Emergency Action Plan Template for Offices: 19 Sections for US, UK and Global Teams

Search for an emergency action plan template and you will find dozens of free documents from state agencies, universities and insurers. Most are written for a single building, a single country and a workforce that turns up five days a week. Very few work for a software company with a New York office on the 30th floor, a London team in a shared building, and half its people working from home on any given day.

In the United States, OSHA's emergency action plan standard, 29 CFR 1910.38, sets out what a plan must contain whenever another OSHA standard requires one. Most offices end up in scope: the portable fire extinguisher standard, for example, requires an emergency action plan where employees are expected to evacuate rather than fight fires. Plans must be written and kept in the workplace, although employers with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally.

In the UK, the same ground is covered by regulation 8 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which requires procedures for serious and imminent danger, and article 15 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Ireland, Canada, Australia and most other jurisdictions have equivalent duties.

This guide gives you a template structure in 19 sections. Sections 1 to 9 cover what OSHA requires as a minimum. Sections 10 to 19 cover what a modern office plan also needs, wherever it is. Use it to write a plan for one office, or a group template that each country adapts.

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Part A: The OSHA Minimum (Sections 1 to 9)

These nine sections map directly to 1910.38. Together they also cover the core of what UK and most international law expects.

Section 1: How to Report an Emergency

What to include: how employees raise the alarm (manual call points, phone numbers, apps), who to tell, and when to call emergency services directly. Office tip: list the local emergency number for each country on the same page. Staff visiting from abroad will not know it.

Section 2: Evacuation Procedures and Exit Routes

What to include: the type of evacuation (full, phased or partial), floor plans with exit routes, and the assembly point. Office tip: in a multi-storey building, your evacuation type is usually set by the building's fire strategy, not by you. Ask the landlord. See our fire evacuation strategy guide.

Section 3: Critical Operations Before Evacuating

What to include: any tasks that must be done before leaving, who does them, and the point at which they must stop and leave. Office tip: for most offices this is short or empty. For AI and data teams running server rooms or lab equipment, it may include safe shutdown steps. Life always comes first.

Section 4: Accounting for Everyone

What to include: how people are counted after evacuation, who does it, and how missing people are reported to emergency services. Office tip: hybrid working makes roll calls unreliable. Use desk booking data, sign-in systems or a check-in app so you know who was in.

Section 5: Rescue and Medical Duties

What to include: who provides first aid, what equipment is available (including any defibrillator), and the limits of their role. Office tip: base this on your first aid needs assessment, adjusted for who is actually in the office. See the importance of first aid in the workplace.

Section 6: Who to Contact About the Plan

What to include: the name or job title of people employees can contact for more information about the plan or their duties. Office tip: include a deputy for each person, and update the list whenever someone leaves.

Section 7: Alarm System

What to include: the alarm signals used and what each one means. OSHA requires a distinctive signal for each purpose. Office tip: if the building uses different tones for "prepare" and "evacuate", or a separate signal for lockdown, explain each one in plain language.

Section 8: Evacuation Wardens and Training

What to include: the employees designated and trained to help others evacuate, how many per floor, and what training they receive. Office tip: appoint enough wardens to cover holidays and remote working days. See fire marshal training.

Section 9: Reviewing the Plan With Employees

What to include: when the plan is reviewed with each employee: when it is developed, when they join, when their responsibilities change, and when the plan changes. Office tip: build this into induction and into every office move or restructure.

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Part B: What a Modern Office Plan Also Needs (Sections 10 to 19)

Section 10: Shelter in Place

What to include: when staying inside is safer than leaving, where to go, and how people are told. Why: severe weather, external hazards and some security incidents make evacuation the wrong choice.

Section 11: Workplace Violence and Active Threats

What to include: how to recognise and respond to a violent incident, lockdown arrangements, and how people are alerted. Many organisations use the Run, Hide, Tell or Run, Hide, Fight models. Why: violence is an increasingly regulated risk. California, for example, now requires most employers to have a written workplace violence prevention plan.

Section 12: Severe Weather and Natural Hazards

What to include: procedures for the hazards relevant to each location, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, flooding or extreme heat. Why: a single group template must allow local sections. A plan written in London will not mention earthquakes, but your San Francisco office needs it to. Ready.gov's business guidance is a useful US reference.

Section 13: Medical Emergencies

What to include: how to respond to a collapse, cardiac arrest, seizure or serious injury, including where the defibrillator is and who is trained. Why: in offices, medical emergencies are far more likely than fires.

Section 14: Bomb Threats and Suspicious Items

What to include: what to do if a threat is received by phone or email, or a suspicious item is found, and who decides whether to evacuate. Why: front-of-house and reception staff need a clear, simple procedure.

Section 15: Utility Failures and IT Outages

What to include: power cuts, loss of water, heating or cooling failures, and how the office operates or closes safely. Why: a power cut can disable lifts, lighting and access control at the same time.

Section 16: Shared Buildings

What to include: how your plan links to the landlord's and other tenants', who controls the alarm and public address, and how wardens coordinate. Why: in multi-let offices, your plan only works if it fits the building's. UK law specifically requires cooperation between responsible persons in shared premises.

Section 17: People Who Need Extra Help

What to include: how personal evacuation plans are prepared for people with disabilities, injuries or other needs, and how visitors who need help are identified. Why: see personal emergency evacuation plans: 7 questions offices get wrong.

Section 18: Visitors, Contractors and Remote Workers

What to include: how visitors and contractors are briefed and accounted for, and what remote and travelling employees should do in an emergency where they are. Why: see visitors and reception: 7 duties offices miss and business travel duty of care.

Section 19: Drills, Testing and Records

What to include: how often each procedure is practised, how drills are recorded, and how lessons are fed back into the plan. Why: a plan that has never been tested is a guess. See fire drills: 7 things yours is probably not testing.

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One Template, Many Countries

For international groups, the best approach is a single template with a common structure, and local sections for each country's law, hazards and emergency numbers.

Jurisdiction	Main legal basis for emergency procedures	Local notes
United States	OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38, plus state rules	Written plan required unless 10 or fewer employees; some states add further duties. See health and safety in the USA
United Kingdom	Management Regulations 1999 reg 8, Fire Safety Order 2005 art 15	Procedures linked to fire risk assessment and building fire strategy. See our fire risk assessment service
Ireland	Section 11 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005	Emergency plans and procedures form part of the Safety Statement. See our Ireland page
Canada	Provincial health and safety law	Requirements vary by province. See our Canada page
Australia	Model WHS Regulations	Emergency plan requirements under the regulations. See Australia WHS

OSHA also provides an emergency action plan eTool that helps US employers check what applies.

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Sector Notes

AI, data and software: server rooms, battery systems and late-night working add to Sections 3, 4 and 15. See our AI and data and software pages, and lone working in tech and AI.

Legal and insurance: client-facing reception areas and city-centre towers make Sections 11, 14 and 16 a priority. See our legal and insurance pages.

Education: large numbers of students and visitors, and in the UK the new Martyn's Law duties, make lockdown and invacuation central. See our education page.

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How Arinite Helps

Arinite has supported 1,500+ businesses across 50+ countries for 15+ years, protecting 100,000+ employees, with 95%+ client retention. Our qualified consultants write emergency plans that work for real offices, hybrid teams and international groups. See our United States page for US support.

• Done For You: our health and safety consultants write your plan for each office, coordinate with landlords, and test it through drills and independent health and safety audits.
• Done With You: we build a group template with your team, then help each country adapt the local sections.
• DIY: you hold plans, warden lists, drills and reviews for every office on our health and safety consultants and software platform.

Our international health and safety consultants handle local requirements in each country, and our global health and safety consultants keep one consistent structure across the group. For more on response roles, see emergency response teams.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What must an OSHA emergency action plan include?

At minimum: procedures for reporting emergencies, evacuation procedures and exit routes, procedures for employees who stay to run critical operations, accounting for employees, rescue and medical duties, and names or job titles of people to contact about the plan. Employers also need an alarm system, trained evacuation wardens and a process for reviewing the plan with employees.

Does an emergency action plan have to be written?

Under OSHA, yes, unless the employer has 10 or fewer employees, in which case the plan may be communicated orally. Writing it down is good practice whatever your size.

Do offices need an emergency action plan?

In the US, most do, because standards such as the portable fire extinguisher standard require one when employees evacuate rather than fight fires. In the UK and most other countries, employers must have emergency procedures under general health and safety and fire safety law.

Can one emergency action plan cover several countries?

One template can, with a common structure and local sections for each country's legal requirements, natural hazards and emergency contacts. Each office still needs its own site-specific plan.

How often should an emergency action plan be reviewed?

Whenever it changes, when employees join or their responsibilities change, and at least annually as good practice. Review it after every drill and every real incident.

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Write the Plan Before You Need It

If your emergency plan was written for one office, one country or a five-day week, it is probably out of date. Book a free gap analysis with Arinite and we will review your emergency arrangements across every location, in the US, UK and beyond.

Request your free gap analysis