Roswell Businesses: Are Your 2026 OSHA Plans Ready?

The acrid smell of burning plastic was still in the air as Mark Jensen, who owns Jensen’s Electronics on Holcomb Bridge Road, talked about the near-disaster. It wasn’t a fire, but a faulty electrical panel that sent smoke billowing into the back office right in the middle of the day. His team panicked. Some ran toward the smoke, others just froze, totally confused. That incident showed how, even in a supposedly safe Roswell office, not having real evacuation plans and not doing practice drills can turn a small problem into a huge liability. So how do you make sure your people are actually ready when something goes wrong?

Mark’s situation isn’t some rare event. A lot of small and mid-sized companies in the Roswell area, and really all over Georgia, are working with a false sense of security. They’ve got a fire extinguisher hanging on a wall and people kind of know where the doors are, but a structured, rehearsed plan just isn’t there. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is not ambiguous about this: employers are required to have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP). According to OSHA’s rules, this plan has to detail exactly what actions employees need to take to stay safe. This is about building ingrained behavior, not just having a binder on a shelf.

Jensen’s Electronics, a local fixture near Holcomb Bridge and Alpharetta Highway for more than 15 years, had grown to 30 employees. The old “everybody run” approach that might have worked with five people was now a recipe for total chaos. That smoke incident was the final push Mark needed to call a safety consultant. The consultant’s first move was to tell him to appoint an official Emergency Coordinator, one person responsible for creating, implementing, and keeping the EAP current. Mark gave the job to Sarah, his operations manager, who was naturally organized and great with details.

Sarah started with a deep dive into the building’s layout. She walked every primary and secondary exit route, identified potential choke points, and made sure nothing was ever blocking them. This wasn’t just about doors. She looked at stairwells, hallways, and even windows that could be used as an exit in a worst-case scenario. She then put up clear, luminescent signs and even added floor-level markings for when smoke makes it impossible to see anything higher up. For this, she leaned heavily on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Life Safety Code (NFPA 101), which has very detailed guidance on what makes a safe means of escape.

A plan is useless without clear communication. Sarah set up a communication tree, assigning specific people to be responsible for accounting for their immediate coworkers. She also picked a specific assembly point out in the parking lot of the shopping center next door, which was far enough away to be safe but close enough to do a quick headcount. This wasn’t a vague “let’s meet by that big tree” kind of instruction. It was a precise spot, and she even had a plan for a designated person to hold up a brightly colored flag so everyone could find them.

The first practice drill was the real test. Sarah talked to the local fire department first (a step most businesses skip, but it’s a good one) and then scheduled a completely unannounced drill. She needed to see how people would react under actual pressure. The fire alarm went off on a Tuesday afternoon, and the reactions were all over the place. Some people went straight for the nearest exit as planned. Others, like David from accounting, stopped to grab their bags, a common and very dangerous instinct. A few of the newer hires just looked lost. This kind of immediate, raw feedback was exactly what she needed. It showed the plan looked good on paper, but people weren’t ready to execute it.

One of the big things Sarah realized was that the plan had nothing for employees with disabilities. How was someone with a mobility issue supposed to get down a crowded stairwell? What about an employee with a hearing impairment who might not even hear the alarm? The EAP, she saw, had to include specific, detailed steps for helping these colleagues, with other employees assigned to assist them. And this is more than just a good idea; the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) actually requires you to make reasonable accommodations to ensure people with disabilities are safe in an emergency.

After that first drill, Sarah held a debriefing session. She made it a no-blame zone and asked for honest feedback, focusing only on what to fix. David learned why his bag wasn’t worth the risk. The new hires got walked through the exit routes again. The plan for helping employees with disabilities was written down, with people assigned and trained on their roles. This cycle of drilling, finding the problems, and fixing them is what makes a plan work in the real world. It’s an ongoing commitment to safety, not a project you finish once.

If you neglect your evacuation plans and don’t run practice drills, the legal fallout can be severe. If an employee gets hurt during an emergency because you, the employer, were negligent about safety, that person likely has grounds for a claim. In Georgia, the workers’ compensation laws, spelled out in O.C.G.A. Section 34-9-1 et seq., are supposed to cover on-the-job injuries. But if your actions, or lack of action, show a clear disregard for employee safety, you could be facing liabilities that go way beyond the standard. And this is real. A business owner found grossly negligent faces serious legal challenges that go far beyond a standard workers’ comp claim.

Imagine this: an employee panics during a chaotic evacuation you never practiced, trips on a poorly lit staircase, and gets a serious head injury. Without a clear plan that you’ve actually rehearsed and used drills to find hazards like that bad lighting, your position as the employer is incredibly weak. The State Board of Workers’ Compensation, which handles these claims in Georgia, is going to look very closely at your safety protocols. Not having documented drills or using an old, outdated EAP will look very bad for an employer if something happens. You can read more on how these claims play out in our article on Georgia Denials: 60% of Claims Face Rejection in 2026.

Mark Jensen got the message. After his team put Sarah’s revised plan into practice and ran several more drills (some announced, some not), their response time got way better. People moved like they knew what they were doing, they knew their routes, and they checked on each other. He even spent the money on better emergency lights and signs, going beyond what the code required. The peace of mind, he said, was priceless. He realized it was about protecting the people who made his business successful which is a much bigger deal than just avoiding a fine or some of the other penalties for employers who cut corners on safety.

Good evacuation plans and practice drills are a core part of running a responsible business, especially in a busy area like Roswell, not just some box to check for a regulator. These plans save lives, prevent injuries, and shield a business from huge legal and money problems. Don’t wait for a close call like Mark’s to see the flaws in your own emergency plan. Real workplace safety comes from planning ahead, consistent training, and regular drills. Having a good evacuation plan also helps you manage risks from other things, like the liability risks from wet floors in Roswell we’ve written about.