Emergency Preparedness

The mission of the Building Safety Captains Program is to train representatives from each campus building in basic emergency response procedures and empower individuals to aid in emergency response situations under the direction of campus safety, emergency management and/or senior leadership.

Building Safety Captains are responsible safety stewards to whom the members of the community can turn to learn about building safety and safety in general.

One of the best uses of the Building Safety Captains is to aid in the promotion of responsible safety stewardship whereby members of the community can learn about what is required of them during an evacuation or other general emergency.  Specific tasks include:

• Communication – point person for building occupants on safety procedures

• Building Safety Stewardship

  • Knowledge of evacuation procedures

  • Share general safety information and plans/procedures (where they exist)

  • General knowledge of potential occupants with access and/or functional needs

  • Reporting of potential safety violations to Facilities Services, such as blocked emergency egress routes. 

  • Assist EH&S in the planning and execution of building fire drills

• Emergency Response

  • At no time, should a Building Safety Captain endanger themselves in the performance of their duties.

  • Serve as point of contact for first responders during an emergency if Public Safety is not already on site

  • If the situational response is to shelter in place, inform and reassure occupants

  • If evacuation is recommended, provide assistance as needed to help direct building occupants to the nearest exit and place of assembly outside the building.

• Hazard Specific Response

  • Where developed, Building Safety Captains will work with Emergency Management to apply hazard specific plans to their building.

  • In most cases, the role of the Building Safety Captains will be to serve as a communicator of information and as a resource to building occupants. For example, in severe weather, the Building Safety Captains may receive information about a storm or weather hazard from Emergency Management that should be distributed to building occupants.

Building Safety Captains will be required to participate in multiple trainings and “table top” exercises to apply the training concepts.  Emergency Management will provide the listed training below, at a minimum, but additional training may be added over time and as appropriate.

• Building Safety Captains program orientation
  • A 1.5-hour session covering the roles and responsibilities of Building Safety Captains, the policies and procedures for Building Safety Captains on general and hazard specific emergencies, and a question and answer session.  Training should be clear that role is important but don’t want to put their lives in danger 
• Annual refresher training
  • This refresher course will be a condensed version of the orientation material and will also provide any updates to the Building Safety Captains that may have taken place since their initial orientation.  Major updates may also be communicated via email or a special session scheduled to communicate the information and relevant procedures or changes to responsibilities.
• Emergency response training
  • In partnership with Emergency Management, the Building Safety Captains will be able to identify the topic(s) for annual table-top exercises --role play scenario(s) based on a hypothetical threat or hazard.
  • With the assistance of Emergency Management, Building Safety Captains will be able to educate members of their buildings about places of assembly for evacuations, after-hours contact information, and procedures for after-hours assistance in the event of an emergency.

The recruitment, replacement, term of service, and indemnification of the building safety captains has been modified, reflective of the overall program revitalization.  

• Recruitment:  
  • Building Safety Captains will be needed for every building on campus where there is programmed space such as: offices, classrooms, labs, athletic, performance, or religious space.
  • Building Safety Captains can be recruited through periodic announcements in the Finance & Administration InBrief and the BUSAC updates or recommended by School and Division leaders.
  • Participation in the program is completely voluntary, similar to community service.  If an appointment is recommended by a Manager, the employee may decline the offer.
  • All initial and renewed appointments will require the permission of the candidate’s immediate supervisor to participate in the program. By providing staff the permission to participate in the program, supervisors will be expected to adjust staff workloads, within reason, to allow Building Safety Captains time to perform their role.  This is estimated to take approximately 5-10 hours per month.
• Replacement:
  • If for any reason a Building Safety Captain is no longer able to perform in this role, they should notify the director of Emergency Management, who will then initiate the process to seek a suitable replacement.
  • If the Building Safety Captain is terminated from employment, the supervisor should notify the director of Emergency Management who will then initiate the process to seek a suitable replacement.
• Terms of service: 
  • All current Building Safety Captains will be given the option of continuing in their role; however, each will require approval from their supervisor as noted above.
  • There will be no fixed term of service for current or future Building Safety Captains 

• Indemnification:
  • The University indemnifies all employees for the good faith deployment of their jobs, which will include participation in this program.  A special note will address this topic during training sessions.