On Thursday, October 21, at 10:15 a.m. over 14.7 million people worldwide will be participating in the Great ShakeOut Annual Earthquake Drill.
This year, due to the restraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lab’s participation in this annual event will be changed. Instead of the normal site-wide drill, we are asking all employees to stop and Drop, Cover, Hold On wherever they are working at 10:15 that morning whether it is at home or in a Lab space.
Employees will not be asked to evacuate their space as part of the drill. There will be a LabAlert announcement on the day of the drill. LabAlert is our primary means of communicating emergency information. Keep an eye out for a “subscribe for more information” response option, to receive additional information on the event. Now is also a good time to ensure LabAlert is up to date with your current contact information. Please consider adding a personal cell phone number to ensure you receive emergency alerts when you are away from your desk!
After dropping and covering, please hold on for approximately one minute, then conduct an evaluation of your surroundings to ensure safety such as no dropped items or hanging light fixtures before returning to work. The goal of this drill is to reinforce the need of knowing what to do when an earthquake strikes, and familiarizing with emergency communications.
Consider inviting your family to participate in the drill if you are working at home. Children who normally participate in these drills at school will not be able to do so during virtual schooling. This is a great chance to practice your family earthquake plan.
In the event of a real earthquake, employees are expected to follow the normal protocols of “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” before evacuating to emergency assembly areas. The safety of all Lab employees is our top priority.
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