An emergency action plan (EAP) is a written plan that tells employees how to report an emergency, evacuate, and be accounted for. OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.38 sets six minimum elements: reporting, evacuation and exit routes, critical shutdowns, headcount, rescue and medical duties, and contacts. Employers with 10 or fewer employees may share the plan orally. A free fill-in template is below.
Most emergency action plan templates online fall into two camps. Some are a bare Word file with no explanation of what goes in each box. Others are a long essay about why planning matters, with no actual template in it. This page is the other kind: a fill-in plan you can finish in an afternoon, plus the rules behind it so you know why each blank is there.
Free Emergency Action Plan Template (Word and PDF)
The template follows the order of 29 CFR 1910.38(c), so every required element has its own section and its own regulation reference. It also covers the alarm, training and review requirements in paragraphs (d), (e) and (f), and ends with a training log you can hand to an inspector.
Download the Word template (.docx) · Download the printable PDF
Here is what is inside, so you can see whether it fits before you download:
| Section | What you fill in | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Plan details | Company, site, headcount, plan owner, dates, and which standard you follow | Housekeeping |
| 1. Reporting | How an emergency gets reported, who calls 911, the address the dispatcher hears | 1910.38(c)(1) |
| 2. Evacuation | Type of evacuation, a primary and backup exit for each work area, assembly points | 1910.38(c)(2) |
| 3. Critical operations | Anyone who shuts something down before leaving, and when they must stop | 1910.38(c)(3) |
| 4. Headcount | Who counts, who backs them up, how visitors and contractors get counted | 1910.38(c)(4) |
| 5. Rescue and medical | Named people with named training, or a clear "call 911 and wait" | 1910.38(c)(5) |
| 6. Contacts | Names or job titles employees can ask about the plan | 1910.38(c)(6) |
| 7. Alarm system | Alarm type, a distinctive signal for each purpose, test records | 1910.38(d) |
| 8. Evacuation assistants | Employees designated and trained to help others out | 1910.38(e) |
| 9. Emergency-specific notes | What changes for fire, medical, weather, chemical release or utility failure | Best practice |
| 10. Training and review log | Who was walked through the plan, when, and why | 1910.38(f) |
Section 9 is the only part that goes beyond the regulation. The six required elements cover every emergency. Section 9 is where you write down what differs when the problem is a tornado warning instead of a fire.
What a Filled-In Plan Looks Like
Blank templates are hard to start. Here is a short example for a made-up 14-person fabrication shop, so you can see the level of detail that works. The names and address are invented, and yours should be just as specific.
| Element | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Reporting | Anyone who sees fire or smoke pulls the nearest pull station and shouts "fire." Shop lead calls 911 from the office phone and gives "2210 Industrial Way, Unit B, east entrance." Office manager meets the fire department at the east door. |
| Evacuation | Full evacuation on the alarm. Shop floor exits through the overhead door or the north door. Office exits through the front door. Assembly point is the east end of the parking lot, backup is the gravel lot across the street. |
| Critical operations | None. Everyone leaves immediately, and nobody stops to shut machines down. |
| Headcount | Office manager counts against the daily sign-in sheet, which includes visitors and delivery drivers. Shop lead is backup. Anyone missing is reported to the fire department, and nobody goes back in. |
| Rescue and medical | No employee performs rescue. Two people are trained in first aid and CPR and give care to anyone injured during the evacuation until responders arrive. |
| Contacts | Office manager (extension 101) for questions about the plan. Shop lead for questions about duties on the floor. |
Notice what is not in there: no paragraph about the importance of safety, no generic list of fifty emergencies. Each line answers a question an employee would actually ask in the parking lot.
Does Your Business Actually Need One?
This is the part most templates get wrong. The common line is that OSHA requires every employer to have an emergency action plan. That is not how the regulation is written. 29 CFR 1910.38(a) says an employer must have an emergency action plan "whenever an OSHA standard in this part requires one." The section then spells out what the plan has to contain.
So the real question is whether another standard pulls you in. A few that do, based on the current text of Part 1910:
- Grain handling (1910.272). The employer must develop and implement an emergency action plan meeting 1910.38.
- Process safety management (1910.119). An emergency action plan for the entire plant, with added procedures for small releases.
- Total flooding fire suppression systems (1910.160). A 1910.38 plan for each area protected by a system that can create a hazard for employees.
- Powered platforms for building maintenance (1910.66). A written plan for each kind of working platform operation.
- HAZWOPER (1910.120). An employer who evacuates everyone and lets nobody help with the emergency can use a 1910.38 plan in place of the fuller emergency response plan. See our guide to HAZWOPER emergency response rules for how that decision works.
The fire extinguisher standard is the one many small employers run into. Under 1910.157(b), an employer can be exempt from the portable extinguisher requirements if it has a written fire safety policy requiring immediate and total evacuation, backed by both an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan, and has no extinguishers available. Plenty of workplaces take the other route and keep extinguishers. Either way, the plan is how you show what happens when the alarm goes.
If you are not sure which standards apply to your site, write the plan anyway. It takes an afternoon, and the six elements force you to decide things like the assembly point and who counts heads, which you should know before something happens.
The Six Required Elements, in Plain English
Paragraph (c) of 1910.38 sets the floor. Anything less than these six is a plan with a hole in it.
| Element | What the regulation says | What to actually write |
|---|---|---|
| (c)(1) Reporting | Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency | How the alarm gets triggered, who calls 911, and what address and entrance they give |
| (c)(2) Evacuation | Procedures for emergency evacuation, including type of evacuation and exit route assignments | Full or partial evacuation, plus a primary and backup exit for each work area |
| (c)(3) Critical operations | Procedures for employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate | The few tasks, if any, that someone finishes before leaving, and a firm stop point. Often the honest answer is none. |
| (c)(4) Accounting | Procedures to account for all employees after evacuation | A named headcount lead, a backup, and a roster that includes visitors and contractors |
| (c)(5) Rescue and medical | Procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties | Names and training, or a plain statement that nobody on staff does this |
| (c)(6) Contacts | The name or job title of every employee who may be contacted for more information or an explanation of duties | One or two people, with phone numbers, who can answer questions about the plan |
Two points that trip people up. First, (c)(2) says "exit route assignments," which means telling people which way to go, not just hanging a floor plan on the wall. Second, exit routes themselves have their own rules in 1910.34 through 1910.37, covering width, lighting, marking and keeping doors unlocked. The plan relies on those routes being usable.
Written or Oral: The 10-Employee Rule
Paragraph (b) says the plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review. An employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally instead.
A few things that rule does and does not say:
- It is about format, not about whether you need a plan. A five-person shop that is covered still needs the six elements. It just does not have to put them on paper.
- The cutoff is 10 or fewer. A shop with exactly 10 employees can go oral. At 11, the plan has to be written.
- Oral does not mean undocumented training. You still have to review the plan with each employee, and you will want proof you did.
Even under 10 people, the written version is easier. It is the only way to be sure the new hire hears the same assembly point as everyone else.
The Alarm, Training and Review Requirements People Forget
The six elements get all the attention. Three more paragraphs in 1910.38 matter just as much when an inspector reads the plan.
- Alarm system (d). You must have and maintain an employee alarm system, with a distinctive signal for each purpose, that meets 1910.165. In practice that means the evacuation signal sounds different from the shelter-in-place signal and from the all-clear. Section 7 of the template has a table for it.
- Training (e). You must designate and train employees to help others evacuate safely and in order. Write their names down and note when they were trained. Section 8 of the template covers it.
- Review (f). You must review the plan with each employee when the plan is developed or they are first assigned to a job, when their responsibilities under the plan change, and whenever the plan itself changes. Section 10 is the log.
That review requirement is where most small employers slip. The plan gets written once, the roster changes, a door gets blocked by new shelving, and nobody updates it. Keep a record of each review: who, when, and which of the three reasons applied. If you are building out the wider training file, our guide to tracking who has been trained on what shows how to keep those records together.
Training only works if people understand it. If part of your crew is more comfortable in Spanish, give them the plan and the walk-through in Spanish. See our notes on training crews in more than one language for how to handle that on mixed crews.
Construction Sites and California
Construction. The construction standard, 29 CFR 1926.35, covers emergency action plans that a particular OSHA standard requires. It lists the same six elements in a different order, requires a written plan, and carries the same oral exception for 10 or fewer employees. It also requires you to designate and train enough people to assist in an evacuation before you implement the plan, and to review it with each employee at the same three points as 1910.38.
The regulation does not say "one plan per site," but it is the sensible way to run it. Exits, assembly points and the nearest hospital change from job to job. A plan written for the last project will point your crew at a gate that no longer exists. The template has a box for "29 CFR 1926.35" at the top, and Section 2 is built to be redone for each site.
California. Cal/OSHA has its own rule in Title 8, section 3220. It lists the same six elements, requires an alarm system that complies with its Article 165, and carries the same 10-or-fewer oral exception. The wording and order differ slightly from the federal text, so if you work in California, check your plan against section 3220 directly. The template has a checkbox for it on the first page.
Customizing the Template for Your Workplace
The six required elements stay the same. What changes is the detail. These are best-practice prompts, not regulatory text:
| Workplace | What usually needs extra thought |
|---|---|
| Office | Visitors and delivery drivers in the headcount, upper-floor routes, staff who work from different suites |
| Warehouse | Forklift traffic across exit routes, racking that blocks aisles, loud areas where an alarm may not carry, dock doors that are not exits |
| Manufacturing | Which machines get shut down on the way out and who does it, chemical storage, a clear stop point for anyone finishing a shutdown |
| Construction | A new plan per site, temporary exits, a headcount that includes subs, the nearest hospital and cross street for the dispatcher |
| Restaurant or food service | Kitchen fire procedures, guests in the dining room, a reliable way to count part-time and shift staff |
Seven Mistakes That Make a Plan Useless
- Downloading a template and never customizing it. A plan that names an assembly point you do not have is worse than no plan, because people follow it.
- One exit route per area. Fires block exits. Write a backup for every work area.
- No named headcount lead. "Supervisors will count" means nobody does.
- Forgetting visitors, contractors and temps. If they are in the building, they are in the count.
- Stale names and phone numbers. The person named in the plan left in March. Put a date on every contact and check them when the roster changes.
- No review log. Paragraph (f) is a requirement. Without a record, you cannot show it happened.
- Keeping it in a drawer. The plan has to be kept in the workplace and available for employees to read. Post the evacuation map where people walk past it.
How It Differs From a Fire Prevention Plan, an Emergency Response Plan and a Fire Drill
These four get mixed up constantly, and the mix-up leads to missing paperwork.
| Document | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency action plan | What people do during an emergency: report, evacuate, get counted, who helps | 1910.38 |
| Fire prevention plan | How you keep a fire from starting: major fire hazards, ignition sources, waste buildup, maintenance of heat-producing equipment, and who is responsible for each | 1910.39 |
| Emergency response plan | Used when your own employees respond to a hazardous substance release, not just evacuate. Heavier training and planning requirements | 1910.120 |
| Fire drill | A practice run that tests whether the plan works. 1910.38 sets no drill frequency; local fire code usually does | Local fire code. See how often to run drills |
The plan tells people what to do. The drill is how you find out whether they will. Run your first drill soon after the plan is finished, and fix whatever the drill exposes before the next review.
Keeping the Plan Current
The regulation tells you when you must review the plan with employees: at the start, when someone's role changes, and when the plan changes. Beyond that, these habits keep it from going stale. They are best practice, not requirements:
- Check the whole plan once a year, even if nothing seems to have changed.
- Update it when you move, rearrange the floor, add a door, or change shifts.
- Replace anyone named in it as soon as they leave or change roles.
- Test the alarm and keep the record with the plan.
- Run a drill and write down what went wrong.
No template, this one included, makes you compliant on its own. It becomes a real plan when it matches your building and your people.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an emergency action plan?
A written plan that sets out how employees report an emergency, evacuate, get accounted for, and who handles rescue or medical duties. OSHA's 29 CFR 1910.38 lists the minimum elements, and the plan has to reflect your actual building and crew.
Does OSHA require an emergency action plan for every business?
Not as a blanket rule. Under 29 CFR 1910.38(a), you need one whenever another OSHA standard in Part 1910 requires it, such as the standards covering grain handling, process safety management, and certain total flooding fire suppression systems. If you are not sure whether one applies to your site, writing one is the safer call.
Does an emergency action plan have to be in writing?
Yes, with one exception. The plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review. An employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate it orally instead.
What must an emergency action plan include?
At a minimum: procedures for reporting an emergency, evacuation procedures and exit route assignments, procedures for employees who stay to run critical operations, a way to account for everyone after evacuation, rescue and medical duties, and the name or job title of every employee who can be contacted about the plan.
How often should an emergency action plan be reviewed?
OSHA sets no calendar date. You must review the plan with each employee when it is developed or they are first assigned, when their responsibilities under it change, and whenever the plan changes. A yearly walk-through is a sensible habit on top of that, but it is a best practice, not a rule.
What is the difference between an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan?
The emergency action plan (1910.38) covers what people do when something goes wrong. A fire prevention plan (1910.39) covers how you stop a fire from starting: fire hazards, ignition sources, waste buildup, and who maintains the equipment. Some standards call for both.
Plan written, but the drills and refreshers keep slipping? With Safety Team Technologies, each drill and refresher goes out to the crew as a text reminder in English or Spanish, and the signed, dated results land in drill records that file themselves. When someone asks for proof, you download it.
See how the sign-offs get tracked or try the platform on one site first.
This guide summarizes federal and California rules as published at the time of review and is general information, not legal advice. Check the current text of the standards that apply to your site, and your local fire code, before relying on it. For the rest of the paperwork a small employer is expected to have on hand, see the small business compliance checklist.
