Overcoming Complacency:Making Workplace Emergency Preparedness Campaigns Stick

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2019

Workplace safety is often taken for granted. Emergency plans are generally ignored, rarely discussed in meetings, and infrequently exercised. Why? Because we are too busy. In response to this complacency, the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) initiated a Workplace Emergency Preparedness Campaign focusing first on active shooter incidents. All HHS staff participated in a four-hour Citizen’s Response to Active Shooter and Hazards Training. HHS Brief Emergency Action Plans (EAP) were developed. Standardized HHS “EAP Go Packs” were created and placed at staff exists. An HHS Safety Representative Quarterly Meeting was convened to bring representatives from the six HHS divisions together to better address common issues and share solutions. An active shooter tabletop exercise was developed and conducted among teams in each HHS division to facilitate active shooter incident discussions. In partnership with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, an active shooter functional exercise was conducted in a county building housing three different county departments. Over the course of this ongoing campaign, we have (1) provided comprehensive staff training, (2) improved communication and emergency planning, (3) standardized emergency response materials, and (4) enhanced readiness through active shooter tabletop and functional exercises.