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Office & Corporate Building Emergency Action Plan

Office emergencies generally involve high-density populations in multi-story buildings. This EAP focuses on orderly stairwell evacuation, avoiding elevators, and accounting for employees and visitors.

Review and adapt this starting point for your workplace before use.
Offices & Corporate workplace emergency action plan
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Emergency Action Plan

OFFICES & CORPORATE FACILITY / SITE

Site Name:
Site Address:
Date Updated:
Plan Coordinator:

Report an emergency

  1. Activate the facility alarm or internal emergency notification system.
  2. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, fire, or another emergency requiring public responders.
  3. Give the site name, exact address, incident location, nature of the emergency, known hazards, and a callback number.
  4. Notify the Plan Coordinator named above.

1Potential Emergencies & Scenarios

Building Fire

Activating pull stations, evacuating via stairs, and closing doors to contain smoke.

Medical Emergency

Calling 911, retrieving the AED, and sending someone to the lobby/elevators to guide paramedics.

Severe Weather

Moving away from exterior windows to interior corridors, stairwells, or designated shelter areas.

Suspicious Package / Bomb Threat

Not touching the item, evacuating the immediate area, and notifying building security and law enforcement.

2Roles & Responsibilities

Floor Wardens / Evacuation Coordinators

  • Use designated identification if the building plan provides it.
  • Sweep assigned areas only when the plan calls for it and conditions are safe.
  • Follow the building's validated door procedure.

Office Manager / HR

  • Bring the visitor log and employee roster to the assembly area.
  • Serve as liaison with Building Management.

All Employees

  • Follow the current building procedure and responder directions.
  • Use the designated safe evacuation route.
  • Direct visitors without taking actions outside assigned training.

3Alarm & Communication

  • Primary Alarm: [Building fire alarm (horns and strobes)].
  • Building PA System: Follow instructions from building security (e.g., phased evacuation).
  • Internal Notification: Group text, Slack/Teams alert, or email blast to all staff.

4Evacuation & Shelter

  • Follow the building's validated elevator and stairwell instructions; do not use an elevator when the plan or emergency responders prohibit it.
  • Use the designated stairwell flow and follow building management or responder directions.
  • Primary Assembly Area: [e.g., the park across the street / specific plaza], selected for safety and validated with building management and local responders.

5Accountability

  • Floor Wardens conduct a headcount at the assembly area.
  • Check visitors against the lobby sign-in log.
  • Report any missing employees to the Office Manager, who reports to Building Security/Fire Department.

6Assistance & Rescue

  • Follow the building's validated assisted-evacuation procedure, including any designated refuge or assistance locations.
  • Tell emergency responders promptly about anyone awaiting assistance and their last known location.

7Critical Shutdown

  • Do not delay evacuation to save work or secure property.
  • Shut down or unplug equipment only when assigned, trained, and safe.
  • Follow the building's validated door-closing and smoke-control procedure.

8Training & Drills

  • Review the EAP with all new hires.
  • Participate in and document drills at a frequency appropriate to the building and applicable local requirements.
  • Ensure all employees know the location of both primary and secondary stairwells.

9Emergency Contacts

Emergency Services

911

Facility Manager

Maintenance Lead

Safety Coordinator

Customize before use. This template is a starting point, not legal advice, and does not guarantee OSHA compliance. The employer is responsible for ensuring the completed plan reflects the site's actual layout, hazards, alarms, and assigned duties.

Beyond the Template: Offices & Corporate Emergency Planning

Practical steps to adapt this OSHA EAP framework for your site's specific hazards, shift patterns, and personnel.

Phase 01

Office Emergency Plan Risks in Shared Buildings

An office evacuation plan must connect the employer’s responsibilities with landlord, property management, security, and fire-life-safety procedures. Hybrid attendance, visitors, multi-floor tenancy, controlled access, and employees needing assistance complicate notification and accountability.

Key Action Items

  • Map occupied floors, suites, stairs, crossover options, refuge or assistance locations, exits, assembly areas, and responder access.
  • Confirm who controls alarms, PA messages, elevators, stairwell procedures, doors, re-entry, and after-hours notifications.
  • Evaluate fire, severe weather, medical events, power loss, threats, and site-specific shelter needs separately.
  • Identify remote, traveling, hybrid, contract, and visiting workers so on-site accountability uses current presence data.
  • Coordinate assistance planning confidentially with affected employees and validated building procedures.
Phase 02

Build an Office EAP Employees Can Follow

Use the emergency action plan template to document decisions, then make them usable through clear assignments and building-specific orientation. Floor wardens and other assistants need defined training, boundaries, alternates, and permission to stop a task when conditions become unsafe.

Key Action Items

  • Walk primary and alternate routes from work areas, conference rooms, restrooms, amenity spaces, and parking connections.
  • Align internal alerts with building alarms and state which source employees follow during conflicting or phased instructions.
  • Assign emergency reporting, visitor support, floor coordination, accountability, assistance communication, and responder liaison duties.
  • Use access, sign-in, calendar, or reception records appropriately to establish who was actually on site.
  • Review the plan after office moves, staffing changes, access-control updates, building notices, drills, or employee feedback.
Phase 03

Office Evacuation Plan Gaps to Review

A polished document may still rely on outdated occupancy assumptions or generic high-rise advice. Compare the OSHA EAP content with current lease areas and the building’s validated emergency procedures, local requirements, and responder direction.

Key Action Items

  • Employees know the main stair but have not been oriented to an alternate route or instructions for a blocked path.
  • Floor wardens are named, but absences, hybrid schedules, turnover, training, and stop conditions are not addressed.
  • Visitor accountability depends on an incomplete paper log or leaves hosts unsure who reports a missing guest.
  • Assisted-evacuation wording promises physical help without an individualized, building-approved, trained procedure.
  • Assembly areas create traffic, weather, falling-object, or responder-access concerns and no validated alternate is identified.
Phase 04

Define the Tenant and Building Emergency Plan Interface

An office EAP template should clearly divide what the employer controls from what building management, security, or the landlord controls. Documenting that interface prevents a tenant alert, floor-warden action, or accountability process from contradicting the building evacuation plan, phased instructions, access systems, or responder direction.

Key Action Items

  • Obtain the building’s current alarm meanings, notification channels, evacuation or shelter procedures, assistance process, and re-entry authority.
  • Identify tenant contacts and alternates who receive building notices during normal, after-hours, and reduced-occupancy periods.
  • State how employer messages supplement building instructions and which approved source employees should follow if information appears inconsistent.
  • Coordinate shared floors, reception, conference centers, parking, childcare, food service, and other amenities used by office personnel.
  • Record unresolved interface questions and obtain validation from building management or qualified local reviewers before assigning duties.
Phase 05

Maintain an Office EAP for Hybrid Attendance

Office emergency procedures stay usable when reviews are triggered by who is present and how space is used, not only by a calendar date. Hybrid schedules, desk sharing, events, suite moves, and floor-warden turnover require controlled updates to assignments, visitor accountability, assistance arrangements, maps, and employee orientation.

Key Action Items

  • Review warden and alternate coverage against representative low-occupancy, peak, after-hours, and event periods.
  • Choose privacy-conscious sources for on-site employee and visitor status, and document who can access them during an emergency.
  • Trigger plan review after lease changes, floor moves, access-control work, construction, alarm notices, or revised building instructions.
  • Track exercise findings and employee feedback to named owners, due dates, approved revisions, and confirmation that corrections were completed.
  • Replace outdated postings and role lists, then notify remote and on-site personnel before the changed workplace emergency procedures apply.
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Transportation & Fleet

Transportation depots involve heavy vehicle traffic, fueling stations, maintenance bays, and hazardous materials. This EAP focuses on yard safety, hazardous spills, and isolating incidents to prevent catastrophic damage.

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