Employer Responsibilities For Tornado Season

OSHA expects employers to take precautions in advance of tornado emergencies, including developing an emergency plan, making workers aware of tornado warning signs, practicing with drills, and monitoring tornado watches and warnings.

by, Robert Box, Exclusive to Corridor News

Each year, roughly 800 tornadoes are expected in the United States. Tornadoes can form quickly, and have the potential of being violent and can create winds in excess of 250 miles per hour.

The short warning period, coupled with the potential for excessive injuries and damage caused by tornadoes, require employers to be prepared well in advance of these storms.

According to www.mnn.com, (Mother Nature Network) “…Tornado season tends to move northward from late winter to mid-summer.” For Southern states, March through May is the peak season for tornadoes.

For the Southern Plains, tornadoes are more likely to form from May to the early days of June.  On the Gulf Coast, tornadoes tend to occur during spring months, and in the Northern Plains, Northern states and upper Midwest, tornado season peaks in June or July.

OSHA expects employers to take precautions in advance of tornado emergencies, including developing an emergency plan, making workers aware of tornado warning signs, practicing with drills, and monitoring tornado watches and warnings.

Emergency plans should include suitable tornado shelter locations, worker notification methods, drills, policies to ensure all workers and visitors at the facility are accounted for, and step-by-step procedures for responding to possible hazardous materials issues on site. 

Robert Box, owner of Safety First Consulting, is an exclusive contributor to SM Corridor News and helps businesses identify OSHA compliance issues in their workplaces, manage their safety programs, and we become accountable for the results. In addition to offering custom written safety programs for companies, Safety First Consulting provides required safety training, industrial hygiene sampling, noise sampling, and workplace inspections. You can read more from Robert Box under Business.