There are federal, state, and local laws regarding what employees must know about their business’s fire alert system. First of all, employees must be aware of the type of emergencies they can expect at a place of business. There will be local guidelines for this.

Emergency Action Plans

You’ll need an emergency action plan for different situations. Emergencies in Chicago center around fires and tornadoes, so you’ll want to make sure to have a detailed plan with employee responsibilities and safety guidelines for both of these. Depending on your business, we’d also advise you to have plans in place for burglaries, thefts, and other possible events. An alarm and monitoring service is recommended for best coverage here.

Employee training should cover their roles and responsibilities in the case of every emergency. What threats might arise in every situation. You don’t have to overwhelm employees with this, and you don’t want to scare them, but do cover these possibilities the same way you would any other element of training.

Equipment & Response

Employees should know where each pull station for a fire alert system is, and where the panic buttons, keypads, or triggers are to alert emergency services to robberies or medical emergencies. They should know how to use these systems, as well as fire extinguishers and fire suppression systems.

Let them know what to tell emergency services, whether it’s a monitoring service calling to check an alarm or they’re making the call in the first place. An employee being able to calmly describe information can make the difference of the few minutes it takes to save your business or not.

They should also know emergency shutdown procedures for machinery. Of course, ensure that there is an escape plan in place that covers every location. You can check local building codes, with local fire departments, or with a fire alert system provider like ourselves to ensure that your business adheres to federal, state, and local regulations for emergencies in Chicago.