Workplace safety and OSHA
Emergency Action and Fire Prevention
Know the alarm, the way out and the fire hazards at your workstation
Awareness · 1.5 hours · Certificate valid 12 months
When an alarm sounds, the people who get out quickly are the ones who already know what the signal means, which way to go, where to report and what not to do. This course teaches the general requirements behind your site's emergency action plan and fire prevention plan, so that your site-specific briefing makes sense and sticks.
You will learn what a workplace emergency is and the minimum elements of an emergency action plan under 29 CFR 1910.38, including when the plan must be written and when your employer must review it with you. You will learn what the employee alarm system must do under 29 CFR 1910.165, what makes an exit route usable under 1910.36 and 1910.37, and how evacuation, critical shutdowns and head counts work. You will learn the fire triangle and fire classes, the fire hazards typical of electronics, aerospace, metal fabrication and warehouse sites, and the content of a fire prevention plan under 29 CFR 1910.39. The last module covers portable fire extinguishers under 29 CFR 1910.157: when to fight and when to leave, the PASS method, monthly and annual checks, and the training the standard requires.
What this course cannot do. It is general awareness training. It does not replace the site-specific review your employer must give you on your own exit routes, assembly point, alarm signals and duties, and it does not replace the hands-on training with real extinguishers that you need if you are designated to fight fires under your site plan. Federal OSHA general industry rules are the baseline; state-plan states such as California may add requirements, and sites outside the US follow their own regulations.
The course closes with a 10-question examination drawn from a bank of 20. On passing you receive a PlanetISO Certificate of Completion for the online instruction, with lifetime access to the course. The certificate is valid for 12 months, because 29 CFR 1910.157(g)(2) requires extinguisher education upon initial employment and at least annually wherever extinguishers are provided for employee use. Federal OSHA sets no fixed refresher interval for the emergency action and fire prevention plan content itself.
What people learn
- Describe the minimum elements of an emergency action plan under 29 CFR 1910.38 and when the plan must be reviewed with you.
- Explain what an employee alarm system must do and what each alarm signal at your site requires of you.
- Recognize a usable exit route and the conditions that make one unsafe, such as locked doors, obstructions and hidden signs.
- Evacuate correctly, including critical shutdowns, alternate routes and reporting at the assembly point for the head count.
- Identify the fire classes and the fire hazards typical of electronics, aerospace, metal fabrication and warehouse sites.
- Describe the elements of a fire prevention plan under 29 CFR 1910.39 and your part in controlling fuel and ignition sources.
- Decide when not to fight a fire, describe the PASS method and explain the extinguisher training and inspection requirements of 29 CFR 1910.157.