When fire prevention alone may not be sufficient to keep workers safe, OSHA requires employers to have a written Emergency Action Plan (EAP). This plan, outlined in 29 CFR 1910.38, covers how employees will be notified, how they’ll evacuate, and who is responsible for what during a fire or other workplace emergency. A fire prevention plan focuses on stopping fires before they start; an emergency action plan picks up where prevention leaves off, detailing exactly what happens when something goes wrong anyway.
What Triggers the Requirement
An employer must have an emergency action plan whenever any OSHA standard in Part 1910 requires one. This isn’t optional or based on a general risk assessment. Specific standards tied to hazardous materials, certain equipment, and particular work environments each contain their own cross-references back to 1910.38, making the EAP mandatory for those operations. If your workplace handles flammable or combustible materials, uses processes with ignition risks, or falls under any standard that references emergency planning, you need this plan in place.
The fire prevention plan and the emergency action plan serve different purposes but often work together. OSHA’s portable fire extinguisher standard illustrates this clearly: if an employer removes all extinguishers from the workplace and instead adopts a total evacuation policy (everyone leaves immediately when the alarm sounds), that employer must have both a written EAP and a written fire prevention plan to qualify for that exemption. Prevention and response aren’t alternatives. They’re layers.
What an Emergency Action Plan Must Include
OSHA sets six minimum elements that every emergency action plan must cover:
- Reporting procedures: How employees report a fire or other emergency, whether that’s pulling an alarm, calling a designated number, or notifying a specific person.
- Evacuation procedures and escape routes: The type of evacuation expected and specific exit route assignments so workers know exactly where to go.
- Critical operations shutdown: Procedures for employees who need to stay behind briefly to shut down equipment or processes that could become dangerous if abandoned mid-cycle.
- Employee accounting: A method for confirming that every employee has made it out after an evacuation is complete.
- Rescue and medical duties: Clear procedures for any employees assigned to perform rescue or provide first aid during an emergency.
- Contact information: Names or job titles of people employees can reach for more information about the plan or their specific duties under it.
The plan must be written, kept on-site, and available for any employee to review. Employers with 10 or fewer employees get one exception: they can communicate the plan orally rather than maintaining a written document.
What a Fire Prevention Plan Covers
The fire prevention plan, governed by 1910.39, is the preventive counterpart. It must list all major fire hazards in the workplace, along with proper handling and storage procedures for hazardous materials, potential ignition sources and how they’re controlled, and the type of fire protection equipment needed for each major hazard. It also requires procedures for controlling buildup of flammable and combustible waste, and for maintaining safeguards on heat-producing equipment so they don’t accidentally ignite nearby materials.
The plan must name (by name or job title) the employees responsible for maintaining ignition-control equipment and those responsible for controlling fuel source hazards. Like the EAP, it must be written and accessible to employees, with the same 10-employee threshold for oral communication.
Exit Routes and Alarm Systems
An emergency action plan only works if people can actually get out and know when to start moving. OSHA’s exit route standards require that all exit paths remain free and unobstructed at all times. No equipment or materials can be placed in an exit route, even temporarily. Exit routes cannot pass through rooms that can be locked, and they cannot lead into dead-end corridors.
Every exit must be clearly marked with a sign reading “Exit” in letters at least six inches high, illuminated to at least five foot-candles by a reliable light source. Where the direction to the nearest exit isn’t immediately obvious, additional signs must be posted along the path. Self-luminous or electroluminescent signs are permitted as long as they meet minimum brightness standards.
The employee alarm system must produce a signal that is distinctive and immediately recognizable as a cue to evacuate or carry out assigned emergency duties. It cannot sound like anything else in the workplace. For employers with 10 or fewer workers at a given site, direct voice communication counts as an acceptable alarm, provided everyone can hear it, and no backup system is required. Larger workplaces must have a backup notification method (such as designated runners or a phone tree) available whenever the primary alarm system is out of service.
Training and Review Requirements
Having the plan on paper isn’t enough. OSHA requires employers to review the emergency action plan with each covered employee at three specific points: when the plan is first developed or the employee is initially assigned to a job, when that employee’s responsibilities under the plan change, and whenever the plan itself is updated. Employers must also designate and train specific employees to help guide a safe, orderly evacuation.
For the fire prevention plan, employers must inform workers about the fire hazards they’re exposed to upon initial job assignment and review the parts of the plan relevant to their self-protection. This means a warehouse worker handling flammable solvents and an office employee in the same building may receive different levels of detail, but both must understand the hazards relevant to their role.
Fire Extinguisher Policies and How They Connect
OSHA gives employers three options when it comes to portable fire extinguishers, and each one ties directly back to the EAP and fire prevention plan.
The first option is total evacuation: remove all extinguishers, require every employee to leave immediately when the alarm sounds, and maintain both a written EAP and fire prevention plan. Under this approach, no one fights the fire. Everyone exits.
The second option keeps extinguishers in the workplace but limits their use to specifically designated, trained employees. Everyone else evacuates immediately. This still requires a compliant EAP and exempts the employer from some of the extinguisher distribution rules.
The third option is the general approach: extinguishers are provided and available for employee use, which triggers full compliance with OSHA’s extinguisher standards, including placement, maintenance, inspection, and training requirements.
In all three scenarios, the emergency action plan is the foundation. Without it, none of the extinguisher exemptions apply, and the employer faces both the full weight of the extinguisher standard and a citation for lacking an EAP.