Office of the Fire Marshal Emergency Building Measures A Guide to Strengthen Emergency Management of High-Rise and High-Risk Buildings

5. Developing the Emergency Plan

How do I plan for an emergency?

Every plan must be tailored to a specific building and circumstance. An Emergency Plan is best developed by gathering input from all affected parties, analyzing risks and response capabilities, drafting and reviewing the plan, and implementing and refining the plan based on feedback.

Step 1 – Establish an Emergency Management Team
Step 2 – Analyze Risks and Response Capabilities
Step 3 – Develop the Plan
Step 4 – Exercise the Plan
Step 5 – Test, Evaluate and Modify the Plan

Step 1 – Establish an Emergency Management Team

The property manager or his/her backup should take the responsibility for organizing an Emergency Management Team and developing the emergency management plan in cooperation with tenants. Emergency planning is the responsibility of the building owner/manager and not the emergency services.

In multi-tenant buildings, the Emergency Management Team should include a representative from each tenant. The senior manager of the tenant should appoint this person.

Circumstances may require specialized input from facility and process managers, building designers and other qualified individuals. In single tenant buildings, it would be beneficial to obtain input from:

• senior management
• operations management
• staff
• engineering, maintenance and custodial staff

In multi-tenanted buildings many more parties will have to be involved.

The Emergency Management Team’s purpose must be defined. The purpose could include the development and exercise of:

• emergency plans for dealing with various types of natural and human-caused emergencies including terrorist threats or incidents,
• internal communications procedures for use during an incident or threat,
• training for building occupants and key personnel in the Emergency Plans

Step 2 – Analyze Risks and Response Capabilities

This step involves gathering and analyzing information. Where available, the community’s Emergency Plan may be a valuable resource. The risks and hazards must be identified as well as the response capabilities that are available. Once the information has been gathered, a vulnerability analysis is conducted to identify gaps in the facility’s capabilities for handling the emergencies. Review existing emergency plans. In many instances these existing plans and procedures contain valuable practices and strategies for responding to, and dealing with various risks and threats. These could include, where applicable, the following existing plans or procedures:

• fire safety plan (including current building/site plans that clearly label all tenant spaces)
• health and safety program
• environmental policies
• security procedures
• shut-down procedures
• hazardous materials containment plans
• risk management plans

Identify applicable federal, provincial and community regulations and by-laws such as:

• occupational health and safety regulations
• Ontario Fire Code
• environmental regulations
• zoning regulations
• Community Emergency Plan

Identify internal and external resources and capabilities that could be utilized in an emergency:

• personnel – security, emergency management group, fire wardens or floor wardens, hazardous materials response team (where applicable), first-aid providers – identify times of day or circumstances when key building personnel are not available to undertake their assigned duties
• equipment – communications, warning systems, security, emergency power equipment, containment equipment, first aid supplies, fire protection, fire suppression
• building emergency features that can be operated from remote locations during an emergency, such as HVAC, smoke control, communication, warning and security systems
• facilities – evacuation facilities, temporary shelter areas, first-aid stations, decontamination facilities
• organizational capabilities – training, evacuation plan, employee or occupant support system
• internal backup systems – communications, emergency power, recovery and support
• The equipment and systems available in a building to deal with an emergency will vary considerably depending on the size and age of the building, the type of occupancy and what is legally required. After determining what is currently available, managers must also determine if additional equipment or systems should be provided even if they are not legally required.

Identify external resources that would be required during an emergency including emergency protocols for contacts. These could include:

• police
• fire department
• emergency medical services
• community emergency management co-ordinator
• community social service agencies
• hazardous materials response organization
• transportation services
• utilities
• Professional Engineers and Architects
• contractors
• suppliers of emergency equipment

NOTE: The activation and deployment of external resources does not relieve building owners/managers and occupants of their responsibility to provide for their own safety in accordance with established plans during an emergency in a building.

Step 3 – Develop the Plan

The Emergency Management Team should develop the Emergency Plan using the most up-to-date information. Drawings, tenant information, contacts, etc. need to be current and accurate to be useful. Elements of the plan should include:

Emergency Management – outlines the following key components:

• a protocol for who will be in charge
• notification and communications procedures
• life safety elements
• property protection

Incident Emergency Response – identifies the procedures outlining how the facility and occupants will respond. This part of the plan should also address procedures for dealing with emergencies during peak usage periods and after hours.

• The plan must include provision for dealing with disabled people, both regular occupants and visitors.
• The plan must stress that evacuating to the roof is not an option during a fire, despite what might be seen in the media. Suitable helicopters for this purpose are not readily available in Ontario. Even if they were available, such a procedure is very dangerous for both the building occupants and the helicopter crew. The thermal currents created by the fire make the helicopter very difficult to control. The downdraft from the helicopter rotor can force smoke and hot gases on top of building occupants or fire personnel.

Before finalizing the plan, it is important for building management to consult with the local emergency response agencies (police, fire department, community emergency co-ordinator, etc.) to ensure that the Emergency Plan is well coordinated between all parties and coincides with local practices. Protocols and details that need to be worked out and incorporated in the plan could include:

• Their emergency notification requirements.
• The conditions where mutual assistance will be necessary. (e.g. many nursing homes or hospitals have arrangement with other facilities for temporary housing of occupants in the event of an emergency.) In most cases, this will be identified by outside resources.
• Identify primary and alternate entrances for responding units.
• Where and whom will they meet?
• How will facility personnel communicate with outside responders?
• Who will be in charge during the emergency?
• How will the plan be communicated to building occupants?

Communications

At some point during or after an emergency or disaster it will be necessary to communicate with various groups. These could include:

• emergency response organizations
• employees
• neighbours
• media
• government regulatory agencies
• unions
• elected officials

A spokesperson, and an alternate, should be appointed to deal with the media. This person should be a senior official in the organization and should have training in dealing with the media.

Following are some guidelines for dealing with the media.

• Do not allow anyone other than the designated spokesperson to release information.
• Do not play favourites. Give all media access to the same information.
• Try to have consideration for their deadlines.
• Be factual. Don’t speculate.
• Do not cover-up or try to mislead the media.
• Keep records of all information provided to the media. Provide written press releases when possible.
• If the media will be on the site if the emergency/disaster, ensure that appropriate safety precautions are followed.

Step 4 – Exercise the Plan

Exercising the plan will involve training, practice exercises and evaluation.

In single tenant facilities, the plan should become part of the corporate policies and be managed effectively.

In multi-tenant facilities, the plan must be adopted by each tenant and be integrated into the workplace procedures for occupants to follow during an emergency incident. Key personnel in each tenant space may require special training or instruction to ensure they can conduct the assigned duties. Practice drills can be conducted to determine if the procedures and the desired communications are effective.

How is the Emergency Plan shared with the building occupants?

Once the Emergency Plan has been developed, occupant and tenant information needs to be provided to them so that they can become aware of the emergency procedures.

Initially, occupants can be provided with printed instructions in a variety of formats including: brochures, newsletters, workplace policies, workplace procedures, etc. Many of these printed materials can be distributed to each individual and in other instances, the Emergency Plan should be prominently placed in common areas including lunch rooms and lounges, accessible to building occupants for their review.

Other methods can be used to inform and train the building occupants. These may include:

• offering periodic information and awareness presentations,
• providing direct training and instruction to individuals who are assigned special tasks,
• producing and distributing demonstration or instructional videos

To help people to become familiar with their surroundings, building signage should be used to identify areas of refuge, location of emergency equipment, exits and evacuation instructions.

Training, Drill and Exercise Considerations

In addition to the training, individuals have key roles to play during an emergency. Everyone working in the facility will require some form of training to become familiar with the established Emergency Plans. This could include distribution of the specific procedures to each employee and occupant/tenant, periodic discussion sessions with occupants and tenants to review the procedures, technical training in the use of special equipment if necessary and participation in evacuation drills intended to improve awareness of the egress features provided in the building.

Step 5 – Test, Evaluate and Modify the Plan

The Emergency Management Plan and procedures should be audited at least annually and, when necessary, modified and the Emergency Plan should be reviewed:

• after each training drill or exercises
• after each emergency
• when personnel or their responsibilities change
• when tenants change
• when layout or design changes of the facility impact on the plan or procedures; and
• when policies or procedures change.

Conducting Drills And Exercises

In addition to conducting fire drills at the frequency required by the Fire Code, it is also necessary to periodically assess the other types emergency procedures similarly through exercises or drills.

The purpose of conducting drills and exercises is to:

• assess the ongoing effectiveness of the facility’s emergency procedures given different scenarios and make corrections where necessary
• determine that sufficient adequately trained people are available to respond and carry out the activities outlined in the emergency procedures
• ensure that the building occupants understand how to react in accordance with the building's emergency response and evacuation procedures; and
• provide an opportunity for emergency response training and practice.

Consider the following to determine if the objectives for the exercise or drill are achieved:

• Does the tenant management support the plan and participate appropriately in the exercise/drill scenarios?
• Are problem areas and resource shortfalls identified and addressed adequately?
• Does the plan reflect lessons learned from previous drills and actual events?
• Do individuals with specific duties specified by the procedure understand their responsibilities? Are they willing to perform their assigned activities? Can they perform their assigned activities? Are new personnel with specific responsibilities adequately trained?
• Have the risks and hazards changed in the facility or in land use around the facility?
• Have the key contacts changed? (names, titles, telephone numbers)
• Do building occupants know where their primary and secondary exits are situated in the event their normal escape route is contaminated or blocked?
• Is the existing method of communication adequate for relaying information and instructions to key personnel and building occupants during an emergency? If not, should other methods of communication be pre-planned? (For example, by private telephones, cell phones, pagers, or some other means.)

Drills and exercises can be conducted in a number of ways. The exercise can be used to provide additional training for designated individuals by allowing them to become more familiar with the use of the building's safety features and communications protocol. For example, designated individuals responsible for communications should practise using the communication equipment and other equipment where applicable based upon the scenario to gain experience and confidence.

It is very important that all personnel with specific responsibilities attend a debriefing meeting following every drill. This meeting is held to review the procedures and reactions of all participants. During the debriefing, problem areas can be identified and, if necessary, solutions to overcome any deficiencies in implementing the facility's Emergency Plan can be discussed and corrected.

In addition to conducting full-scale drills or exercises, smaller independent exercises can be conducted at different times involving designated departments or specified areas of the building on different shifts. During these independent exercises, tenant managers, department heads, supervisors or other designated persons monitor the emergency response of employees in a specific area to a simulated or described emergency scenario. Employees in an area would respond to a simulation in accordance with their emergency procedures. These smaller independent drills and exercises provide an opportunity for assessing the adequacy of employee emergency preparedness on all shifts, in individual tenancies, departments or area-specific emergency procedures.

Each drill or exercise must be evaluated and documented with recommendations for improvements by designated individuals who thoroughly understand the facility’s emergency procedures and expected response by designated individuals and occupants.

The frequency and nature of the drills and exercises should be determined based upon the potential risks, probable scenarios and the needs for training and emergency preparedness assessment.

Finally, the Emergency Plan must be readily accessible by emergency responders.

The creation of an emergency plan is not a one-time event. It must be regularly reviewed and up-dated to ensure that it reflects any changes to the facility or operations. Building owners/managers need to make a special effort to ensure that information is kept up-to-date. One of the major shortfalls in most plans is that the drawings, tenant information, contacts, etc. are allowed to become inaccurate as a result of changes that invariably occur.

For more information see:

Emergency Management Ontario
http://www.ontario.ca/emo

Emergency Management Guide for Business and Industry, Federal Emergency Management Agency
http://www.fema.gov/business/guide/index.shtm

National Research Council - Review of Evacuation Strategies for Occupants with Disabilities
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/obj/irc/doc/pubs/ir/ir712/ir712.pdf (PDF, 80 kb)