This paper examines how a university's core value of Community can be applied to the establishment, improvement, and adherence to an Emergency Action Plan (EAP). The paper aligns the four community practices — listening, learning, changing, and serving — with each of the six required elements of an EAP under OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.38(c), as well as three additional recommended elements. For each component, the paper demonstrates how community members can contribute expertise, consider others' input, learn established procedures, and assist colleagues in compliance. The analysis concludes that a collaborative, community-driven approach rooted in trust and respect produces the most effective and continuously improving Emergency Action Plan.
A university community fosters several core values for the benefit of its members and the wider communities they serve. The core value of "Community" encourages members to "listen, learn, change and serve" in order to create a socially accountable, accepting, unified, and interconnected university community. This socially accountable environment, built on trust and respect, assists members of the university community and ultimately the broader communities that are and will be served by those members. The practices of listening, learning, changing, and serving are readily applicable to the establishment, improvement, and adherence to an Emergency Action Plan.
The core value of Community is focused on establishing environments that are socially accountable, encouraging all members to "listen, learn, change and serve." In order to achieve these goals, the university promotes an essence of acceptance, solidarity, and interconnectedness through shared trust and respect.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established minimum required elements of an Emergency Action Plan under 29 CFR 1910.38(c) (OSHA – U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.). Each of these elements connects directly to the community values of listening, learning, changing, and serving.
First, there must be established ways of reporting emergencies, such as using an internal emergency number or pulling a fire alarm. Community members can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing their expertise to establish and/or continually improve the optimal reporting methods, entertaining and discussing the ideas of others, learning the approved methods of emergency reporting, developing a heightened awareness that will help notice an emergency situation, and properly employing the established methods of reporting emergencies.
Second, OSHA requires procedures for evacuation and assignments of emergency escape routes. Community members can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing input to establish and/or continually improve the best evacuation procedures and route assignments, entertaining and discussing the contributed ideas of others, learning the evacuation procedures and assigned routes for themselves and others, complying with those procedures, and assisting other members in using their properly assigned escape routes.
Third, there must be established procedures for employees who remain during an emergency to maintain vital plant operations before evacuating. Community members can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing input to establish and/or continually improve the best procedures and personnel assignments for carrying out vital operations, entertaining and discussing the contributed ideas of others, learning these procedures, staying behind to operate critical functions if so assigned, and then evacuating when and how the procedures direct.
Fourth, there must be procedures to account for all individuals after an evacuation. Community members can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing input to establish and/or continually improve these accounting procedures, entertaining and discussing the ideas of others, learning the procedures and assisting others in learning them, and complying with — and helping others comply with — these accounting procedures.
Fifth, there must be assigned rescue and medical duties for members who are required to perform them. Community members can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing input in establishing and/or constantly improving those duties, entertaining and discussing the contributed ideas of others, learning and assisting other members in learning those duties, and complying with and helping other members comply with those duties.
Sixth, there must be established names or job titles of contacts who can provide additional information about and/or explanation of the Emergency Action Plan procedures. A community member can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing expertise in establishing and/or constantly refining the list of resource persons, entertaining and discussing the contributed ideas of others, learning and assisting others in learning these contacts, and using — and helping others use — these contacts for additional information or explanation of Emergency Action Plan procedures.
"Three OSHA-recommended EAP additions and community application"
Second, OSHA recommends an alternate communications center in case a fire or explosion impairs or destroys the main communications center. A community member can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing expertise in establishing and/or constantly improving the alternate communications site, entertaining and discussing the contributed ideas of others, learning about the alternate communications center and assisting others in learning about it, and using — and helping others use — the alternate center when the main communications center is impaired or destroyed.
Finally, OSHA suggests a secure location for originals or duplicates of vital records, including but not limited to accounting records, legal documents, and emergency contact lists. A community member can "listen, learn, change and serve" by contributing expertise in establishing and/or continually improving the secure records location, entertaining and discussing the contributed ideas of others, learning and assisting others in learning this location, and using and helping others use this secure location.
Applying the community core value of listening, learning, changing, and serving to each element of an Emergency Action Plan creates a collaborative effort built on communal trust and respect. Given the diverse expertise within any university community, this cooperative effort ideally produces the best possible — and continuously improving — Emergency Action Plan for all community members and the wider communities they serve.
The core value of Community encourages members to "listen, learn, change and serve" in order to establish environments that are socially accountable and built on trust and respect. The essence of this Community consists of acceptance, solidarity, and interconnectedness. A community member's thoughtful application of listening, learning, changing, and serving is directly applicable to an Emergency Action Plan.
When adhering to each of OSHA's six required elements and three recommended elements of an Emergency Action Plan, a community member contributes his or her own input to establish or improve that element, thoughtfully considers the input of others, learns and helps others learn the established procedures, and carries out — and assists others in carrying out — those procedures. In this way, the community member both benefits from and strengthens the Emergency Action Plan for themselves, other community members, and the wider communities served by the organization.
OSHA – U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Evacuation plans and procedures. Retrieved April 18, 2013, from http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/eap.html
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