Does Your Business Have a Written Emergency Action Plan? OSHA Says It Must

Most small business owners know they need a fire extinguisher. Many have a rough idea of where the exits are. But ask whether they have a written Emergency Action Plan that meets OSHA's requirements under 29 CFR 1910.38, and the answer is usually silence — or a confident "yes" that unravels the moment you ask where the document lives.

Emergency Action Plans are one of those foundational requirements that get treated as background noise until something goes wrong. An EAP is not a suggestion. It is a legal requirement for the overwhelming majority of American employers, and the standard specifies not just that you need one, but exactly what it must contain. Getting this right is less complicated than most owners expect, but it requires actually sitting down and doing it.

Who Has to Comply

The short answer is nearly everyone. OSHA's 1910.38 applies whenever a particular OSHA standard — fire suppression, hazardous materials, process safety, among others — requires you to have an EAP, and it also applies in the general industry context whenever you have more than ten employees. If you have ten or fewer employees, OSHA allows you to communicate your emergency plan orally rather than in writing, though having a written document is still considered a best practice and becomes valuable quickly as your headcount grows.

For businesses that handle flammable liquids, use compressed gas, operate spray booths, or fall under any number of other hazard-specific standards, the EAP requirement is triggered regardless of size. If you are unsure whether your operations bring you under one of these requirements, assume yes and build the plan. The cost of writing a document you technically could have skipped is zero. The cost of not having one when OSHA arrives after an incident is not.

What the Plan Must Include

OSHA's standard is specific about what a compliant EAP needs to cover, and it goes well beyond "go to the parking lot if you hear the fire alarm." The written plan must address procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency, procedures for emergency evacuation including exit route assignments, procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical operations before they evacuate, procedures to account for all employees after evacuation, procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties, and the name or job title of every employee who can be contacted for further information about the plan or their duties under it.

That last item — identifying a specific contact — matters more than it sounds. OSHA wants workers to know who to ask when they're confused during an actual emergency. An anonymous binder in the back office doesn't accomplish that. The person listed should know the plan cold, understand the responsibilities of each role, and be reachable during normal working hours.

Building the Plan Without Overcomplicating It

A common mistake is treating the EAP as a document-for-documents-sake exercise — something to file and forget. A plan that collects dust is not a plan; it's a liability artifact. The goal is a document that would actually guide behavior during a fast-moving, stressful event.

Start by walking your facility and mapping every exit. Not just the front door. Every legally required egress route, including secondary exits and any doors that are sometimes blocked by deliveries or equipment. Identify which employees are responsible for checking bathrooms, break rooms, and storage areas to confirm everyone is out. Designate a headcount location away from the building, specific enough that your team doesn't have to improvise where to gather when smoke is filling a hallway.

Then address the equipment and processes that complicate a simple walk-out. Many small manufacturers, shops, and service businesses have machinery that can't simply be abandoned mid-cycle — presses that need to be cycled to a safe position, gas supplies that need to be shut off at a valve, a kiln or oven that poses a hazard if left unattended. Identify who handles those shutdowns, what the procedure is, and at what point they stop and evacuate regardless of the equipment's state.

Training, Review, and the Clock You're Already Running Against

Writing the plan is step one. OSHA also requires you to review the EAP with each employee covered by it when the plan is first developed, when an employee is assigned to a new position with different responsibilities, and whenever the plan is changed. New hires need to see the plan before they start working in areas covered by it — not at their 90-day review.

Review your plan annually at minimum, and any time you change your facility layout, add a new hazard, or lose the person designated as the emergency contact. A plan that names an employee who left eight months ago isn't just embarrassing — it's a gap that a compliance officer will find and cite.

The businesses that navigate emergencies well are almost never the ones responding for the first time. They are the ones where everyone has heard the plan out loud, knows their role, and has thought through at least once what they would actually do if the alarm went off right now. That kind of preparedness doesn't happen by accident. It starts with a document, a conversation, and a few minutes spent walking the route before you ever need it.