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Emergency Action Plans Under OSHA 1910.38
By Noah Navarro, Retired Firefighter · Updated August 4, 2026 · 4 min read
The emergency action plan is where a workplace writes down what everyone does when the alarm sounds. OSHA sets the floor for what it must contain.
An emergency action plan is required under 29 CFR 1910.38 when another OSHA standard requires one, and many workplaces maintain one because their extinguisher and alarm arrangements require it. The plan covers, at minimum: how fires get reported, evacuation procedures and exit route assignments, procedures for any employees who stay briefly to shut down critical operations, accounting for everyone after evacuation, any rescue and medical duties, and who to contact about the plan. Employers with more than ten employees keep it in writing; the smallest shops may communicate it orally.
When a plan is required
1910.38 applies when another OSHA standard requires an emergency action plan, and several common ones do, including the portable extinguisher rule when employers choose total evacuation. In practice, many employers maintain an EAP because their extinguisher and alarm arrangements require one, and because the alternative, improvising an evacuation, defends nothing.
The minimum elements
| Element | What it covers | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting | How employees report a fire or emergency | Alarm, phone, whatever the plan names |
| Evacuation | Procedures, routes, and exit assignments | The map on the wall comes from here |
| Accounting | How everyone gets counted after the evacuation | Assembly points and head counts |
| Critical operations | Procedures for employees who remain briefly to shut down critical equipment | Then they leave too |
| Rescue and medical | Duties, where employees are assigned any | Most plans assign these to responders |
| Contacts | Who can explain the plan and its duties | A name, reachable |
Written vs oral
Eleven or more employees: the plan is written and available for review. Ten or fewer: the rule allows oral communication of the plan. Written wins everywhere it can, because the plan is also the record.
Keeping it real
☐ Review the plan when employees are first assigned, when their duties change, and whenever the plan itself changes
☐ Keep routes current through renovations
☐ Drill where your occupancy or accreditor requires it, and after real changes
☐ Name the assembly points precisely
☐ Update the contacts before they retire
The EAP and the fire watch
The workplace’s standing answer: who reports, who moves, who counts.
The impairment-time addition: human detection while systems are down.
The watch plugs into the EAP’s notification chain; the site briefing connects them.
EAP questions
No. The fire prevention plan under 1910.39 handles hazards before ignition; the EAP handles the emergency. Many workplaces need both, and they reference each other.
The guard’s post orders incorporate it: your reporting method, your assembly points, your accounting. That is what the site briefing is for.
OSHA, through inspections and after incidents. The plan you actually train beats the plan that only exists in a binder.
Impairment testing your plan?
Firefighter-run fire watch guards on site in under 3 hours, nationwide. Call 1-800-899-7524.
Educational summary, not legal advice. Your emergency plan, your AHJ, and the adopted code edition govern. NFPA® standards are copyrighted publications of the National Fire Protection Association. The Fast Fire Watch Company is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NFPA, the ICC, or OSHA.
Last updated: August 2026