Emergency Response Planning
What you need to know to be prepared
Historically,
Emergency Response Planning has been focused on major events such as
fires, floods, explosions, power outages, and chemical spills. Although
they can certainly be significant, they are not the most significant
with regards to the impact on occupant safety and health. In recent
years, facilities managers of offices, retail establishments,
schools/universities, healthcare and other non-manufacturing facilities
have become aware of additional unwanted or unplanned events.
Unfortunately, specific plans to respond to these events often are
never developed, and as a result, facilities managers find themselves
unprepared to respond to the needs of management.
Emergency
Response Plans (ERPs) should be very concise and address varied
conditions. The first step in the development of your ERP is to conduct
a standard GAP analysis that identifies predictable risks and events.
Each predictable risk or event will have consequences that can be used
to establish a response plan. The other very important part of
understanding predictable risks and events is that doing so will permit
the development and implementation of controls that will minimize or
eliminate their occurrence. A side benefit of understanding and
eliminating predictable risks is a reduction in insurance costs
associated with workers’ compensation and property loss.
Examples of predictable risk or events to evaluate in the GAP analysis include:
- Asbestos and lead release incident
- Blood, vomit, and other body fluids incident
- Chemical spill incident
- Construction activity incident
- Domestic water release incident
- Domestic water contamination incident
- Fuel oil/gasoline spill
- Indoor air quality incident
- Legionellosis or other environmental disease incident
- Odor incident
- Outdoor air incident
- Pesticide and herbicide application incident
- PCB release incident
- Post-fire response
- Skin/rash/dermatitis incident
- Sewage spill release incident
- Storm and flood water incident
- Visible mold growth response
The
second step is to develop the various scenarios and conditions that can
lead to predicable risk events based on the GAP analysis. This
information will assist planners and responders in better understanding
conditions during an event, ensuring a more effective response.
The
third step is to develop a list of site- and incident-specific
responses for each predictable risk event. At a minimum, this list
should include:
- Contact names and numbers, in order of importance
- Specific, immediate action steps to limit loss and business interruption
- Specific response steps to begin remediation and restoration efforts
- Development of communication to inform building occupants
- Plan to document effectiveness of response
- Sampling assessment to document levels of contaminants or microbiological organisms
The
final step is training personnel in each of the ERPs to ensure that the
plans are effective in responding to an incident. Training must be
documented and conducted on an annual basis.
Please contact Chris Schneider, CIH, at 610.524.5525 extension 14 or email to discuss emergency response plans for your facility.
Accident and Illness Prevention Programs – A Formula for Success
The
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires insurers, individuals who are
self-insured, and group self-insurance funds to develop and maintain
accident and illness prevention programs (AIPP) in order to provide
workers’ compensation coverage. Failure to do so may mean the removal
of the right to provide such coverage.
Why are these programs required?
Prior
to implementing this requirement and other workers’ compensation
reforms in the mid-1990s, Pennsylvania employers were experiencing very
high injury and illness rates, losses, and increased premiums. They
were losing money and jobs to other states! Something had to be done,
and AIPP was part of the solution.
What is required, and how can you make AIPP compliance a formula for success?
There
are two sets of requirements: those for required accident and illness
program elements (A-O elements) and those for work environment
procedures (P elements).
The A-O elements must be
present within the AIPP that was developed, implemented, and monitored
by the self-insured employer. These elements are required by the
Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Each element has
descriptive language stating the requirements. For example, the
following is the description for the Safety Program Policy Statement:
“A
written statement regarding the Accident and Illness Prevention Program
that contains the employer’s philosophy regarding accident and illness
prevention. The Safety Program Policy Statement is the foundation for
all program activities. The statement is signed by a Chief Executive
Officer and is communicated to all employees in the organization.”
The
P elements are written work environment procedures that must be
developed, implemented, and maintained if you have those exposures.
Each of those elements also has descriptive language stating the
requirements.
Implementing an effective
AIPP-compliant program can have significant positive impacts. Examples
of the success achieved by some winners of the 2003/2004 Governor’s
Award for Safety Excellence are:
- Centocor:
A biopharmaceutical company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, their
OSHA recordable rate dropped from 1.65 in 1996 to 0.59 in 2001.
- Grove
Worldwide: A manufacturer of mobile hydraulic cranes and aerial
platforms located in Shady Grove, Pennsylvania, their OSHA lost workday
incident rate dropped from 3.7 in 1998 to 1.0 in 2002, a 72.9 percent
reduction.
- EME Homer
City Generation L.P.: One of the largest coal-fired power plants in the
mid-Atlantic region, it is located in Homer City, Pennsylvania. They
exceeded over 2 million hours without a lost-time injury.
On
a final note, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation conducts
random and planned audits of ALL businesses, schools, hospitals, etc.,
that are required to have an AIPP program. Depending on the outcome of
the audit, they have the authority to suspend the self-insured status
of an organization.
To learn more about AIPP
compliance, how to achieve it, the benefits it provides, and auditing
procedures, please contact Colin J. Brigham, CIH, CSP, CPE at
610.524.5525 ext 24 or email.
GRAPHIC CONTENT
A-O Elements
a. Safety Program Policy Statement
b. Safety Coordinator Designation
c. Safety Program Responsibility Assignment
d. Hazard Identification Methods
e. Industrial/Occupational Health Services
f. Industrial Hygiene Services
g. AIPP Training
h. Emergency Action Plan
i. Employee Safety Suggestion Program
j. Employee Involvement Methods
k. Safety Rule Enforcement Procedure
l. Accident Reporting and Investigation
m. Availability of First Aid and CPR
n. Program Evaluation Methods
o. Program Goals and Objectives
Workplace
Accident
Reduction
&
Performance
Enhancement
Achieving
Compliant
Environments
p. Elements
1. Electrical and Machine Guarding
2. Personal Protective Equipment
3. Hearing Conservation Program
4. Vision Conservation Program
5. Lockout/Tag Out Program
6. Hazardous Materials and Waste Program
7. Confined Space Entry Program
8. Fire Prevention & Protection Program
9. Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control
10. Pre-Operational Process Review
11. Substance Abuse Awareness & Prevention