Section 1: Step 4 - Implement the Plan

Implementation means more than simply exercising the plan during an emergency. It means acting on recommendations made during the vulnerability analysis, integrating the plan into company operations, training employees and evaluating the plan.

Step 4 - Implement the Plan

Other Sections

Integrate the Plan into Company Operations

Emergency planning must become part of the corporate culture.

Look for opportunities to build awareness; to educate and train personnel; to test procedures; to involve all levels of management, all departments and the community in the planning process; and to make emergency management part of what personnel do on a day-to-day basis.

Test How Completely The Plan Has Been Integrated By Asking:

Conduct Training, Drills and Exercises

Everyone who works at or visits the facility requires some form of training. This could include periodic employee discussion sessions to review procedures, technical training in equipment use for emergency responders, evacuation drills and full-scale exercises. Below are basic considerations for developing a training plan.

  1. Planning Considerations

    Assign responsibility for developing a training plan. Consider the training and information needs for employees, contractors, visitors, managers and those with an emergency response role identified in the plan. Determine for a 12 month period:

    • Who will be trained?
    • Who will do the training?
    • What training activities will be used?
    • When and where each session will take place?
    • How the session will be evaluated and documented?

    Use the Training Drills and Exercises Chart in the appendix section to schedule training activities or create one of your own. Consider how to involve community responders in training activities.

    Conduct reviews after each training activity. Involve both personnel and community responders in the evaluation process.

  2. Training Activities

    Training can take many forms:

    • Orientation and Education Sessions - These are regularly scheduled discussion sessions to provide information, answer questions and identify needs and concerns.
    • Tabletop Exercise - Members of the emergency management group meet in a conference room setting to discuss their responsibilities and how they would react to emergency scenarios. This is a cost-effective and efficient way to identify areas of overlap and confusion before conducting more demanding training activities.
    • Walk-through Drill - The emergency management group and response teams actually perform their emergency response functions. This activity generally involves more people and is more thorough than a tabletop exercise.
    • Functional Drills - These drills test specific functions such as medical response, emergency notifications, warning and communications procedures and equipment, though not necessarily at the same time. Personnel are asked to evaluate the systems and identify problem areas.
    • Evacuation Drill - Personnel walk the evacuation route to a designated area where procedures for accounting for all personnel are tested. Participants are asked to make notes as they go along of what might become a hazard during an emergency, e.g., stairways cluttered with debris, smoke in the hallways. Plans are modified accordingly.
    • Full-scale Exercise - A real-life emergency situation is simulated as closely as possible. This exercise involves company emergency response personnel, employees, management and community response organizations.
  3. Employee Training

    General training for all employees should address:

    • Individual roles and responsibilities
    • Information about threats, hazards and protective actions
    • Notification, warning and communications procedures
    • Means for locating family members in an emergency
    • Emergency response procedures
    • Evacuation, shelter and accountability procedures
    • Location and use of common emergency equipment
    • Emergency shutdown procedures

    The scenarios developed during the vulnerability analysis can serve as the basis for training events.

    OSHA training requirements are a minimum standard for many facilities that have a fire brigade, hazardous materials team, rescue team or emergency medical response team.

  4. Evaluate and Modify the Plan

    Conduct a formal audit of the entire plan at least once a year. Among the issues to consider are:

    • How can you involve all levels of management in evaluating and updating the plan?
    • Are the problem areas and resource shortfalls identified in the vulnerability analysis being sufficiently addressed?
    • Does the plan reflect lessons learned from drills and actual events?
    • Do members of the emergency management group and emergency response team understand their respective responsibilities? Have new members been trained?
    • Does the plan reflect changes in the physical layout of the facility? Does it reflect new facility processes?
    • Are photographs and other records of facility assets up to date?
    • Is the facility attaining its training objectives?
    • Have the hazards in the facility changed?
    • Are the names, titles and telephone numbers in the plan current?
    • Are steps being taken to incorporate emergency management into other facility processes?
    • Have community agencies and organizations been briefed on the plan? Are they involved in evaluating the plan?

    In addition to a yearly audit, evaluate and modify the plan at these times:

    • After each training drill or exercise
    • After each emergency
    • When personnel or their responsibilities change
    • When the layout or design of the facility changes
    • When policies or procedures change
    • Remember to brief personnel on changes to the plan.

    Conduct a formal audit of the entire plan at least once a year.

Last Modified: Tuesday, 21-Mar-2006 08:36:40 EST