CHAPTER 8: EVACUATION PLANS

There are many incidents that go beyond affecting the technology and physical components of the organization to actually posing a serious threat to human life and the safety of people located within the premises and buildings of the organization.

In order to ensure proper protection of human life against such serious threats, effective evacuation plans need to be in place to move people out of the building and threat perimeter away to safe areas. Naturally, evacuation plans need to fulfill this requirement in a safe manner. In other words, evacuation plans need to be safe to implement and must not pose threats in addition to the existing ones.

Developing, testing, and reviewing evacuation plans are legal and regulatory requirements. It is common to find that municipal and civil agencies have certain specific regulations and instructions related to this subject that it is mandatory to meet and fulfill.

Features of an effective evacuation plan

There are common features that effective evacuation plans need to contain. These features are common sense and do not require much extra work during development. They simply need to be considered during plan development.

Ownership

As with the other plans and components of the BCM program, the evacuation plans need to be owned. Usually, it

is the physical security owner or facility manager who owns the evacuation plans. Identifying ownership facilitates accountabilities and other tasks relevant to the plans as it creates a unified reference point for all of their contents.

Simplicity

Evacuation plan development is not an easy task. It could easily be a serious and complex set of tasks to undertake. Yet, this complexity need not be transferred to the final plans. An evacuation plan needs to be simple. In fact, it needs to be so simple that an average person is easily capable of understanding and following it.

Clarity

Simplicity does not indicate vagueness. Clarity should also be seen in an effective evacuation plan. Put in all the required details and do not assume that the reader will know the missing information. The plan needs to put all the possible scenarios within the document. All this information needs to be laid out in sufficient detail, but in simple language.

Review, maintenance, and update

An effective evacuation plan needs to be reviewed at different levels, internally and externally. The plan should be reviewed by peers and relevant stakeholders within the organization. It should also be reviewed by the municipal or civil agencies concerned. It is also common to bring in professional help from consultants to review plans and identify possible missing items or gaps. In addition, the review should take place at periodic intervals, at a minimum once a year, or when a major update is triggered. Such an update could be relocation to new building, the issue of a new regulation, changes in the surrounding environment, etc.

Evacuation plans should be up to date. This means that the review intervals should be linked with maintenance and update processes.

Communication

Evacuation plans need to be communicated to people in the organization and the relevant stakeholders in an effective manner. The goal of communicating the plans is to impart as much information as possible to people before any possible evacuation incidents. The communication can take the form of separate, yet integrated, sets of messages delivered through different streams, like e-mail, billboards, information sessions, and staff meetings. The messages need not only contain the plan itself but they can also fit in other related items like first-aid tips and fire-fighting instructions.

Training and awareness

People need to be trained in the evacuation plan and made aware of it. Training could take different forms from table walk-throughs to simulation, and ending in actual drills. The training should be conducted at periodic intervals or when new releases of the plan are issued. Awareness should run in parallel with communication activities to create a minimum and common level of knowledge about the plan and its relevant items.

Evacuation plan development

Familiarity with the buildings and surroundings

Going through the development of the plan, there are several steps that need to be executed. First, the plan developer should gain familiarity with the buildings and their surroundings. Doing this will help make the plan relevant and practical.

Familiarity with relevant laws and regulations

Then, the plan developer should know what the applicable specifications, laws, and regulations are in relation to evacuation plans. This will help make the final plans compliant with such requirements.

Familiarity with work environment and culture

The plan developer should also gain some knowledge about the work environment and governing policies. In particular, specific knowledge should be obtained about the cultural and societal characteristics of the place for which the plan is relevant. Understanding these issues helps significantly in making the plans applicable and practical.

Assignment of assembly points

Assembly points are a major component of the plans. Assigning such assembly points is a delicate process. The prospective assembly point should:

• be easy to reach;
• be within the proximity of the building;
• have multiple entrance/exit points;
• be accessible by emergency services;
• be as far away from the building by as much as the height of the building, if possible;
• be away from electricity and fuel stations;
• be clearly marked with readable and identifiable signs;
• not need anyone to cross roads or bridges to reach it.

If possible, more than one assembly point can be assigned with primary/secondary labels.

Assignment of evacuation team

It is also important to assign an evacuation team. The evacuation team members will help significantly in activating the evacuation plan and ensuring that all people are directed out of the building safely and swiftly. They can also provide help to people with special needs. The evacuation team members can help in testing the plans and training as well.

It is advisable to assign at least one evacuation team member per floor. If floors are wide, assigning more than one member is suggested, depending on the staff count and floor layout. It is recommended that substitutes are assigned who are ready to take over from unavailable, primary members.

Assignment of exit points

Once assembly points are selected and evacuation team members are assigned, the next step is to check and select the right exit points from the buildings. Exit points are emergency doors and exits as well as the existing and usable normal doors. The exit points should be clear of obstacles along the paths to the assembly points. Emergency doors should be equipped with emergency door handles that open in one direction and alarms that get triggered automatically when the doors are opened. It is preferable that doors, whether emergency or normal, are fire resistant. If doors are equipped with magnetic or electrical locks, these locks should be programmed to be fail-safe. Fail-safe means that if there are electrical outages, the locks are released automatically, allowing people inside to leave the building.

Exit points should be provided with emergency lights and exit signs clearly marking their location in the case of an emergency.

Assignment of exit points should also consider the floor layouts and people counts on the floors. A heavily occupied floor may need more exit points than ones with fewer people.

Documentation of evacuation plans

Now we have assembly points selected, the evacuation team assigned, and exit points marked. The next step is to document the evacuation plan and instructions. The instructions need to be clear, simple, and detailed enough for the average reader, including:

• how to recognize alarms and notifications to exit the building;
• how to recognize an exit point;
• what belongings to take if evacuation is ordered;
• what steps to take when instructed to evacuate;
• the names of the evacuation team members, primary and secondary, as well as their contact information;
• contact information for civil agencies, fire-fighting agencies, local hospitals, and other emergency services;
• instructions to move away from the building towards the assembly points, safely and calmly;
• information about basic first-aid and fire-fighting skills;
• instructions to follow if exiting from building is not possible;
• roles and tasks of evacuation team members;
• roles and tasks for managers and supervisors of work groups and teams;
• roles and tasks of staff and employees;
• when and how to go back to the building safely;
• maps and aerial/satellite images of the buildings, assembly points, and local emergency facilities, if possible.

It is always possible to get the local authorities and emergency services to review the documented plans. It is also possible to get professional experts and consultants on board to produce quality and effective plans.

Communicating the plans

Evacuation plans are devised to protect people. Therefore, it is essential to communicate the plans to them. Communicating the developed evacuation plans can take several forms. Using a mixture of tools and methodologies is recommended for people to reach the desired levels of knowledge.

Awareness sessions

Awareness sessions are very common and widely used tools for delivering knowledge and information regarding evacuation plans. These sessions allow for group thinking and comprehensive understanding of the plans. Interaction and involvement from the participants can enrich the understanding and buy-in of the plan for the participants.

Distribution of printed plans

Printed plans provide a helpful and comprehensive resource and reference for evacuation plans. The amount of information and level of detail should be sufficient. However, there are two things to be considered for printed copies of the plans. The first is to ensure that people have the latest copies of the plans. The second is to ensure that the right level of understanding exists for the distributed plans.

Distribution of pocket guides/emergency cards

Pocket guides or emergency cards are compact versions of the plan that contain essential information. They can provide a quick, easy, and accessible reference in case of emergency. Usually, they contain contact information and quick tasks to do in the case of evacuation. Nevertheless, they should not be relied upon as the single source of information for evacuation plans.

Intranets and portals

Intranets and portals provide good information dissemination tools as they are widely accessed by employees because of the services offered on them. They can host good amounts of detailed information but they have to be up to date. The main drawback is that they not easily accessible outside the office area or the premises.

Signs and boards

Brief and critical information can be displayed on signs and boards that are placed next to exit points and common areas like showrooms, toilets, and meeting rooms. Upon entrance and exit, employees can see these instructions. In times of emergency, these signs and boards provide a quick and easy reference about what to do and whom to contact in that situation.

Training and testing

As with other plans, evacuation plans need to be tested and exercised in order to ensure their applicability and integrity. One method of testing is a drill, which serve two purposes: testing and training on the execution of the plans. Drills can be conducted in either an announced or unannounced fashion. For the initial stages, drills should be announced and details communicated prior to their execution. When announcing the drills, it is recommended that the latest versions of the plans are communicated, with sufficient time before the drill, through the different tools mentioned earlier.

Unannounced drills can take place as knowledge levels of evacuation plans increase. Unannounced drills are the closest to real-life situations and need to be executed sometimes because they measure the plans’ components and the performance of all relevant stakeholders against the goals and objectives of the plans.