Emergency Action Plans
Built to Be Used, Not Filed
Most emergency plans in Sioux Falls exist to satisfy someone — an insurer, a landlord, a checklist. They sit in a binder nobody has opened since the day it was printed, listing a coordinator who left three years ago and an evacuation route that now ends at a wall. We write emergency action plans that hold up when the alarm actually sounds: OSHA-aligned, specific to your building and your people, and short enough that a night-shift employee can act on it without reading twelve pages first.
Four Ways In, Depending on What You Have
Plan Creation
Nothing on paper yet. We start with a walk-through of the facility, map the exits and assembly areas against how the building is actually used, interview the people who would be running the response, and build the plan from that. Deliverable is a written document plus posted route maps and a one-page action card per role.
Plan Review
You have a plan and want to know whether it holds. We audit it against the OSHA standard and, more usefully, against reality — walking the routes it names, calling the numbers it lists, checking whether the people assigned still work there. You get a written gap assessment with findings ranked by consequence, not by page order.
Complete Rewrite
The plan is too far gone to patch. We keep what still works, discard the boilerplate that was never true for your site, and rebuild the rest: current contacts, corrected routes, realistic procedures, accountability method that matches your headcount and shift structure. Same document, rebuilt to be executable.
Drills & Training
A plan nobody has rehearsed is a document, not a capability. We brief general staff, run deeper sessions for floor wardens and designated responders, and facilitate tabletop exercises where your leadership finds the gaps themselves. Full evacuation drills observed and written up in an after-action report.
What OSHA Actually Asks For
South Dakota private employers fall under federal OSHA — there is no separate state plan to reconcile, which simplifies things. The governing standard is 29 CFR 1910.38, and it is triggered whenever another OSHA standard requires it: fixed extinguishing systems, fire detection systems, hazardous waste operations, and process safety management all pull it in. Employers with ten or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally instead of in writing, but the plan still has to exist and still has to cover every element below.
- Reporting procedures. How an employee reports a fire or other emergency, and to whom.
- Evacuation procedures. Type of evacuation and specific exit route assignments, not a generic instruction to leave the building.
- Critical operations shutdown. Procedures for employees who stay behind to shut down equipment before they evacuate.
- Accountability. A method to account for every employee after evacuation, which is where most plans quietly fail.
- Rescue and medical duties. Procedures for employees assigned to perform them.
- Named contacts. Name or job title of every employee who can be contacted for more information about the plan.
- Alarm system. An alarm that is distinctive, recognizable, and perceivable above ambient noise and light levels in every occupied area.
Meeting the minimum and having a usable plan are different achievements. A document can satisfy every line above and still be worthless at 2:14 on a Tuesday morning, because it was written to be filed rather than read. That gap is the whole reason this service exists.
Where Plans Break in the Real World
The Binder Plan
Written by a template vendor who never visited the site. Generic evacuation language, a floor plan that does not match the building, and a coordinator role assigned to a job title that no longer exists on the org chart. Passes a paperwork audit. Fails a real evacuation.
The Working Plan
Routes walked and verified. Contacts called and confirmed. Accountability method that matches how your shifts are actually staffed. One-page action cards posted where the people who need them will see them. Rehearsed at least once so the first time is not the real time.
The Five Failures We Find Most Often
Stale contact chains
Phone numbers for people who left, a general manager line that rolls to a disconnected extension, and no alternate for the one person who holds every key decision. We call every number in the plan during a review. It is astonishing how many do not connect.
Routes that no longer exist
Buildings get remodeled. A door becomes a wall, a corridor becomes storage, a stairwell gets a badge reader nobody thought about. The plan still names the old route because nobody walked it after the renovation.
No workable accountability method
“Supervisors will account for their staff” is not a method. It is a hope. Real accountability needs a roster source, a designated assembly point per group, and a defined way to report a missing person up to incident command within minutes rather than after the fact.
Nothing written for off-hours
Most plans are written for a Tuesday at 10am with full staffing and management on site. The harder scenario is the night shift with four people in the building, no supervisor, and a door alarm nobody can interpret. We write for the thin shift, because that is when it goes wrong.
Threat labels instead of decision trees
A section titled “active shooter” narrows staff thinking to one weapon and one scenario. The decisions an employee faces during a knife attack, a vehicle ramming, or a barricaded hostile are functionally the same. We write the decision tree and let it cover the range.
How an Engagement Runs
Phone scope
Ten minutes on the line. Building count, square footage, headcount, shift structure, whether hazardous materials are on site, and what you already have on paper. You get a price range before anyone drives out.
Site walk
We walk the building the way an evacuating employee would, not the way a floor plan suggests. Exits, assembly areas, alarm audibility in the loud rooms, accessibility constraints, and the spots where people actually are at 3am.
Draft and revision
You get a draft with the reasoning visible, not a black box. One revision cycle is included; we would rather argue about a procedure now than discover the disagreement during an incident.
Delivery and briefing
Final document, posted route maps, and one-page role cards. A staff briefing session is included with plan creation and rewrite engagements. Tabletop exercises and observed drills are scoped separately.
Annual review
Nothing in the standard forces a periodic audit, which is precisely why plans rot. We will put you on an annual review cycle if you want one — a short revisit that catches the departed coordinator and the remodeled corridor before they matter.
Properties We Write For
- Warehouse and light industrial. Forklift traffic, tall racking, and loud floors where alarm audibility is a genuine engineering question rather than a checkbox.
- Multi-tenant office and retail. Shared egress, split responsibility between landlord and tenant, and the perennial question of who actually owns the assembly point.
- Apartment complexes and HOAs. Residential occupancy changes the entire accountability model — you cannot roll-call residents, so the plan has to work differently.
- Construction sites. Changing site geometry week to week, subcontractor headcount that nobody centrally tracks, and phase-dependent hazards.
- Storage facilities. Largely unstaffed, customer traffic at odd hours, and long drive aisles that complicate both egress and emergency vehicle access.
- Small business with one location. Ten or fewer employees means you may communicate the plan orally, but you still need one that is right.
Emergency Action Plans, Answered
Is an emergency action plan legally required for my business?
For most employers it is. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38 requires a written emergency action plan whenever another OSHA standard triggers one — fixed extinguishing systems, fire detection systems, hazardous waste operations, and process safety management all pull the requirement in. Employers with ten or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally rather than in writing, but the plan itself still has to exist and still has to cover the same elements. South Dakota operates under federal OSHA for private employers, so the federal standard applies directly here with no separate state plan to reconcile.
What has to be in the plan for it to satisfy OSHA?
The standard names six minimum elements: 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 they evacuate; 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. Meeting the minimum is not the same as having a usable plan, which is where most documents fall down.
How long does it take to get a plan built?
A single-site plan for a small commercial property typically runs two to three weeks from the initial walk-through to the delivered document. That includes the site visit, a review of your existing documentation and floor plans, drafting, and one revision cycle with you. Multi-building campuses and facilities with hazardous processes take longer because the assessment work is heavier. If you are under a deadline from an insurer, a landlord, or a regulator, say so up front and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable.
What does a plan review cost compared to a full rewrite?
A review is a fixed-scope engagement: we read what you have, walk the facility, and deliver a written gap assessment against the standard and against practical usability. A rewrite is scoped on the size of the facility and the condition of the existing document. Because pricing depends on square footage, building count, headcount, and whether hazardous materials are on site, we quote after the walk-through rather than from a price list. Call (605) 223-8100 and we will give you a range on the phone before anyone drives out.
My plan was written years ago and nothing has changed. Does it still need review?
Almost certainly. Plans go stale in ways that are invisible until the day you need them. Phone numbers change. The person listed as the evacuation coordinator left in 2022. A wall went up that closed a route the plan still names as primary. The alarm panel was replaced with a system that behaves differently. OSHA requires the plan be reviewed with employees when it is first developed, when an employee's responsibilities change, and when the plan itself changes — but nothing forces a periodic audit, which is exactly why so many plans quietly rot. Annual review is the practical standard.
Do you cover active threat scenarios?
Yes, and we write them carefully. Language matters here — a plan that says "active shooter" narrows staff thinking to one weapon and one scenario, when the response for a knife attack, a vehicle ramming, or a barricaded hostile is functionally the same set of decisions. We write active threat sections around the decision tree employees actually face rather than around a threat label, and we align the guidance with what Sioux Falls Police and Minnehaha County responders will expect when they arrive.
Will you train our staff on the plan, or just hand us the document?
Both are available and we recommend both. A plan nobody has rehearsed is a document, not a capability. We run briefing sessions for general staff, deeper sessions for floor wardens and designated responders, and facilitated tabletop exercises where your leadership team works a scenario in real time and finds the gaps themselves. Full-scale evacuation drills can be coordinated and observed as well, with a written after-action report.
Can you coordinate the plan with our existing security coverage?
That is one of the reasons to have the same firm do both. When we already run mobile patrol or a stationary post at your property, the emergency plan can name our officers by role, specify what they do during an evacuation, and define how they interface with responding units. Plans written by a consultant who has never met your guard force tend to assume capabilities that do not exist.
Do you write plans for properties outside Sioux Falls?
Yes. We regularly work across the Sioux Falls metro and the surrounding communities — Brandon, Harrisburg, Dell Rapids, Garretson, Valley Springs, and Sherman among them. Sites farther out in eastern South Dakota are handled case by case depending on travel and the scope of the assessment.
Pairs Well With
Is Your Plan Something You'd Bet On?
If you are not sure, that is the answer. A review is a short engagement and it tells you exactly where you stand. Walk the building with us and find out before the alarm does the asking.