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Office Evacuation Procedures

In the event of an emergency which requires the need to evacuate your office, you need to know how to go about it quickly and safely. Whether your building has caught fire or there is a gas leak, certain steps should be followed to ensure you safely escape the building.

  1. Stop Work and Leave

    • The University of California at Berkeley Office of Disaster Preparedness suggests you drop whatever you are doing; and proceed to the building’s exit with caution, if you hear a fire alarm or are made aware of any other danger requiring that you exit the building. Do not stop to grab personal belongings, as these are replaceable---you---on the other hand, are not.

    Avoid Elevators

    • Elevator functions may fail, causing you to be trapped. According to the Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division, elevator shafts might fill with smoke from a fire or poisonous gas from a leak. Some building supervisor’s may even stop elevators on the main floor, with doors open wide, to keep evacuees from using them and to show the arriving emergency personnel that no-one is trapped inside them.

    Alert Others

    • As you leave, look around to see if any of your co-workers are not heeding warnings. If they are not, insist they follow you out of the building. If they are physically impaired, assist them to the nearest stairwell and have them wait there, while you alert emergency personnel of their presence. The University of California at Berkeley Office of Disaster Preparedness insists that you do not try moving the person, unless you have been properly trained, or unless they are in immediate danger. Never try moving them in their wheelchair. Leave the chair behind.

    Convene Off-site

    • Once you have left the building, convene in an area away from the building. There, you will make contact with your office’s evacuation coordinator, suggests All Business.com in the article, “Preparing an Evacuation Plan for Your Office.” Once there, you will sign your name on the list of personnel that he is compiling, for emergency responders.

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