OSHA does not publish a fill-in-the-blank PDF for an emergency action plan. The closest official resource is the Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool, an interactive web guide that walks employers through each required element with checklists and examples, aimed at small, low-hazard service and retail businesses.1Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool Any OSHA emergency action plan template, whether pulled from the eTool or from a third-party source, has to be rewritten to fit your building, your hazards, and your staff, and it has to cover the six mandatory elements set out in 29 CFR 1910.38.
Where To Get an OSHA-Aligned Template
The eTool is the official starting point. It is designed to be worked through page by page rather than downloaded as a single form, so employers looking for a printable PDF will usually need to build their own document based on its structure, or take a third-party template and check it against the six required elements below.
Whatever template you start with, treat it as a skeleton. A warehouse running propane forklifts, a 50-person office in a high-rise, and a machine shop with hydraulic presses face different hazards and need different evacuation strategies. The useful plans are short, specific, and written by someone who has actually walked the floor to see where people could get trapped, what could ignite, and how long it takes to reach the nearest exit from the farthest workstation.
Construction employers work from a parallel standard, 29 CFR 1926.35, which has similar content and communication requirements.2Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1926.35 – Employee Emergency Action Plans A general industry template will get you close but should be cross-checked against the construction standard before use on a jobsite.
The Six Elements Every Plan Must Contain
Every emergency action plan must include at least these six elements, regardless of the employer’s size or industry.3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.38 – Emergency Action Plans If a template you find online is missing any of them, it is not compliant.
- Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency, including how and when to contact 911 or other outside responders.
- Procedures for emergency evacuation, including the type of evacuation used (full building, floor-by-floor, shelter-in-place) and the specific exit route assignments for each work area.
- Procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate. These workers face extra risk, so the plan should spell out exactly what they do and how long it should take.
- Procedures to account for all employees after evacuation, typically at a designated assembly point. This is how you find out whether someone is still inside.
- Procedures to be followed by employees performing rescue or medical duties. If no employees are assigned to those roles, the plan should say so and default to waiting for professional responders.
- The name or job title of every person employees can contact for more information about the plan or clarification of their duties.
OSHA’s eTool recommends additional content that isn’t strictly required but rounds out a plan: a description of the alarm system, procedures for employees with disabilities, and how visitors and contractors will be notified and evacuated.4Occupational Safety and Health Administration. eTool – Evacuation Plans and Procedures – Minimum Requirements The disability piece often catches employers off guard during inspections even though 1910.38 does not formally mandate it.
Do You Need a Written Plan at All
The EAP standard only applies when another OSHA standard in Part 1910 requires one.3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.38 – Emergency Action Plans In practice a wide range of standards trigger it, including process safety management for highly hazardous chemicals, hazardous waste operations, and fixed extinguishing systems, so most workplaces with meaningful hazard exposure end up needing a plan. Employers who adopt a total-evacuation policy and maintain both an EAP and a fire prevention plan can also exempt themselves from the extinguisher distribution and training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.157, which is why many small retail and service businesses maintain an EAP even when nothing else forces them to.5eCFR. 29 CFR 1910.157 – Portable Fire Extinguishers
When an EAP is required, it must be in writing, kept at the workplace, and available for employees to review. The one exception: employers with 10 or fewer workers may communicate the plan orally.3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.38 – Emergency Action Plans The oral option does not shrink the content requirements; all six elements still apply. Even small employers who qualify are usually better off writing something down. Turnover, irregular schedules, and the stress of a real emergency all make a written reference more reliable than memory, and posting a one-page document in a break room takes little effort.
Training and Review the Template Won’t Do for You
A completed template is a document, not a program. OSHA requires employers to designate and train enough employees to assist with an orderly evacuation, and to review the plan with each covered employee at three specific points:3Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.38 – Emergency Action Plans
- When the plan is first developed or when a new employee is hired.
- When an employee’s responsibilities under the plan change, such as being newly designated a floor warden or rescue team member.
- Whenever the plan itself is revised.
One point that surprises many employers: 29 CFR 1910.38 does not explicitly require evacuation drills. The training and review obligations above are mandatory, but the standard sets no schedule for practice evacuations. Drills remain one of the most effective ways to expose flaws that a paper review misses. Assembly points that are too far away, exit routes blocked by stored inventory, employees who don’t recognize the alarm. Local fire codes in many jurisdictions independently require periodic drills, so check those separately.
If your workforce includes employees who are not fluent in English, training must be delivered in a language they understand. OSHA has taken that position in formal interpretation letters on hazard communication training, and the same principle applies to EAP instruction.
The Alarm System That Triggers the Plan
A plan only works if people know an emergency is happening. 29 CFR 1910.165 requires employers to establish and maintain an alarm system that gives workers enough warning to evacuate or take whatever action the EAP calls for.6Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.165 – Employee Alarm Systems The alarm must be distinctive enough that employees immediately recognize it as a signal to act, and loud or bright enough to cut through ambient conditions in every affected area. For employees who cannot hear an audible alarm or see a visual one, OSHA explicitly allows tactile devices such as vibrating pagers. Strobe lights, air horns, and public address systems are all acceptable.
Employers with 10 or fewer workers in a given workplace may use direct voice communication as the alarm if every employee can hear it, and those small workplaces are exempt from having a backup alarm. Larger facilities have to keep alarm equipment maintained and working at all times except during scheduled repairs.
Free On-Site Help Instead of a Template
Employers who would rather not build a plan from a blank document can request a free visit from OSHA’s On-Site Consultation Program. A consultant will come to the worksite, identify hazards, and help develop compliant safety documents including an EAP. The program is separate from OSHA enforcement, and a consultation visit cannot result in citations or penalties. The condition is that you agree to correct any serious hazards the consultant identifies within a reasonable timeframe.7Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The OSHA On-Site Consultation Program The service is targeted at small and medium-sized businesses. Requests go through your state’s consultation program, which you can find via the OSHA website.
State Plans May Require More
Not every state operates under federal OSHA. Twenty-two states run their own OSHA-approved programs covering both private-sector and government workers, and seven more have plans covering only state and local government employees.8Occupational Safety and Health Administration. State Plans State plans must be at least as protective as the federal standard, and some go further with stricter deadlines, expanded plan content, or mandatory drill schedules that federal OSHA does not require. California’s Cal/OSHA, for example, has its own Injury and Illness Prevention Program standard that interacts with emergency planning in ways the federal rule does not address. If your workplace is in a state-plan state, start with 1910.38 as your baseline and then check your state OSHA agency before you consider a template finished.