Some hazardous materials releases may not require a total evacuation of the building. Possibly the best recourse may be to contain the spill to the area of origin and keep employees safely at their desks. Consideration should be taken to be sure that fumes do not escape into the air handling systems or that the material has not been inadvertently tracked out of the area on the soles of shoes or spread in any other way. 

To make these decisions the first place to go is the MSDS. It will provide information that will give guidance on what actions to take. You will need to decide which key people will be responsible for such actions and be sure they are informed of what is expected of them.

Hazards Outside the Building: If the release is outside of your building you may be asked to "protect in place." What that means is that outside air intake and ventilation sources should be shut down and sealed. Usually a heavy-duty tape and thick gauge plastic will do the trick. Keep in mind that emergency workers will prevent traffic in and out of your facility until it is safe for it to resume. Consideration should be taken to provide for the basic needs of the employees until it is safe to leave the building.

Evacuation: If the event is large enough, you may be asked to evacuate the building or even the entire area. It may be a slow steady evacuation, which would allow for time to shut down vital systems and gather personal belongings or it may be an urgent evacuation much like what would occur in the event of a fire. Again, the MSDS will advise what immediate actions you should take and of course the fire department will advise you once we are on the scene.

In the event of a building evacuation you should decide, who needs to stay on the property and who can be dismissed. How will you contact everyone to tell them it is safe to come back to work? If an evacuation of the area around your facility is ordered how will you get everyone out? What about those without vehicles? When the evacuation is complete, should key persons reassemble in a place off site to further handle the situation or will one person keep in touch with the situation and advise the others as things change?

Maintaining Contact with Authorities: As is the case in any emergency, the fire department will attempt to keep a representative from your organization apprised of the situation as it develops and as we are able. It is important to have one contact person for the entire facility to act as representative to emergency workers. While it may be important to your company for all the VPs to know what is going on, only one person should be in contact with emergency services personnel. It should be their responsibility to update the others as necessary.