Are Your Staff Up to Date with Your Workplace’s Emergency Procedures?

When you hire a new staff member, inductions are a crucial part of the onboarding process.

However, many inductions do not go into depth about WHS, leaving employees ill-equipped to deal with workplace emergencies.

New team members need to be taught the emergency procedures in your workplace, and all staff should be reviewing them regularly as well.

These two steps are crucial because otherwise, you’re risking their health, safety, and even their lives.

Any staff in your facility need to know what to do and where to go in an emergency, whether they’ve been there 2 weeks or 2 years.

Read on to see just how this will reduce the risk in an emergency situation.

What is your role in an emergency?

You should be able to ask any employee this question and have them answer correctly and confidently.

People sometimes think that because they aren’t the Chief Warden or any other designated role, that they don’t have a responsibility to do anything other than getting themselves to safety in an emergency situation.

This is simply not the case; each employee should know what procedures are required in their workspace, and in the facility as a whole, to reduce the risk of harm.

Other employees may think they need to ‘save’ their coworkers, or do things with good intentions that only end up risking lives.

People can panic in an emergency, so it’s crucial to have them be confident in what to do.

Situational awareness in emergencies

All team members must know how to safely exit the building in an emergency, and there is so much more to evacuation than just looking for the emergency exit door.

Staff new and old should be able to determine their proximity to the nearest exit, no matter where they are in the building.

They should also be able to identify alternate routes if the first one is comprised.

As mentioned above, some people tend to panic in emergencies.

They don’t think straight, and may not make the best decisions.

If new staff have been inducted correctly, and all staff have regularly reviewed the emergency procedures, finding the nearest and safest exit will become like an instinct.

This saves time in an evacuation – and saves lives too.

What is an effective way to induct staff and have them review emergency procedures?

Everyone learns differently, and when it comes to dealing with emergencies, many people find drills and exercises the best way to gain and retain knowledge of workplace emergency procedures.

Workplace Emergency Management offers a range of emergency response training, and we can present your staff with different scenarios and run drills to ensure their understanding is always clear.

One idea is to have all staff join in on this training when new team members are hired.

That way, new staff are learning how to keep safe and longer-term staff are getting the important refresh they need.

Keep every employee in your workplace safe with WHS-focused inductions, and regular reviews of emergency procedures.

Equipping your staff with the knowledge to handle emergencies, no matter their role or location in the facility, saves lives.