Emergency action plan for a café or restaurant: a fill-in template for fire, gas, evacuation and roll call

A pan fire spreads into the hood. Someone smells gas at 6 am. A guest collapses at the counter. Nobody has time then to work out who calls 911 or which door to use.

An emergency action plan decides those things in advance. Here's a fill-in plan built on the six things OSHA says such a plan must contain, plus how to teach it and run a short drill.

General information, not legal advice. Your local fire code and fire marshal may require more, such as posted evacuation maps or a fire safety plan in a set format. Ask them.

Do you need one?

OSHA's rule says "An employer must have an emergency action plan whenever an OSHA standard in this part requires one" (29 CFR 1910.38(a)). The fire extinguisher standard is one place it comes up: an employer whose plan "designates certain employees to be the only employees authorized to use the available portable fire extinguishers, and which requires all other employees in the fire area to immediately evacuate" gets an exemption from the extinguisher distribution rules (29 CFR 1910.157(b)(2)). Our fire extinguisher inspection log covers the extinguishers themselves.

Whether or not a standard requires it for you, write one. It's one page.

Written or spoken? "An emergency action plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review. However, an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally to employees" (1910.38(b)). Even then, a written page is easier to teach consistently.

The six things the plan must cover

OSHA's minimum elements (1910.38(c)), and where each one sits in the template below:

The plan (fill it in)

Location: ________ Address to give 911: ________ Nearest cross street: ________ Last reviewed: ________

1. Emergency numbers

Post these by every phone and at the time clock. OSHA's alarm rule says "The employer shall post emergency telephone numbers near telephones, or employee notice boards, and other conspicuous locations when telephones serve as a means of reporting emergencies" (29 CFR 1910.165(b)(4)).

2. Reporting an emergency

• Who calls 911: the first person who sees it, unless the manager on shift says they're calling. Don't assume someone else did.
• What to say: the address and cross street, what's happening, whether anyone is hurt, whether everyone is out.
• Gas smell: don't switch lights or equipment on or off, don't use a phone inside; leave and call from outside.

3. The alarm

OSHA asks for an alarm with "a distinctive signal for each purpose" (1910.38(d)). In a small café it's usually a voice. "For those employers with 10 or fewer employees in a particular workplace, direct voice communication is an acceptable procedure for sounding the alarm provided all employees can hear the alarm" (1910.165(b)(5)).

Pull station location, if you have one: ________

4. Exits and who does what

Two OSHA rules to check at every close: exit doors must open "from the inside at all times without keys, tools, or special knowledge" (29 CFR 1910.36(d)(1)), and "Exit routes must be free and unobstructed. No materials or equipment may be placed, either permanently or temporarily, within the exit route" (29 CFR 1910.37(a)(3)). The delivery left in the back hallway counts.

5. Before you leave (only if it takes seconds)

Name the few things worth doing on the way out, only if it's safe:

• Pull the hood suppression system's manual release, if the fire is in the hood and you're trained to.
• Turn off the gas at the appliance, if it's within reach.
• Never the cash drawer.

6. The meeting point and roll call

Meeting point: ________ (across the street, away from the doors firefighters will use)

The manager counts everyone on shift against the schedule or the list of who's clocked in, including anyone on break. Nobody goes back in for anyone; tell the firefighters who's missing and where they were last.

7. Medical and rescue duties

Nobody does rescue work beyond their training. After any injury, fill in your incident report form.

8. Questions about this plan

Ask: ________ (name or job title)

Teaching it and keeping it current

OSHA asks employers to "designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees" (1910.38(e)), and to review the plan with each employee "When the plan is developed or the employee is assigned initially to a job", "When the employee's responsibilities under the plan change" and "When the plan is changed" (1910.38(f)).

• Day one: walk each new hire to both exits, the meeting point, the first-aid kit and the extinguishers. Add it to your orientation checklist.
• New managers and shift leads: sections 2, 4 and 6 in detail; they run the roll call.
• Every few months, a drill. Before opening, call "Everybody out", walk to the meeting point, do the roll call, time it, and ask what slowed people down.

Pair it with a fire prevention plan: the major fire hazards and who maintains the equipment that controls them (1910.39(c)), such as the hood, filters and fryer.

Where Mays fits

• The plan in everyone's pocket. Put the plan and the numbers in the Knowledge Base and share the folder with the location; staff read it in the app. See Knowledge base basics and Sharing and visibility.
• Drill day on the schedule. Add the drill as an event on the schedule's Events row; that morning, everyone with a published shift at the location gets a push with your note. See Schedule events and birthdays.
• Roll call. On the clock now lists everyone with an open punch at the location, on Scheduling → Time Clock on the web and on a manager's Schedule tab in the app. Use it with the schedule at the meeting point. It needs a data connection. See Attendance alerts and Managing the schedule on mobile.
• Reaching the team. A group chat with everyone at the location lets the manager post "We're closed for the rest of the day" from the sidewalk. See Group chats.
• After a drill or an incident. Write it up in the Logbook under Health & Safety, with Needs follow-up for anything to fix. See The manager logbook.

What Mays doesn't do: there's no emergency alert button or broadcast channel, so the alarm is still a voice or the building's alarm, and roll call on a phone needs a connection.

One page, practiced

Fill in the eight sections, post the numbers, walk new hires to the exits, and drill a few times a year. On the bad day, nobody has to decide anything new.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Or book a walkthrough and we'll set it up with you.