Jenkins Academy of Applied Technology

EAP-001-CON — Learner reference

Emergency Action Plans and Evacuation · v1.0.0 · October 22, 2026

Learn how to report an emergency, follow alarms, use safe escape routes and check in. Understand shelter actions, assigned roles and when the plan needs review. This construction track includes ten lessons. Allow about 30–45 minutes at your own pace. Your employer adds the actual site plan and role instruction.

The employer must complete the actual site plan review, usable alarm and route arrangements, accountability, assigned assistant training and any specialist role instruction. The online result does not establish that workplace evidence or authorize emergency response.

1. Start with your workplace plan

By the end: Explain what the course covers and what you still need to learn at the site.

You arrive for your first shift. You know what an emergency action plan is, but you do not know the alarm or where to meet outside. A course pass cannot fill those gaps. Ask for the actual site plan review before relying on a route or taking an assigned role.

An emergency action plan, or EAP, explains what people must do in an emergency. It covers reporting, escape routes, head counts, special duties and who can explain the plan. The employer must decide which emergencies and rules apply to the real work.

This track uses the federal construction EAP rule, 1926.35. That rule applies when a particular OSHA standard requires an EAP. The plan must address the actions needed for fire and other emergencies. Construction also has fire protection, alarm and clear-exit duties.

A required plan is normally written, kept at work and available for employee review. An employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate it orally under these EAP provisions. That exception concerns the form of the plan. Workers still need the plan and the required review.

This is a worker knowledge course. It does not train you to enter a dangerous area, fight fires or give medical care. Your employer provides the site details and training for any special role. Ask which State Plan, local or employer requirements also apply. Use lesson audio in a safe place.

Basis: 1926.35(a), (e)

2. Find the six parts that guide your actions

By the end: Locate the plan information you need for your assigned work.

A useful plan answers six questions. How do I report a fire or other emergency? Where and how do I leave? Who, if anyone, stays briefly for a critical operation? How are people counted? Who has rescue or medical duties? Who can explain the plan?

Read the parts that apply to your job and work area. Find the current route map or route instructions, meeting point and contact details. A template with blanks is not the site plan. An outdated map can send people toward a blocked door or a changed work area.

Ask what each emergency signal means. Find out who gives instructions and who acts as backup when that person is absent. Know how to receive updates if normal power, phones or the usual contact are unavailable.

On a construction site, confirm the current floor, work zone, stairs, gates and responder entrance. Ask how your employer’s plan fits with the site plan and other trades. A route can change as the project changes.

Use clear words and ask questions. Explain the steps back to the trainer in your own words. Tell the employer if you need another language, a different format or an agreed way to receive a warning. A signature by itself does not show that the instructions can be used.

Basis: 1926.35(b)

3. Recognize the warning and report the emergency

By the end: Use the site reporting method and act on the correct warning.

A horn sounds during work. One person thinks it means leave; another thinks it means stop deliveries. That confusion must be fixed before an emergency. Learn the signal for each action and the site method for reporting a fire or other urgent hazard.

Know how to raise the alarm and contact emergency services from a safe place. Follow the site procedure. For a life-threatening emergency, do not delay an emergency call while seeking a supervisor’s permission. Tell the dispatcher the actual location, what happened and the safest known access point.

Useful location details include the street address, building, floor, work zone and gate. Give your callback number and the hazards or injuries you know about. Say when information is uncertain. Follow dispatcher instructions without putting yourself back in danger.

Construction fire protection rules require an alarm system so workers on the site and the local fire department can be alerted. The reporting code and instructions must be posted as required. Learn the actual system for the current work zone; a distant horn or weak phone signal may not reach everyone.

Report a missed or confusing warning, including a problem with noise, hearing protection, language or access needs. Use the agreed backup method when the normal system is unavailable. An alarm stopping is not by itself an all-clear. Do not assume an unannounced alarm is only a test.

Basis: 1926.35(c); 1926.150(e)

4. Use a safe route and handle a blocked exit

By the end: Choose the planned safe route without moving into a known hazard.

Walk your assigned routes before an emergency, when it is safe to do so. Identify an alternate route and the final exit to a safe place. Learn the plan for your floor or work area. A familiar entrance is not always the best escape route.

When told to evacuate, leave promptly by a safe route under the plan. Leave belongings behind. Keep passages, stairs and doors clear. Do not stop to collect tools or finish routine paperwork. Follow the building’s emergency instructions for stairs and lifts; do not choose an ordinary elevator during a fire evacuation.

If the route is blocked by smoke, fire, a spill or a physical obstruction, do not force your way through the hazard. Use a safe alternate route under the plan. Tell the coordinator what is blocked when you can do so safely. Help others avoid the route without standing in danger.

If you cannot safely get out, follow the site’s emergency instructions for that situation. Contact emergency services or the designated emergency contact from your safest available location. Give your exact position and what prevents escape. Do not enter an unknown hazard to search for a shortcut.

Temporary stairs, scaffolds, excavations and moving equipment can change access on a project. A site gate may also be a responder entrance. Report a blocked or changed route before work starts and whenever it changes.

Basis: 1926.34; 1926.35(b)(1), (d)

5. Check in and report missing people

By the end: Use the head-count process without creating an unsafe search.

Leaving the work area is only part of the plan. Go to the assigned assembly point and check in with the person doing the count. A person who leaves without checking in may be reported missing, even when safely at home.

Tell the coordinator if you moved to another safe location because the meeting point was unsafe. Use the planned alternate point or communication method. Keep roads, fire lanes and responder access clear. Stay available for instructions and tell the coordinator before leaving.

The count should account for employees under the plan. Site arrangements should also address visitors, contractors and others who may be present. A host’s visitor list and an employer’s roster may need to be reconciled. Do not report a complete count just because the usual crew appears present.

If someone is missing, report the name, last known location and any useful facts. Be clear about what you saw and what you only heard. Do not re-enter or send an untrained person to search. Give the information to the coordinator and responders.

Wait for the authorized all-clear and re-entry instructions. A quiet alarm, an unlocked door or a coworker’s message is not enough. Conditions may still be unsafe even when no smoke is visible. The site process must connect re-entry with the responsible authority’s clearance.

Basis: 1926.35(b)(3); OSHA evacuation guidance

6. Know when the plan calls for shelter

By the end: Distinguish evacuation from shelter actions for the actual hazard.

Not every emergency calls for going outside. A fire inside may call for evacuation, while an outside hazard or severe weather may call for a different action. Learn the hazard-specific signals and instructions in your site plan before an event.

Shelter in place means staying in or moving to a place chosen for the hazard. A storm shelter may not be the right place for an outside chemical leak. Follow the site plan and current safety messages. One room is not the answer to every hazard.

Learn how to reach the shelter, check in and get updates. Include people who work outside, visitors and those who need help. Stay clear of the danger area. Keep the planned way to call for help ready to use.

Only assigned, trained people should change building systems. Do not shut off gas, power, fire systems or air flow on your own. Each action needs a safe method that fits the hazard. A general course cannot give those steps for every site.

If you face danger or cannot reach the shelter safely, use the site emergency instructions. Tell the emergency contact where you are and what is wrong. Do not pass through the hazard just to reach the normal shelter or meeting point.

Basis: OSHA evacuation and emergency-preparedness guidance; 1926.35(d)

7. Stay within your assigned emergency role

By the end: Recognize the limits on shutdown, rescue, medical and firefighting actions.

A worker sees a leaking container while leaving. Another asks for help moving it. If your role is to evacuate, continue to safety and report the hazard. Taking a short online course does not prepare you to handle an uncontrolled release.

The plan must address workers who stay briefly to run a critical process before they leave. Only people assigned and trained for that task should do it. They need a safe method, clear limits and a way out. They must know when to stop the task and leave. Saving a machine must not come before safe escape.

Rescue and medical tasks need people with the right role, training and gear. Calling for help is not the same as entering danger or giving care. Give a clear location. Do not enter smoke, a confined space or another unsafe area to try a rescue.

Learn the fire policy: who leaves and who may use fire equipment. An extinguisher on the wall does not give every worker a role in fighting fires. Fire, chemical response and first-aid duties have their own training and work plans. This course does not replace them.

If asked to take a role you do not know, explain the gap and use the emergency contact. During an event, protect yourself, call for the right help and follow your assigned safe steps. The head count must also cover people assigned to stay briefly before leaving.

Basis: 1926.35(b)(2), (b)(4); applicable role-specific standards

8. Plan help before it is needed

By the end: Explain what evacuation assistants and assistance arrangements must address.

Before implementing a required construction EAP, the employer must name and train enough people to help workers leave safely and in order. A name on a list is not the same as that training.

Helpers need to learn their actual areas, routes, signals, head-count tasks and role limits. Plan for each shift and for days when someone is away. Review changes to work zones. Helpers must know when to stop a task and leave danger.

Discuss needs before an emergency and respect privacy. Ask the person what help works. Agree on the method, safe route and a backup helper. Do not assume a worker can hear a horn, use stairs or understand a spoken message.

Special gear or ways to move people need the right equipment, training and safe practice. Do not invent a carry or use a forklift as a rescue platform. Do not enter danger to finish a room check. Report a room you cannot check safely or a person who is missing.

Visitors and new workers need clear steps too. Use words and formats they can understand. This lesson explains the role. The employer must teach and check the real helper duties and any special methods before assigning them.

Basis: 1926.35(e)(1); OSHA evacuation guidance

9. Review the plan when conditions change

By the end: Identify required review triggers and use practice to find gaps.

The construction EAP rule requires plan review when the plan is first made. Review is also required when assigned actions or duties change and when the plan changes. When a worker first gets an assignment, review the parts needed for that worker’s safety.

A moved assembly point, closed stair or new shutdown role can require new instructions now. Do not keep using the old arrangement until a routine refresher date. Ask for the changed steps before relying on them.

These federal EAP sections do not set one universal annual refresher or drill interval. Other applicable requirements or the employer’s policy may add one. Follow the actual schedule and the change triggers. An annual class does not replace a needed review today.

Planned drills and safe walk-throughs can test whether the steps work. Follow the drill leader’s safety rules. Do not create smoke, block exits or put people in danger to make a drill seem real. Use the real emergency steps if an actual event occurs.

After practice, discuss what helped and what made the steps hard to use. A missed alarm, unclear message or slow count can show what needs to change. Assign each fix and check that it works. Update the plan and review the changes with the people who need them.

Basis: 1926.35(e)(2)–(3); OSHA preparedness guidance

10. Put the plan into practice

By the end: Use the actual site plan to show the actions needed for your work.

Before you rely on the plan, explain five things without guessing: how you raise the alarm, what the signals mean, which safe route you use, where you check in and what your role allows. Ask the trainer to correct unclear steps.

Use the workplace worksheet with the employer. Fill it with the actual site, current plan version, contact, routes and meeting points. The employer should check the information and observe a safe walk-through or other suitable demonstration. Do not mark a step complete just because it appears in this course.

For a new project phase, check the current access and responder gate, other employers, changing levels and areas, temporary alarms and the latest roster. A prior project’s orientation does not establish those details.

Consider this situation: the normal route is blocked, a visitor needs directions and someone is missing from the count. Use a safe alternate, direct the visitor within your role, then give the coordinator the missing person’s last known location. Do not turn the count into an unplanned rescue.

Your online result records the knowledge checks and final assessment. The employer keeps the actual plan review, assistant training, practice findings and corrections through its own process. Use the current plan and seek help when the work changes. Take the final assessment after you finish each practice check.

Basis: 1926.35; actual employer plan and assigned-role requirements

Sources

Federal sources reviewed October 22, 2026. Confirm the actual work, jurisdiction and applicable additional requirements. OSHA guidance supports planning; it is distinguished from mandatory standard text.