(E) An employee alarm system shall be installed in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.165 to notify employees of an emergency situation; to stop work activities if necessary; to lower background noise in order to speed communication: and to begin emergency procedures.
(F) Based upon the information available at time of the emergency, the employer shall evaluate the incident and the site response capabilities and proceed with the appropriate steps to implement the site emergency response plan.
(q) Emergency response to hazardous substance releases. This paragraph covers employers whose employees are engaged in emergency response no matter where it occurs except that it does not cover employees engaged in operations specified in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (a)(1)(iv) of this section. Those emergency response organizations who have developed and implemented programs equivalent to this paragraph for handling releases of hazardous substances pursuant to section 303 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. 11003) shall be deemed to have met the requirements of this paragraph.
(1) Emergency response plan. An emergency response plan shall be developed and implemented to handle anticipated emergencies prior to the commencement of emergency response operations. The plan shall be in writing and available for inspection and copying by employees, their representatives and OSHA personnel. Employers who will evacuate their employees from the danger area when an emergency occurs, and who do not permit any of their employees to assist in handling the emergency, are exempt from the requirements of this paragraph if they provide an emergency action plan in accordance with § 1910.38(a) of this part.
(2) Elements of an emergency response plan. The employer shall develop an emergency response plan for emergencies which shall address, as a minimum, the following to the extent that they are not addressed elsewhere:
(i) Pre-emergency planning and coordination with outside parties.
(ii) Personnel roles, lines of authority, training, and communication.
(iii) Emergency recognition and prevention.
(iv) Safe distances and places of refuge.
(v) Site security and control.
(vi) Evacuation routes and procedures.
(vii) Decontamination.
(viii) Emergency medical treatment and first aid.
(ix) Emergency alerting and response procedures.
(x) Critique of response and follow-up.
(xi) PPE and emergency equipment.
(xii) Emergency response organizations may use the local emergency response plan or the state emergency response plan or both, as part of their emergency response plan to avoid duplication. Those items of the emergency response plan that are being properly addressed by the SARA Title III plans may be substituted into their emergency plan or otherwise kept together for the employer and employee's use.
(3) Procedures for handling emergency response, (i) The senior emergency response official responding to an emergency shall become the individual in charge of a site-specific Incident Command System (ICS). All emergency responders and their communications shall be coordinated and controlled through the individual in charge of the ICS assisted by the senior official present for each employer.
NOTE TO (q)(3)(i). ─The “senior official” at an emergency response is the most senior official on the site who has the responsibility for controlling the operations at the site. Initially it Is the senior officer on the first due piece of responding emergency apparatus to arrive on the incident scene. As more senior officers arrive (i.e., battalion chief, fire chief, state law enforcement official, site coordinator, etc.) the position is passed up the line of authority which has been previously established.
