OSHA Emergency Action Plan Requirements (2026 Guide)

What does an OSHA emergency action plan have to include?

Short answer: An OSHA emergency action plan (EAP) under 29 CFR 1910.38 must contain six minimum elements: procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency; evacuation procedures with exit-route assignments; procedures for employees who stay to operate critical plant operations before evacuating; procedures to account for all employees after evacuation; procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties; and the name or job title of a contact for questions about the plan. The plan must be written, kept in the workplace, and available for review — except that an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate it orally.

Emergency action plan requirements sit at the center of a web of OSHA standards: 1910.38 defines the plan itself, the alarm that triggers it must meet 1910.165, the exit routes it assigns are governed by 1910.36 and 1910.37, and the decision it forces about fire extinguishers — evacuate everyone, or designate users — determines which parts of 1910.157 apply to you. This guide is written for the safety manager or office administrator who owns that document: the six required elements in practical terms, the oral-plan exception, the alarm and training duties, the three moments OSHA requires a plan review, and how the EAP decision reshapes your extinguisher program — with a worked example of standing up a compliant plan for a small facility.

Why this matters.
1910.38(a) requires an emergency action plan "whenever an OSHA standard in this part requires one" — and the standards that do include the fire-extinguisher rule most workplaces use to avoid extinguisher training duties: under 1910.157(b), the exemptions from extinguisher distribution and annual training exist only for employers whose written plan requires total and immediate evacuation, or designates who fights fires and evacuates everyone else. No compliant EAP, no exemption — the extinguisher duties snap back in full.

When is an emergency action plan required, and must it be written?

1910.38(a) ties the duty to other standards: an EAP is required whenever a standard in Part 1910 says so. In practice the trigger most employers meet is 1910.157 — electing the evacuation-based exemptions from the extinguisher rules requires an EAP — and others include process safety management (1910.119), HAZWOPER (1910.120), and several substance-specific standards. Under (b), the plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review; the one exception is the small-shop rule: an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally instead of writing it down. Ten workers is also roughly where informal "everyone knows what to do" breaks — the written document is worth having before OSHA requires it.

The six required elements, in practical terms

The alarm, the evacuation wardens, and the three review triggers

Three supporting duties complete the standard. Alarm — (d): the employer must have and maintain an employee alarm system that uses "a distinctive signal for each purpose" and complies with 1910.165 — a fire alarm must not sound like the shift bell. Designated evacuees — (e): the employer must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation — the "evacuation warden" role most plans assign per floor or department. Review — (f): the plan must be reviewed with each employee at three moments: when the plan is developed or the employee is initially assigned to a job ((f)(1)), when the employee's responsibilities under the plan change ((f)(2)), and when the plan itself changes ((f)(3)). An annual all-hands refresher is good practice, but these three triggers are the legal minimum — and a new hire on day one is already inside (f)(1).

How the EAP decision reshapes your fire extinguisher program

The most consequential sentence in most EAPs is the fire policy, because 1910.157(b) hangs its exemptions on it:

• Total-evacuation policy — (b)(1). If the written fire safety policy requires immediate and total evacuation on the fire alarm, and extinguishers are not provided for employee use, the employer is exempt from 1910.157's requirements (unless another standard mandates extinguishers). Everyone leaves; nobody fights fire.
• Designated-user model — (b)(2). If the EAP designates specific employees authorized to use extinguishers and requires everyone else to evacuate immediately, the employer is exempt from the distribution rules in (d) — but the designated users must be trained at assignment and at least annually under (g)(4).
• Extinguishers for everyone. Keep extinguishers available to all employees and the full standard applies: travel distances of 75 feet or less to a Class A extinguisher and 50 feet for Class B hazard areas ((d)(2), (d)(4)), monthly visual inspections and an annual maintenance check ((e)(2), (e)(3)), and annual education for all users ((g)(2)). The hardware side of that program — classes, ratings, and monthly checks — is covered in our Fire extinguisher classes explained, Fire extinguisher ratings explained, and Fire extinguisher inspection guide references, with hardware in the fire extinguishers collection.

Whichever model the plan adopts, write it explicitly. The common citation pattern is a plan that says "evacuate immediately" while extinguishers hang on every wall with no training program behind them — the presence of extinguishers employees are permitted to use creates the education duty in (g)(1)-(g)(2).

Worked example: standing up an EAP for a 40-person facility

Here is the build sequence for a single-building shop or office adopting the designated-user model:

1. Draft the six elements. Write the reporting procedure (pull-station plus 911), the evacuation map with primary and secondary exit routes per area, the critical-operations list (compressor shutdown by the maintenance lead — or "none"), the assembly-point roll-call procedure, the rescue-and-medical section naming the first-aid-trained staff, and a contact job title. Keep it under five pages; a plan nobody reads protects nobody.
2. Declare the fire policy and equip it. Designate two trained extinguisher users per shift under 1910.157(b)(2); everyone else evacuates. Mount extinguishers per the travel-distance rules — a mounting-bracket pair like the Amzboom fire extinguisher 2-pack with mounting brackets covers two anchor points from the ABC dry chemical line (kitchen areas take a K-class unit from the kitchen K-class extinguishers collection), and the designated users train annually on the PASS technique per How to use a fire extinguisher.
3. Stage the rescue-and-medical hardware the plan cites. An ANSI-class kit sized for headcount — the First Aid Only 91248 OSHA 50-person kit covers this example's roster (sizing logic in Which first aid kit do you need) — plus an AED from the AEDs collection in a marked wall cabinet (see the Zipowey AED cabinet review), with pads and batteries current via AED accessories.
4. Verify the alarm and assign wardens. Confirm the alarm gives a distinctive fire signal per 1910.165, is audible over shop noise, and designate one evacuation warden per area under (e), trained on sweep routes and the roll-call handoff.
5. Review, drill, and date it. Review the plan with every employee now ((f)(1)), run a walk-through drill to the assembly point, log attendance, and diary the two standing triggers — any change in an employee's plan duties ((f)(2)) and any change to the plan ((f)(3)) — plus the extinguisher program's monthly visual and annual maintenance cycle.

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Frequently asked questions about emergency action plans

What are the six required elements of an emergency action plan?

Under 1910.38(c): procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency; procedures for emergency evacuation including type of evacuation and exit route assignments; procedures for employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before evacuating; procedures to account for all employees after evacuation; procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties; and the name or job title of every employee who may be contacted for more information about the plan.

Does an emergency action plan have to be written?

Yes, with one exception: 1910.38(b) requires the plan to be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review — but an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally. The moment headcount hits 11, the oral option disappears.

When does OSHA require an emergency action plan?

Whenever another OSHA standard in Part 1910 requires one, per 1910.38(a). The most common trigger is the fire-extinguisher standard: claiming either 1910.157(b) exemption — total evacuation or designated users — requires a compliant EAP. Process safety, HAZWOPER, and several substance-specific standards also require one.

Who can employees contact with questions about the plan?

The plan must name that person: (c)(6) requires "the name or job title of every employee who may be contacted" for more information. Listing a job title — safety coordinator, office manager — keeps the plan compliant through staff turnover without a formal revision.

What is the difference between an emergency action plan and a fire prevention plan?

They are separate documents under separate standards. The EAP (1910.38) covers response — reporting, evacuating, accounting, rescue. The fire prevention plan (1910.39) covers prevention — major fire hazards, ignition-source controls, housekeeping of flammable waste, and maintenance of heat-producing equipment. Many workplaces need both.

Do small businesses need an emergency action plan?

If a standard requiring an EAP applies to them, yes — size does not remove the duty. The relief small employers get is the format: 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally under 1910.38(b) rather than maintaining a written document.

What does the employee alarm system requirement mean?

1910.38(d) requires an alarm system that uses a distinctive signal for each purpose and complies with 1910.165 — the fire evacuation signal must be recognizably different from any other signal in use (shift change, break, severe weather), audible or perceivable above ambient conditions everywhere employees work.

How often must an emergency action plan be reviewed with employees?

At three defined moments under 1910.38(f): when the plan is developed or the employee is initially assigned to the job, when the employee's responsibilities under the plan change, and when the plan is changed. There is no fixed annual-review requirement in 1910.38 itself, but an annual refresher plus drills is the standard way employers prove the (e) training duty is real.

Can employees be required to fight fires under an EAP?

An EAP can designate employees authorized to use portable extinguishers on incipient fires under 1910.157(b)(2) — those employees must be trained at initial assignment and at least annually under (g)(4). Everyone else must evacuate immediately. A plan may also prohibit all firefighting under the (b)(1) total-evacuation model, in which case extinguisher-use training is not required at all.

How far can an employee be from a fire extinguisher?

Where extinguishers are provided for employee use: 75 feet or less travel distance for Class A protection and 50 feet or less from Class B hazard areas, per 1910.157(d)(2) and (d)(4). Ratings and what they mean on the label are decoded in Fire extinguisher ratings explained.

Does the EAP require first aid supplies or an AED?

1910.38(c)(5) requires procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties — the plan defines who responds and with what. First-aid kit contents are driven by ANSI/ISEA Z308.1 classes and workplace headcount (see the OSHA first aid kits collection); AEDs are not mandated by 1910.38 but slot naturally into the (c)(5) section, with CPR supplies from the CPR rescue supplies collection.

What are evacuation wardens and are they required?

1910.38(e) requires the employer to "designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees" — the warden role. The standard does not fix a ratio; assigning one per floor, department, or shift, trained on sweep routes and the assembly-point roll call, is the accepted way to satisfy it.

Where should the assembly point be in an evacuation plan?

The standard leaves placement to the employer, but the (c)(4) accounting duty drives the choice: far enough from the building to be safe and clear of responding apparatus, fixed and named in the plan, with a defined roll-call owner per group so a missing person is reported to responders in minutes, not discovered later.

Does a home-based or retail business need fire extinguishers at all?

Workplaces electing the 1910.157(b)(1) total-evacuation model with no extinguishers provided are exempt from the extinguisher standard unless another rule mandates them. For premises that do keep them — most do — selection by hazard class is covered in Best fire extinguisher for home and the workplace first aid kits collection pairs with them for the response side.

What triggers a plan update?

Anything that invalidates an element: a new exit-route layout, a process that adds critical-operations shutdown steps, turnover in designated extinguisher users or wardens, or a change in the fire policy itself. Each plan change then triggers the (f)(3) employee review — the plan and its training stay synchronized by design.

Further reading on this site

• Fire extinguisher classes explained — A/B/C/D/K classes for the extinguisher decision every EAP must make.
• Fire extinguisher ratings explained — decoding the 2A:10B:C label when sizing units to travel distances.
• Fire extinguisher inspection guide — the monthly visual and annual maintenance cycle 1910.157(e) requires.
• How to use a fire extinguisher — PASS training material for designated users.
• Which first aid kit do you need — ANSI class and size selection for the rescue-and-medical section.
• AEDs — defibrillators for the (c)(5) medical-response station.