Mark Hammar Emergency Preparedness is a requirement of the ISO 14001 and calls for your organization to have procedures and plans in place to respond to emergency situations and accidents that can impact the environment. The procedures need to be periodically reviewed and tested where practical. Below are some common emergency response procedures used by organizations and an explanation of what they might contain.
For more information on identifying the procedures you need see ISO 14001: What is emergency preparedness and response?
Emergency Response Procedures
Emergency preparedness and response plan for fire: Along with your evacuation plan to exit the building what safeguards are in place to protect form fire? What is the response plan to have emergency workers notified of the fire? How do you safeguard explosive materials form the event of a fire? How do you initiate corrective action of the cause of a fire?
Emergency preparedness and response plan for leakage: What monitoring do you have in place to detect leakage? Who is responsible for reacting to a detected leak? How do you safeguard the area where chemicals are stored so that a leak does not exit the facility and enter the environment? How do you initiate corrective action of the cause of a leak?
Emergency preparedness and response plan for flooding: How is your facility designed to avoid flooding from the environment entering the building? If flooding does enter the building how is your material stored so that it will not contaminate the flood waters? How do you ensure that contaminated flood waters do not contaminate the environment when the flood waters leave the facility? How do you initiate corrective action of the cause of a flood?
Emergency preparedness and response plan for chemical spills: Who is competent and trained to respond to chemical spills in your facility? What protective equipment do they need, how is it fitted and how is it maintained? How do you dispose of soiled protective equipment and cleaning materials? How do you initiate corrective action of the cause of a spill?
Download this free ISO 14001 waste management checklist to keep track of all steps during the ISO 14001 waste management process.
