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Emergency action plans

What are emergency action plans (EAP) and injury and illness prevention plans (IIPP)?

Emergency action plans (EAPs) are required by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) and must be in writing, kept in the workplace and available for employees to review. They are intended as a guide for all University departments, staff, faculty and student assistants on planning for and safely evacuating their workplaces during an emergency.

At UCLA, the EAP is filled out alongside the injury and illness prevention plan (IIPP) as both programs rely on overlapping information. To simplify the process and ease administrative burden, Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) provides all departments with an electronic application for filling out both forms located within our environmental health and safety assistant (EHSA) system.

In addition, All UCLA personnel will need to complete emergency evacuation training. Individuals serving as a departmental safety liaison (DSL) should complete emergency action plan training for department safety liaisons.

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How do I complete the EAP?

UCLA uses Environment, Health and Safety Assistant (EHSA) as its safety database. As of November 2023, both IIPPs and EAPs will be completed using the EHSA application. 

When must I complete/review the EAP?

Similar to the IIPP program, each department will be contacted annually by EH&S and asked to complete the EAP. For simplicity, we are syncing the deadlines for the EAPs with the IIPP renewal deadline. For example, if your department’s IIPP renewal is due in June, your EAP will be due at the same time.   

Additional Resources

Department managers assign department safety liaisons who are responsible for coordinating department emergency preparedness activities. These personnel are often the same as those filling in the departmental injury and illness prevention plan (IIPP). This includes reviewing and updating the department EAP annually and ensuring department staff are trained on the EAP and evacuation procedures.

Each UCLA department EAP contains information to support safe and effective evacuations during an emergency. This information includes: 

  • Contact information
  • Building evacuation routes
  • Emergency assembly areas (EAA)
  • Areas of refuge

Optional sections in the EAP: 

  • List of department staff with special skills that may be leveraged during an emergency (CERT training, first aid, AED/CPR, etc.).
    NOTE: University staff are not required to use their emergency training during an emergency
  • List of self-identified department staff requiring special assistance during an evacuation

If you have questions about standard procedures to follow during an evacuation, you can reference our emergency evacuation frequently asked questions page.

Evacuation routes - Staff are expected to follow evacuation signage, including exit signs, and use stairwells (not elevators) when evacuating their workspace. Most workspaces should have evacuation signage posted indicating the evacuation route to the nearest stairwell leading to the exterior of the building.

Emergency assembly area (EAA) - Pre-designated safe areas away from buildings where occupants can congregate during an evacuation. 

Area of refuge - Locations inside of buildings for individuals who are unable to evacuate to wait for first responders. These are often in stairwells or in enclosed elevator lobbies if designed during construction. Areas of refuge are not break, cop, or office rooms.