subject: Safeguard your Employees With an Office Emergency Kit [print this page] Safeguard your Employees With an Office Emergency Kit
Safety for the employees in an office becomes the responsibility of the employer. In an office where several employees share one survival space, it is expensive and redundant to have separate earthquake kits for each employee. Therefore, it is better to plan and purchase a couple of earthquake kits and place them in a location from where they can be easily accessible to everybody.
An earthquake kit for an office should include a balanced mix of things that can be shared by people and that should be placed for every individual. Necessary items for survival like food and water should be kept for everybody. However, items such as sanitation supplies, light sources, radios, etc can be shared by employees. The person organizing earthquake kits for all office employees should make sure that the food and water should be accessible only in emergency to avoid its shortage.
An office environment is very different from that of home. In an office there may be dangerous equipment, lifts, staircase, dangerous footings, or many other hazards. Many of these hazardous areas are easy to deal with in light, but can cause panic if the power goes out. Although most of the offices have battery powered emergency lights, they usually last up to 24 hours. Therefore, it is better to have non-toxic glow sticks ready in your earthquake kit so that employees can at least illuminate the hazardous areas and prevent them from being hurt. The earthquake kits should have sufficient glow sticks, flashlights, and personal lights for the group to illuminate general as well as hazardous areas.
Putting together an office earthquake kit is a tough task that needs a lot of time and intensive thought. Fortunately, there are many retail and online stores that sell pre-made earthquake kits tailored to fit the needs of different workplace. It is also an economical option and can be chosen depending upon the size of your office and the total number of employees. It is always critical to be prepared for safety of all employees and have an emergency plan that all employees should know.
