The primary goal of safety coordinators is to prevent emergencies, such as fires, floods, chemical spills, explosions and terrorist attacks from happening to their company. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, many companies will eventually experience some sort of emergency. How the company responds may well determine how catastrophic the emergency is. That’s why emergency preparedness is just as important as emergency prevention. Effective emergency response saves lives, prevents injury and minimizes damage. Conversely, panic in the face of a crisis often results in greater loss of life, injury and property damage.

There’s one more good reason for employers to have an emergency response plan: The law requires them to. Most OHS laws specifically require employers to have plans or procedures to protect workers in the event of an emergency, particularly one that may require workers to be rescued or evacuated.

We’ll tell you what the OHS laws require employers to do in terms of preparing for emergencies in the workplace. We’ll also tell you how to comply with these requirements by conducting an assessment of the emergencies your workplace is likely to face and how well it’s prepared to handle these emergencies. And there’s a chart on page 4 spelling out the emergency response plan requirements for each province and territory.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS
Every province’s and territory’s OHS law addresses workplace emergencies to some extent. In general, the jurisdictions take two approaches:

10 General Emergency Jurisdictions
Ten jurisdictions—Fed, AB, BC, MB, NL, NT, NU, QC, SK and YT—require employers to have plans for handling general emergencies in the workplace. These jurisdictions can be further broken down into two subgroups:

Evacuation and/or rescue. Six jurisdictions emphasize the evacuation and/or rescue of workers. AB, BC and QC require employers to have plans to deal with emergencies that may involve the rescue and/or evacuation of workers. Federal OHS law requires employers to have general emergency procedures that include an emergency evacuation plan. NT and NU require both evacuation and fire prevention procedures.

General emergency response. Four jurisdictions focus on emergencies in general. MB, NL and SK require workplace OHS programs to include general emergency response plans or procedures. YT requires employers to develop and implement emergency plans appropriate to the workplace’s needs and conditions.

4 Industry- or Hazard-Specific Emergency Jurisdictions
The four remaining jurisdictions—NB, NS, ON and PEI—don’t require employers to have general emergency response plans. But they do require employers to have plans or procedures for dealing with specific types of emergencies related to a particular industry, activity or hazard. For example, Ontario’s Construction Project Regs. require constructors to have written procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency [Sec. 17]. New Brunswick’s OHS Regulations require employers to have emergency procedures for diving operations [Sec. 329] and logging [Sec. 344]. And NS and PEI require employers to have confined space emergency procedures.

Does that mean that employers in these four jurisdictions don’t need general emergency plans and procedures? No. The duty to protect workers from emergencies in general is implied by what’s known in the safety world as the “general duty” clause—that is, the part of every provincial, territorial and federal OHS statute that requires employers to take every reasonable precaution to provide a safe and healthy workplace and protect workers from foreseeable hazards. And the hazards posed by fires, explosions, natural disasters and other emergencies are certainly foreseeable for nearly every workplace.

How do we know that this general duty includes a duty to have emergency procedures? Some provinces have suggested as much. For example, Ontario’s Guide to the OHS Act says that an OHS program may include emergency, first aid and rescue procedures. It’s unlikely that the Guide would suggest that such procedures be included in an OHS program if employers didn’t have a duty to protect workers in emergencies.

Insider Says: Environmental protection laws may impose another set of emergency response requirements on companies that use or store hazardous substances.

HOW TO COMPLY
So we’ve established that every province and territory requires employers to have emergency response plans or procedures. But few jurisdictions explain exactly what such plans must cover and how employers should go about creating them. For example, the OHS laws in MB, NL, SK and YT simply require emergency response plans or procedures but don’t say anything else on the topic. So how do you know what you have to do to comply with this requirement?

One way to approach this question is to look at how other jurisdictions have addressed the issue. Although not technically binding outside those provinces, the regulations in provinces such as AB and BC may represent a kind of de facto standard of the measures governments consider appropriate for preparing workplaces for emergencies. Consequently, these regulations may carry weight in other parts of Canada and influence courts in other jurisdictions when they determine whether an employer took reasonable steps to safeguard workers in an emergency as required to establish due diligence.

Although the specific requirements may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, in general, you should take the following three steps:

Step #1: Conduct a Risk Assessment
As with other workplace hazards, the first step is to assess the risk of the hazard within the workplace. You want to not only identify the possible emergencies that could occur in the workplace but also rank those emergencies by likelihood of occurrence. Some jurisdictions (Fed, AB) spell out who must be consulted during this risk assessment. In general, it’s a good idea to seek input from workers, supervisors, management and members of your company’s JHSC. The risk assessment should focus on identifying two things:

Probable emergencies. Make a list of probable emergencies that could occur in your workplace. When making this list, consider:

• Your company’s location, including its geographic location and proximity to other workplaces or sites that could pose a hazard. For example, a graphic design firm will generally face only typical emergencies, such as fires and power outages. But if the firm is located next door to a munitions factory, it’s at risk of additional types of emergencies, such as explosions. Plus, its likelihood of facing even typical emergencies will be higher because of the nature of its neighbour’s business;
• The nature of the company’s work. Obviously, a manufacturer will probably face different or additional emergencies than a flower shop; and
• The machinery, chemicals and other potentially dangerous substances that are manufactured, used or stored in the workplace.

To get you started, here is a sample list of possible emergencies that we adapted from one provided by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).

What’s needed to respond to emergencies. You also need to determine your workplace’s current ability to respond to the emergencies you’ve identified as being the most likely to occur. For example, MB and SK require employers to identify the internal and external resources, including personnel and supplies, needed to respond to an emergency. Supplies you may need in the event any of the identified emergencies occurs include:

• First aid and other medical supplies;
• Backup communications equipment;
• Emergency generators;
• Spill cleanup kits;
• Radiation detection equipment;
• Leak repair kits;
• Rescue equipment;
• Emergency protective clothing; and
• Firefighting equipment, including fire extinguishers and respirators.

So make sure your workplace has the right equipment and that such equipment is functioning properly. For example, verify that you have sufficient fire extinguishers and that the alarms work. Also, make sure that the workplace is in compliance with the OHS law’s first aid requirements. For example, do you have enough trained “first aiders?” If your risk assessment has identified any weaknesses in your company’s emergency preparedness, make sure to address those weaknesses by, say, buying additional fire extinguishers or repairing the alarms.

Step #2: Develop an Emergency Response Plan
Once you’ve identified the kinds of emergencies your workplace is likely to face and determined its ability to respond to those emergencies, you need to develop an appropriate emergency response plan. What should that plan contain? Alberta’s OHS law provides a good outline for what an emergency response plan should cover:

• Identification of potential emergencies;
• Procedures for dealing with the identified emergencies;
• Identification of, location of and operational procedures for emergency equipment;
• Emergency response training requirements;
• Location and use of emergency facilities;
• Fire protection requirements;
• Alarm and emergency communication requirements;
• First aid services required;
• Rescue and evacuation procedures; and
• Designated rescue and evacuation workers—that is, workers who are trained in emergency response appropriate to the workplace and the identified emergencies.

Step #3: Train Workers on Emergency Procedures
As noted, one of the benefits of having an emergency response plan is to keep workers from panicking during a crisis. And for the plan to accomplish that goal, you must ensure that workers (and supervisors) are familiar with the plan and trained on its procedures. In fact, most jurisdictions require workers to be trained in the workplace’s emergency procedures. It’s also a good idea to hold periodic emergency drills. Some jurisdictions, such as BC, require annual emergency drills to ensure that workers are aware of the procedures and that the procedures are effective.

Conclusion
An emergency response plan is like a life insurance policy: Every company has to have one but no company wants to ever actually use it. Putting in the time and effort now to create an appropriate plan for responding to the emergencies your workplace is likely to face will pay off in the unfortunate event you actually have to face such an emergency. As they say, “Better safe than sorry.” And that saying is certainly true of emergency response plans.