Many things can go wrong on a project, including an accident, injury, or property damage. Hazards on the job could result in worker or third-party injuries. Property damage from man-made disasters, such as a fire or explosion, or a natural disaster, such as a flood, hurricane, tornado, wildfire, or earthquake, can destroy a construction site or render it inaccessible.
Planning for the unexpected ahead of time can help prevent and mitigate risks. An emergency plan, while not foolproof, will go a long way to help guide you and your workers through a crisis and minimize the fallout that typically occurs without a plan in place.
Prior to developing a plan, perform a risk assessment to understand and evaluate the risks your company faces, the processes you already have in place, whether they appropriately address these risks, and where gaps in protocols may exist. In identifying the risks, you can develop new policies and update or revise existing practices to better align with changing or evolving situations and emerging trends.
Once you identify your risks, create an emergency plan that includes:
In addition to communicating your emergency plan to all workers, share it with all stakeholders, including subcontractors to ensure their activities and exposures have been contemplated, suppliers to address risk to their materials, and the project owner or client to account for any site-specific hazards. The plan should be reevaluated and updated on a regular basis to ensure that it continues to address your risks.