Obras Onsite
Free check · site emergency planning

Does your emergency plan actually work?

Most site emergency plans cover fire and evacuation well, and then stop. They do not cover getting somebody out of a trench, off a roof or out of a confined space — which are the emergencies the site is actually most likely to have.

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This is not an approval or a compliance determination. A green result means nothing on this list is outstanding — it is not a sign-off, an audit, or advice that you comply with anything. The decision belongs to the competent person responsible for the work.
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The emergency your plan does not cover

Every site has an evacuation plan. Far fewer have a rescue plan for their own high risk work. A worker suspended in a harness has minutes, not the twenty it takes for an ambulance to find the site and get to level eight. Somebody in a collapsed trench cannot wait either. The test is not whether you have a plan — it is whether the people on site today could actually execute it, with the equipment that is actually here, in the time available.

Questions

Is this an audit of my emergency plan?

No. It is a self-check on coverage. Whether your arrangements are adequate for your site is a determination for the competent person responsible for emergency planning.

What is most commonly missing?

A rescue procedure for the site’s own high risk work — heights, confined space, trenching. The generic evacuation plan is nearly always there; the rescue plan nearly never is.

How often should the plan be tested?

Often enough that the people currently on site have done it, which on a construction job with changing crews is more often than an annual drill. Every time the site layout or the exits change, the plan changes too.

Do we need a diagram as well?

A written plan and a displayed diagram do different jobs. The evacuation diagram builder handles the second.

Related free tools

Evacuation diagram builderThe diagram most sites have not built. Emergency sign generatorThe names and numbers for the shed wall. First aid calculatorHow many first aiders and kits. What is blocking my job?Rescue plans per activity.

A plan nobody can find is not a plan

Obras keeps the emergency plan, the diagram, the warden list and the drill record as controlled documents with QR bands — so the current version is the one on the wall.

See Obras in action Take a free SWMS

This is a practical site-management tool. It is not legal, engineering or regulatory advice and does not guarantee compliance or a satisfactory inspection outcome. Requirements may vary by jurisdiction, project, contract and circumstances.

Want a person to look at it?

The tools above are free and yours to use. When you need the paperwork behind them reviewed by someone who has run sites, Obras HSE Services is a live consulting business in south-east Queensland.