An emergency plan is a written instruction that precisely specifies the steps that must be taken immediately in the event of an emergency or a breakdown.
Alarm plans usually relate to expected hazardous events - such as fires, deflagrations, gas pipes damaged by construction work or similar. Such alarm and emergency plans can be found in public buildings, authorities, clinics or police stations, but are also part of the Event security. They belong to the preventive safety measures.
Alarm plans should also be prominently displayed in every company. Every employee should be familiar with the contents of the company alarm plans. All alarm plans are components of operational or public hazard defence.
Such plans define sensible action sequences that relate to specific hazardous situations. Alarm plans must summarise all relevant information in such a way that it is easy to understand. They should be able to be summarised in just a few minutes. In an international company, alarm plans may need to be available in several national languages. These are then referred to as plant alarm plans. It makes sense to appoint one or more safety officers to ensure that the necessary measures are implemented.
As soon as someone recognises a dangerous situation for the employees or the company, they must raise the alarm. The instructions from the alarm plan notice must then be implemented. The aim is to avoid chaotic behaviour and to trigger an orderly response. Ideally, appropriate drills should be held regularly. A test alarm makes it clear where the draft alarm plan needs to be improved.
It is advisable to regularly review alarm plans. Escape routes may be blocked. Fire doors can no longer be closed or have been illegally blocked. Fire extinguishers have not been refilled. Renovations in the building have made new escape routes necessary, which not all employees are aware of or have been made aware of. Such negligence can cost people their lives.
An important part of alarm plans are the telephone numbers of emergency doctors, rescue services, fire brigades and other emergency response organisations. Rapid notification of emergencies is essential. In addition, plant control centres, the plant's own operations management or the safety officer must be named in the alarm plans. It must be clear to everyone present whether internal rescue and assistance measures are taken or whether the elimination of the hazardous situation is left to external rescuers. The alarm chain should function smoothly.
As soon as an alarm is triggered manually or by a Alarm system the instructions in the alarm plan come into effect. Based on the company's internal risk analysis and safety review, various scenarios were developed as possible emergency situations. Specific instructions are available for these. The plan should cover both minor incidents of local significance and large-scale disasters. Hairline cracks in a valve or tank leaks can develop into disasters through a chain of unfortunate circumstances.
People make mistakes. Materials fatigue. Machines and safety valves can fail. Everyone needs to know what to do if this happens. However, different alarm plans are possible. For example, the risks may be different in different departments. Operational incidents can affect just a few employees or the entire neighbourhood. Prisons require different alarm and safety plans than authorities or ministries. In tornado or earthquake zones, different emergency plans are required than in Germany.
Alerting chains are usually activated in case of major incidents. Here, a preliminary assessment of the alert is usually conducted before the alert plan takes effect. In small and large-scale situations – for example, at the municipal or federal level – specific instructions for action must be included in an alert plan or disaster protection plan. Alert plans are only useful if there is composure in the event of a crisis and no panic ensues. All alert plans require regular review and expansion if anything has changed. Their content should also be regularly communicated to those involved.
Unforeseeable events of the century such as the reactor accidents at Fukujima or Chernobyl, or the floods of the century in 2002, have shown that all existing emergency plans were obsolete. In many other cases, however, the existing emergency plans were implemented. They saved lives and property from total loss.
Sample alarm plans can be found on the Internet. Otherwise our Security service will be happy to help you develop an alarm and emergency plan tailored to your company.
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