Emergency Business Plan Tips for Employee Handbooks

While employee handbooks can include basic things such as employee dress codes, consider including a business emergency plan in your employee handbook is a great way to assist in the overall safety of your employees. In the case of an unfortunate event, you’ll want to make sure your employees are aware of the right actions to take. 

Here are some tips for putting together a business emergency plan for your employee handbook:

When your staff isn’t prepared or know what they should do in the event of an emergency, it can lead to your staff, clients, or customers getting harmed.

Injuries and casualties lead to a large loss of finances leading to the failure of your company, so it is important to have a good plan in place in case of a business emergency in addition to general questions every employee handbook should answer.

Emergency Business Plan Tips for Workplace Safety

Emergencies can happen in an instant and sometimes you only have seconds to make a decision that could save employees or customers from harm.

With your staff informed on policies and protocol, it helps to ensure everyone remains safe. Your employees are valuable, if not the most valuable asset your business has.

Here are a few key points to include in your handbook regarding business emergencies:

Inform Employees

Including an in-depth emergency plan that includes all possible scenarios could be difficult to tackle. Depending on your business and industry, you may also need more than just one plan depending on the emergency scenario. 

Make sure your employees know where to find all emergency plans and the related information in your handbook, and are briefed on the process.

Include a Map of the Workplace

Employers should also include a map or indicate where a map can be found on the premises. 

The map should be detailed and include the entire workplace, indicating emergency exits as well as emergency routes and meeting spots.

Provide Contact Information

It is also helpful to provide your employees with phone numbers of individuals to contact in the case of an emergency. Having a complete list or a tree of contacts is a great way for everyone to stay informed.

It is important to consider all aspects of your business when deciding what contacts are needed, as different businesses and industries may have unique needs. 

Ensure Employees Know Where Medical Supplies and Stations Are

Medical emergencies may not impact everyone on your team, but knowing how to deal with one is vital. Understanding who to contact and where eye wash stations, medical supplies, defibrillators, etc… could save a life.

Include Expectations

Include the expectations of your employees and how they should conduct themselves in the case of a business emergency.

Workplace violence unfortunately occurs on a regular basis and should be considered an emergency when it happens. Policies in place to combat workplace violence can help to eliminate it from happening.

In the event workplace violence happens, setting the expectation of how it will be addressed should also be included in your emergency plan.

Get Help with Your Employee Handbook

If you are struggling with a business emergency plan, or other important areas of your employee handbook, an HR Service Company may be able to help. 

To see how we are helping countless businesses with their employee handbooks and HR processes, contact us today.