Top 3 Best Workplace Emergency Procedures
What are the best workplace emergency procedures?
If you’ve found yourself scouring the internet for a list of effective and efficient workplace emergency procedures, you’re not alone. Anyone responsible for the well-being of coworkers or employees has likely done research to help them keep their people safe.
Unfortunately, no matter how prepared the workplace, emergencies will happen. When they do, it’s important that those in charge can follow the top three workplace emergency procedures: contain, communicate, control.
These three rules for emergencies in the workplace can help minimize the damage of any type of emergency.
1. Contain
The first set of emergency procedures in the workplace all fall under the category of containing the emergency. Containing the emergency means responding to the immediate threat and stopping the problem and the panic from spreading.
In the context of a machinery-related injury, a fire, or other location-based emergencies, this step can be simple. Turning off a malfunctioning machine, using a fire extinguisher, or closing a door are all ways to contain an emergency.
For other workplace emergencies, though, this can be more difficult.
Consider finding out that an employee has been diagnosed with a highly contagious illness, such as the Wuhan Coronavirus or the flu. Containing this illness could mean:
- Blocking off their office or desk until it can be properly cleaned
- Ensuring that that employee doesn’t return to work until they’re healthy
- Testing other employees for the same illness.
These emergencies are not localized and can be harder to contain, but it isn’t impossible to stop their spread.
At the same time, it’s vital to communicate all measures taken to contain an emergency to everyone involved. Showing swift action and smart thinking allows others to keep calm and respond rationally.
2. Communicate
The same communication that can hold hysteria at bay is also an important part of any workplace emergency procedure. No matter the nature of the emergency, clear communication is vital in regards to victims, spectators, medical personnel, administrators, and other employees.
One of the most efficient ways to spread the word about an emergency and how it’s being dealt with is via mass communication methods such as voice broadcasting and mass text messaging.
Employee alerts can help prepare for, decrease, and respond to workplace emergencies. They’re a simple tool to implement, and they have uses outside of emergency notifications.
Setting up Employee Alerts With DialMyCalls
DialMyCalls is a platform designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind. The platform can aid users in sending out messages to groups of people as needed. In an emergency, this kind of communication is vital as soon as possible and after the fact.
With DialMyCalls, users can schedule messages in advance or send them on the fly. The user simply types or records a message or chooses from their list of previously recorded messages and then selects which group of contacts needs to receive it.
Recipients get the mass text or voice broadcast within seconds.
This communication ensures that everyone is on the same page during an emergency. Whether these employee alerts are used to ask employees to avoid a specific area or asking for everyone to check in with their supervisor, they play an important role in keeping safety organized.
After an emergency occurs, users can utilize these same communication methods to provide further resources or ask staff to evaluate your emergency response. They also have several applications in general organizational communication and marketing.
3. Control
Most of the remaining workplace emergency procedures fall under this third category, control.
Of course, most emergencies are out of our control or they never would have happened. In this case, controlling the emergency refers to ensuring that everyone is safe and that the fallout is under control.
These procedures include things done outside of an emergency context. For example, keeping first aid kits stocked and practicing evacuation drills can help control an emergency when one does arise.
Another big part of controlling the emergency is creating and communicating the long-term plan. Administrators can do this via the mass communication methods listed in the previous section. The difference is that the end goal is to ensure that those in charge handle the emergency according to best practice.
The long term control plan can include vaccinations or blood tests, the purchase of fire extinguishers, the distribution of practical or educational resources, or more.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) advises that any workplace more than three to four minutes from a hospital keep a trained medical professional on-site. Preparing ahead by hiring a nurse is a great way to control an emergency. Alternatively, you can notice and plan for slower response times than you expected.
The precise nature of this control plan is unique to each emergency. What matters is that the emergency doesn’t surpass the amount of control that those n charge are able to give.
Implementing Containment, Communication, and Control During Workplace Emergencies
You never know when an emergency will strike. When it does, it’s best to contain, communicate, and control the situation quickly. This reduces the risk to your people and resources.
Communication tools such as DialMyCalls can make the emergency preparedness process easier. Other tools, such as easily accessible first aid kits and working smoke detectors, can be the difference between life and death.
While these are only the top three of a long list of workplace emergency procedures, they should help lead workplaces in the right direction as they prepare to keep their staff safe no matter the emergency.
Maintain communication during a workplace emergency by signing up for a free DialMyCalls account today!
