In conjunction with the MIT Environment, Health and Safety Office, MIT Emergency Management works with departments, labs, and centers to develop emergency preparedness plans that encompass evacuation procedures, personal protective actions, and accountability. These plans are crafted to uphold the highest standards for workplace health, safety, and accessibility for people with disabilities, in accordance with OSHA and ADA requirements.

Emergency Preparedness Plans

MIT’s Emergency Preparedness Plan (EPP) program ensures that MIT departments, labs, and centers (DLCs) develop, maintain, and use an emergency plan specific to their DLC’s location, hazards, and personnel. Each DLC must maintain an EPP to ensure the safety and well-being of faculty, staff, students, contractors, and visitors on MIT’s campus, as well as to comply with federal laws and regulations. Although DLCs may have certain hazards that are unique to their activities or location, MIT’s generic EPP is multi-hazard in approach and is intended to serve as a minimum standard for all DLCs across the Institute. The EPP program complies with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (“Clery Act”).

MIT Emergency Management tracks each DLC’s plan to ensure reviews occur biennially, or when major updates/revisions are needed.

Emergency Preparedness Coordinator

Every academic, administrative, and research unit must have in place a responsible Emergency Preparedness Coordinator (EPC). EPCs have a defined role in campus emergency preparedness: they prepare department response plans and coordinate education and planning in this area for department personnel. The EPC serves as the primary liaison between these units and MIT’s safety and emergency response professionals.

In the event of an emergency, the EPCs will play a critical communications role at the local level, advising their colleagues of the circumstances of the situation and the subsequent steps they will need to take. The EPC – and/or their designees – will take an active role in the development and implementation of their respective department’s EPP. Department heads may appoint one or more EPCs depending on the size of the unit, the number of buildings they reside in, and the nature of their work. The unit is responsible for providing MIT Emergency Management with the name(s) of its EPC(s) and the ways to contact him/her.

EPC Responsibilities:

EPP Training & Exercises

Once an EPP is created, training must occur to ensure faculty, staff, and students are aware of the plans and how to react in an emergency.  At MIT, EPP Training is conducted in two phases.

EPC Training

MIT Emergency Management, in collaboration with the EHS Office, will develop and conduct training for EPCs. This training is conducted separately from the DLC faculty/staff/student training, and conducted on an annual cycle. The format for the EPC training is in-person, either one-on-one or in a small group setting.

DLC Training

EPCs may request in-person training for their DLCs that covers the topics of general emergency preparedness and provides participants specific information for their DLC (evacuation routes, assembly areas, hazards, etc.). This is conducted in coordination with MIT Emergency Management.

Frequency

EPCs may choose to provide in-person annual refreshers to their DLC students/faculty/staff. Current staff and employees will be encouraged to complete the training as a refresher every other year. EPCs will be required to take a refresher training on their EPP when it is updated biennially. This will be conducted in coordination with the biennial EPP update.

Exercises

If requested, MIT Emergency Management can assist DLCs with conducting a fire drill or tabletop exercise to test the EPP. The exercises and drills will be conducted in coordination with the EPC and the DLC’s EHS Coordinator. Additionally, MIT Emergency Management may host EPC-focused tabletop exercises as needed.