Workers didn’t know where to go when tornado hit; six dead

Would your crew members know exactly where to go during an emergency situation?

If you’re not sure, it might be a good time to review the procedures spelled out in your employer’s emergency action plan (EAP).

Such advice comes too late for Amazon, Inc., which recently received a hazard alert letter from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding flaws in its EAP that were exposed in December 2021 when a tornado slammed into its facility in Edwardsville, IL, and killed six employees.

According to the letter, many Amazon crew members didn’t know that they were supposed to go directly to the restroom located in the north end of the facility, which was the designated shelter area. Instead, some folks scurried to the restroom in the south end of the building. All the victims had gone to the south restroom.

OSHA said Amazon’s EAP failed to identify the north restroom as the designated shelter area, and there were no drills to alert everyone to the location of the safe room.

(From the May 23, 2022, issue of Safety Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)