We have read hundreds of emergency plans, and most fail the same test: nobody remembers page 14 at 2am with an alarm screaming. A plan that works fits on one laminated card and answers four questions.
1. Who Decides?
Name one decision-maker per shift — not a committee. When the alarm sounds, that person owns the next ten minutes: evacuate or investigate, call police or stand down.
2. Who Is Called, In What Order?
Three names, three numbers, printed large: control room, manager, emergency services. Test the numbers quarterly; half the plans we audit contain a disconnected line.
3. Where Does Everyone Go?
One muster point, one alternative, both marked on the card with a sketch. Staff should be able to point at both without thinking.
4. What Gets Written Down?
Time, what was seen, what was done — three lines, filled in before the shift ends. Memory fades by morning; the log is what insurers and police actually read.