Emergency Action Plan
A written document required by OSHA that describes the procedures employees must follow during workplace emergencies such as fires, severe weather, chemical releases, or active threats, including evacuation routes, assembly points, and designated responsibilities.
What Is an Emergency Action Plan?
Key Takeaways
- ✓An Emergency Action Plan (EAP) is a written set of procedures that guide employee actions during emergencies, required by OSHA under 29 CFR 1910.38.
- ✓The plan must cover fire and other emergencies, evacuation procedures, escape routes, headcount procedures, and the duties of employees who remain behind to operate critical equipment.
- ✓Every employer whose OSHA standards require one (including companies with fire extinguishers, which is most employers) must have an EAP.
- ✓The plan must be kept in the workplace and available for employee review. Employers with 10 or fewer employees can communicate the plan orally rather than in writing.
- ✓An EAP isn't the same as a business continuity plan. The EAP focuses on immediate life safety. Business continuity addresses how operations resume after the emergency is over.
An Emergency Action Plan tells your people exactly what to do when something goes wrong. Fire breaks out on the second floor. A chemical spill sends fumes through the ventilation system. A tornado warning hits during the middle of a shift. Severe weather floods the parking lot. An active threat enters the building. In each scenario, employees need to know the answer to three questions immediately: Where do I go? What do I do? Who's in charge? That's what an EAP provides. It's not a binder that collects dust on a shelf. It's a living document that employees practice and managers enforce. The difference between a workplace that handles emergencies well and one that doesn't almost always comes down to whether people were trained on a clear plan before the emergency happened. OSHA requires an EAP under 29 CFR 1910.38, and several other OSHA standards (fire extinguisher use, fixed extinguishing systems, process safety management) trigger the requirement as well. But compliance is the baseline. A good EAP goes beyond checking boxes. It accounts for your building's layout, your workforce's specific needs (shift workers, visitors, employees with disabilities), and the actual emergencies most likely to occur at your location.
Required Elements of an EAP
OSHA specifies minimum elements that every Emergency Action Plan must include. Missing any of these creates a compliance gap.
| Required Element | What It Must Address | Common Gaps |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting procedures | How to report a fire or other emergency (pull station, call 911, internal notification) | No clear chain: employees don't know who to call first |
| Evacuation procedures and routes | Who evacuates, the routes they take, and exit assignments for each area | Maps exist but haven't been updated after renovations |
| Procedures for employees who stay behind | Duties of employees who operate critical systems before evacuating (shutting down equipment, ventilation) | No one is formally designated for shutdown tasks |
| Accounting for employees after evacuation | Headcount or roll-call process at assembly points | Assembly points exist but no one is assigned to count heads |
| Rescue and medical duties | Who performs rescue or medical tasks (if any employees are designated) | Confusion between internal response and waiting for emergency services |
| Contact information | Names and job titles of people to contact for plan details or in an emergency | Contact list is outdated with former employees listed |
Emergency Scenarios the EAP Should Cover
The specific emergencies in your EAP should reflect the realistic risks at your location. A chemical plant and a corporate office face very different threats.
Fire
Fire is the universal workplace emergency. Every EAP must include fire evacuation procedures. Define alarm types (what does the alarm sound like?), primary and secondary evacuation routes for each area, assembly points at least 50 feet from the building, and procedures for employees with mobility limitations. Identify which employees, if any, are trained to use fire extinguishers. Note that if you choose not to allow employees to fight fires, you must include total evacuation procedures in your EAP.
Severe weather
Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and severe thunderstorms all require different responses. For tornadoes, identify interior rooms on the lowest floor (away from windows) as shelter areas. For floods, establish procedures for shutting down operations and moving to higher ground. For hurricanes, the plan should address early dismissal and facility securing procedures. The specific severe weather scenarios depend on your geographic location. An EAP in Oklahoma needs tornado procedures. One in Miami needs hurricane procedures. One in California needs earthquake procedures.
Chemical release or spill
For workplaces that use hazardous chemicals, the EAP should address what to do when containment fails. This includes upwind evacuation routes (not through the spill area), shelter-in-place procedures if evacuation isn't safe, notification of the facility's HAZMAT team or local emergency responders, and coordination with the SDS for the specific chemical involved. The response differs dramatically depending on whether the release is in an enclosed space or outdoors.
Active threat or workplace violence
While OSHA doesn't specifically mandate active shooter plans, the general duty clause and best practices strongly support including workplace violence response procedures. The 'Run, Hide, Fight' framework is widely adopted: evacuate if possible, hide and barricade if you can't evacuate, and fight as a last resort. The plan should include procedures for alerting employees throughout the facility, lockdown protocols, and coordination with law enforcement.
How to Develop an Effective EAP
Building an EAP that actually works during an emergency requires more than filling in a template. Here's the process that produces a plan people will follow.
Conduct a facility risk assessment
Before writing the plan, identify the emergencies most likely to affect your workplace. Consider the building's age, construction type, and layout. Review your chemical inventory. Assess the surrounding area (flood zones, proximity to hazardous facilities, crime statistics). Look at your company's incident history. This assessment drives which emergency scenarios your EAP needs to address and how detailed each section should be.
Map evacuation routes and assembly points
Walk the building. Identify all exits, including those employees might not normally use. Map primary and secondary evacuation routes from every work area. Place assembly points far enough from the building that evacuees won't interfere with emergency responders, typically at least 500 feet for chemical facilities and 50 feet minimum for office buildings. Account for accessible routes for employees who use wheelchairs or have mobility limitations. Post evacuation maps on every floor near elevators and stairwells.
Assign roles and responsibilities
Designate floor wardens or area monitors responsible for sweeping their zones and confirming everyone has evacuated. Assign someone to take the headcount at each assembly point. Identify employees responsible for critical shutdowns (HVAC, gas lines, chemical processes). Name an EAP coordinator who owns the plan and ensures it stays current. Make sure every role has a backup. If the primary floor warden is on vacation when the fire starts, someone else needs to step in.
EAP Training and Drills
A plan that hasn't been practiced is a plan that won't work. OSHA requires training, and experience shows that drills are what make the training stick.
Initial and annual training
OSHA requires EAP training when the plan is first developed, when new employees are hired, when employee responsibilities change, and when the plan is modified. At minimum, cover evacuation routes, assembly point locations, alarm systems, how to report emergencies, and individual responsibilities. Training should include a physical walk-through of evacuation routes, not just a slide deck in a conference room.
Evacuation drills
Conduct at least one full evacuation drill per year, more often if your facility has high hazard levels or high employee turnover. Time the drill from alarm activation to complete headcount. After each drill, debrief with floor wardens and the EAP coordinator. Where did bottlenecks occur? Did everyone know where to go? Did the headcount process work? Could employees with disabilities evacuate safely? Use the findings to update the plan.
Tabletop exercises
For scenarios that can't easily be drilled (chemical releases, active threats), tabletop exercises are valuable. Gather key stakeholders around a table, present a scenario, and walk through the response step by step. 'A chemical spill occurs in Bay 3 at 2:00 AM. There are 12 employees on shift. Walk me through what happens.' Tabletop exercises reveal gaps in the plan that aren't obvious until someone tries to execute it in a realistic scenario.
Special Considerations for EAP Planning
Standard evacuation procedures don't work for every situation or every employee. Your EAP needs to account for these variables.
- Employees with disabilities: Identify employees who may need assistance evacuating and assign specific buddies. Don't assume. Ask employees directly what assistance they'd need in an emergency.
- Shift workers: If your facility operates multiple shifts, each shift needs trained floor wardens and emergency responders. The night shift with 20 employees can't rely on the day shift's emergency team.
- Multi-tenant buildings: Coordinate with building management and other tenants. Shared stairwells, common assembly areas, and conflicting evacuation plans create confusion. Know who controls the alarm system.
- Remote and hybrid workers: Employees working from home aren't covered by your facility's EAP, but you should still provide general emergency preparedness guidance and know how to account for their safety during a natural disaster affecting their area.
- Visitors and contractors: Your plan must account for people who don't know the building. Visitor sign-in logs serve a safety purpose beyond security. They tell you who's in the building during an evacuation headcount.
- Alarm systems: Make sure alarms are audible in every area, including noisy manufacturing floors, warehouses, and outdoor work areas. Visual alarms (strobes) are required in areas where employees may have hearing impairments.
Emergency Preparedness Statistics [2026]
Data showing why emergency planning matters and where employers commonly fall short.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every employer need an EAP?
How often should the EAP be updated?
Can an EAP be digital only?
What's the difference between an EAP and a fire prevention plan?
Do we need to coordinate our EAP with local emergency services?
Written by Adithyan RK