What you should know

- There are many different types of emergencies that we might encounter in the workplace. Fires, threats, natural disasters, medical emergencies, too many to cover all the specifics in a single course. Instead, this course is about covering the basics and knowing how to act in an emergency to keep yourself and others safe. I'll focus on three basic elements of emergency preparedness in the workplace. One, thinking ahead and having a plan that will keep you safe in an emergency. Two, knowing how and when to get help. And three, understanding fire safety. Every workplace is different. Every facility has different hazards, procedures, and unique features. In some workplaces like construction sites, all of those can change on a daily basis. This is why it's important to think about these things in advance and ask yourself questions that pertain to your workplace, like, do I know what to do in an earthquake and are there some areas that would become more dangerous than others that I need to get away from? Do I know how to get out in an emergency? Is there more than one exit and where does it lead? If I have to call for help, do I know how to get first responders here? These are all really important things to think about before you really need to use the answers. Emergencies such as natural disasters are dependent on your geographic location, and you should consider that if you travel frequently. For example, in my home state, I'm not really concerned about what to do during an earthquake, but when I travel here to our recording studios, I'm in the heart of earthquake country and I need to understand what that means so I can keep myself safe and not endanger others. As I go through this course. Keep that last statement about not endangering others in mind. This needs to be part of the plan as well. Back to that earthquake scenario, we had one here when I was out recording and I knew what to do because I had reviewed the procedures in the past, so I was able to recall what I needed to do. But after that, the other team members here also knew what to do in their specific areas to ensure the continued safety of everyone else. The studios have lots of hanging lights and temporary structures, and the people responsible for them quickly jumped into action to keep us out of the studios until everything was inspected. When we work in a facility with other people, it's always important to consider our coworkers and colleagues as well as ourselves. Medical situations and fires are two types of emergencies that can occur anywhere. The potential may be greater in some types of facilities, but people in any workplace can get injured or have medical conditions that require help. And fires don't just occur in places like manufacturing facilities, labs, shops, and even the office kitchen or common sources of fires. So everyone needs to understand what to do because seconds can count. I've also provided a handout with some additional information and resources where you can go to find more. It's located in the Exercise Files tab of this course. With these things in mind, let's jump in and talk about emergency preparedness.