GREAT SHAKEOUT 2020
“Are You Ready To Shake Out?”
On Thursday, October 15, at 10:15 a.m. over 14.7 million people worldwide will be participating in the Great Shake Out Annual Earthquake Drill https://www.shakeout.org/.
This year, due to the restraints imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the scope and level of the Lab’s participation in this annual event will be changed. Instead of the “normal” site-wide drill, we are asking all employees to conduct Drop, Cover, Hold On in the location they are working. These locations may be at home, in the office, or in a Lab space. Employees will not be asked to evacuate their buildings/home/lab and no LabAlert, Public Announcement, or Building Emergency Team Radio announcement will be issued the day of the drill.
After dropping and covering, please hold on for approximately two minutes, then conduct an evaluation of your surroundings to ensure safety (no dropped items, light fixtures, etc). When completed, you can then return to daily business. The goal of this drill is to reinforce the need of knowing what to do when an earthquake strikes.
As many of our colleagues are working from home at this time, this would be a good exercise for your entire family to participate in. Children who normally participate in these drills at school will not have the opportunity to do so given the virtual schooling currently taking place in California. This is a great chance to reinforce the recommended safety measures to take should an earthquake occur.
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 LBNL employees is our top priority!
We thank you for your participation!
Resources:
Video Instructions for Drop-Cover-Hold On:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSDmqLQmMN0&list=PLs1gMujRSBY2t7JB4VS-AymFwN-6Lvg20
LBNL Emergency Preparedness Website: https://sites.google.com/lbl.gov/emergencies/emergency-management/preparing-for-an-emergency
