Preparedness Clearinghouse offers
written resources for planning and preparedness. This
document contains resources describing how to integrate
public and private sector emergency planning.
II. Response
Procedures: Equipment Shut Down and Workplace
Isolation
Is there any critical equipment not currently
addressed in your emergency plan that must be
shut down during a terrorist release?
Note: Critical equipment
is any equipment considered important to process
safety. This may include such items as process piping,
chemical storage tanks, ventilation equipment, or power
generation equipment.
Yes No
Indoor
Releases
Identify equipment for which shut down/isolation
might be critical during a terrorist release that
is not already listed in the current emergency
plan.
Add shut down/isolation information for this
equipment to your current emergency plan, similar
to the information included for
previously-identified critical equipment (e.g.,
shut down procedures, employee roles and
responsibilities, training, protective equipment,
and contingencies for immediate evacuation).
Outdoor
Releases
In addition to the above considerations
identified for "indoor releases,"
consider the critical equipment that you would
and would not shut down if you plan to shelter
employees in the building during a terrorist
release (e.g., power supply, ventilation system).
Would you ever isolate an area within the
workplace or the entire workplace as a shelter
during certain types of terrorist releases?
Yes No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify the circumstances under which you would
attempt to shelter employees in place.
Describe any additional steps employees must take
if they will be expected to isolate an area or
the entire workplace as a shelter during a
terrorist release. In making this decision,
consider the level of training these employees
would need (see "Training" section
below for guidance), the potential for employee
exposure, and the feasibility of isolating areas
from the general workplace.
Ensure that selected locations and the additional
steps necessary to isolate the area or the entire
workplace account for and accommodate the needs
of all employees, in accordance with any
applicable provisions of the ADA.
On-line Resources
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) publication,
Protecting Building Environments from Airborne
Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Attacks,
provides information about physical security and design
options for protecting building intakes. Also
identifies operational controls that may be useful to
protect the indoor environment during a release.
The U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command
(SBCCOM) Homeland Defense webpage, Basic Information on
Building Protection, provides information about
protecting building ventilation systems. Details
alternative ventilation system equipment.
The National Institute for Chemical Studies document,
Shelter
In Place at Your Office [PDF], provides guidance
for developing a sheltering plan.
III. Response Procedures:
Evacuating, Sheltering and Accounting for
Employees
Does your emergency plan identify any additional
key personnel or roles necessary to evacuate to
an appropriate staging or shelter location (if
you plan to shelter), during a terrorist release:
outside the building, or
inside the workplace?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify additional key personnel or roles.
Include the assigned tasks necessary for
implementing the emergency plan during terrorist
releases.
Personnel who shut down critical equipment or
isolate release areas or a workplace may be
considered emergency responders. See the
"Training" section of this checklist
below.
Does your emergency plan identify any
additional/different
evacuation routes,
exits,
staging locations,
and, if you plan to shelter employees,
shelter locations that would be needed
during a terrorist release?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor
Releases
Illustrate additional routes, exits, and staging
locations necessary on the map/floor plan of your
facility. Provide a means for visually
distinguishing (e.g., color-coding) these routes
if they will be used solely during evacuation for
a terrorist release.
If appropriate, coordinate with employers in
adjacent work locations to identify alternative
staging locations so that all workers are not
staged in the same location and selected
locations provide enough space for your employees
to be staged.
Ensure that additional routes, exits, and staging
locations accommodate the needs of all employees,
in accordance with any applicable provisions of
the ADA.
Outdoor
Releases
If you plan to designate shelter locations for a
terrorist release, identify them. Consider
locations that can be physically isolated from
the rest of the workplace and from the outside
environment. Consider appropriate communication
and other equipment (see "Equipment"
section of checklist).
Illustrate any additional routes and shelter
locations on the map/floor plan of your facility.
Provide a means for visually distinguishing these
routes if they will be used solely during
evacuation for a terrorist release. You may
combine this map/floor plan with the one above or
keep them separate.
Ensure that shelter locations and any additional
routes to reach these locations accommodate the
needs of all employees, in accordance with any
applicable provisions of the ADA.
Does the emergency plan identify how you will
account for employees who are evacuated or
sheltered as the result of a known or suspected
terrorist release?
Yes No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify who is responsible to account for
employees evacuated during a terrorist release
and how the responsible individual(s) will
perform this function.
Identify who is responsible to account for
employees sheltered during a terrorist release
and how the responsible individual(s) will
perform this function.
If they have been evacuated or sheltered in place
as the result of a known or suspected terrorist
release, does the emergency plan identify how
employees will be alerted when it is safe to:
re-enter the workplace, or
leave a shelter location?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor
Releases
Identify who is responsible for making the
determination that the workplace is safe to
re-enter and how this determination will be
made.
Identify how the responsible individual will make
the determination that the workplace is safe to
re-enter.
Identify how employees will be alerted.
Outdoor
Releases
Identify who is responsible for making the
determination that employees can leave the
shelter location.
Identify how employees will be alerted. One
option is to identify how employees will maintain
communication with outside agencies and the type
of information that will be exchanged.
Identify the community alarm systems used to
provide this type of information if applicable.
IV. Training
Does your emergency plan describe the training
each employee must receive to:
evacuate,
retreat to a shelter location during a
known or suspected terrorist release,
or
perform a response role during a
terrorist release?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify any training employees will need to
carry out your planned procedures for evacuation
during a terrorist release.
Identify any training employees will need to
carry out your planned procedures for sheltering
during a terrorist release.
Identify any training employees will need to
carry out your planned procedures for addressing
critical operations response during a terrorist
release.
Identify any training employees will need to
carry out your planned procedures for emergency
response (other than critical operation shut
down/isolation) during a terrorist release.
Address in your training any hazards and tasks
associated with evacuation during a terrorist
release, consistent with the Emergency Action
Plan standard (29 CFR 1910.38).
Address in your training any hazards and tasks
associated with critical equipment shut down and
workplace isolation during a terrorist release,
consistent with the Emergency Action Plan
standard (29 CFR 1910.38) and HAZWOPER (29 CFR
1910.120).
Address in your training any hazards and tasks
associated with emergency response during a
terrorist release, consistent with HAZWOPER (29
CFR 1910.120).
If employees may be expected to wear personal
protective equipment during a terrorist release
that they would not normally wear during other
emergencies, train employees to use this
protective equipment properly.
OSHA's Hazard
Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200)
identifies regulatory requirements for evaluating and
communicating the hazards associated with chemicals and
their use in the workplace. It includes information and
training requirements for employees that may be exposed
to chemicals in the workplace.
Do you need to assign any additional emergency
roles to your employees to:
evacuate them,
shelter them, or
perform a response role during a
terrorist release?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify any additional training employees need
to carry out your planned evacuation procedures
during a terrorist release.
Additional roles or tasks you assign employees
during a terrorist release may make them
emergency responders. For example,
employees who remain behind to shut down critical
equipment or to isolate release areas before
evacuation are considered emergency responders
under OSHA's Hazardous Waste Operations and
Emergency Response standard (HAZWOPER, 29 CFR
1910.120). These employees must be trained in
accordance with paragraph (q)(6) of that
standard. Refer to the "On-line
Resources" below for sources of additional
information about HAZWOPER training levels.
Employees who are expected to identify potential
terrorist releases and unusual circumstances
preceding them must be trained to perform this
role. Provide any additional training necessary
to enable these employees to recognize both
unusual circumstances (e.g., suspicious activity
near hazardous substance storage areas) and
potential terrorist releases (e.g.,
characteristics of a suspicious package).
Employees who are expected to assist other
employees, like those with disabilities, evacuate
or reach and isolate shelter locations must be
trained to perform this role. Provide any
additional training necessary to enable these
employees to perform their assigned roles.
OSHA's Recommendations for
Handling Mail is geared toward reducing the
potential for anthrax spore contamination through the
mail, but it provides useful general mail handling
guidelines and additional resources.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's poster [PDF] highlights
suspicious package characteristics.
Will your employees need to wear any additional
personal protective equipment to perform their
assigned roles during:
evacuation,
sheltering (if planned),
critical equipment shut down,
workplace isolation, or
emergency response resulting from a
terrorist release?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor and Outdoor
Releases
Identify the additional personal protective
equipment employees may need during a terrorist
release. Consider personal protective equipment
for the eyes, face, body, and extremities, and
respiratory protection.
Identify the location of the additional personal
protective equipment. One option is to include
the information on the maps/floor plans
illustrating the evacuation routes. You may refer
to an existing emergency plan developed under
either the Emergency Action Plan standard (29 CFR
1910.38) or the HAZWOPER standard (29 CFR
1910.120).
Identify who can use the additional personal
protective equipment, based on assigned roles and
training. For example, employees who must shut
down a process or visually inspect an area may
require specific respirators and protective
clothing to perform these tasks.
Will you need additional emergency equipment
during:
evacuation,
sheltering (if planned),
critical equipment shut down,
workplace isolation, or
emergency response resulting from a
terrorist release?
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Indoor
Releases
Identify additional emergency equipment employees
may need during a terrorist release. Consider
items such as first aid supplies, communication
devices, and barrier/isolation equipment such as
impermeable plastic sheeting. Also consider any
equipment necessary to assist employees with
disabilities evacuate and reach shelter
locations.
Identify the location of the additional emergency
equipment. One option is to include the location
of the equipment on the maps/floor plans
illustrating the evacuation routes. You may refer
to an existing emergency plan developed under
either the Emergency Action Plan standard (29 CFR
1910.38) or HAZWOPER (29 CFR 1910.120).
Identify who can use the additional emergency
equipment, based on assigned roles and training.
Other
Considerations
OSHA recognizes that terrorist
releases affecting the workplace, particularly outdoor
releases, may involve community efforts and
considerations beyond those typically associated with
emergency planning under the Emergency Action Plan
standard (29 CFR 1910.38). Terrorist releases that
affect an entire community more closely resemble a
natural disaster or an emergency release of a hazardous
substance than a facility-specific incident.
Workplaces in areas where natural disasters are more
likely, as well as facilities that store and use
hazardous substances, generally incorporate community
aspects into their emergency plans (e.g., awareness of
public information systems and community evacuation
routes or shelters, contingency plans for livestock or
domestic pets). But these broader considerations may
not occur to the employers of all businesses and
facilities covered by OSHA. OSHA offers the following
on-line resource for employers who have not previously
addressed large-scale emergencies such as natural
disasters or hazardous substance emergencies.