Tornado Warnings on Job Sites
Construction sites are especially dangerous in tornadoes: open frames, loose materials, cranes, trailers and workers spread out with no strong shelter. A written plan and practice save lives.
- Construction
- Industrial
- Supervisors
Know the alerts
- Tornado watch: conditions favor tornadoes. Be ready, review the plan and monitor the weather.
- Tornado warning: a tornado has been seen or detected. Take shelter now.
- Get alerts from NOAA weather radio, phone emergency alerts, weather apps and local media. Assign someone to monitor the weather on severe-weather days. See Severe Weather.
Plan ahead
- Include tornadoes in the site emergency action plan, with designated shelters and routes. See Emergency Action Plans
- Identify the best available shelter: a storm shelter or safe room if there is one; a sturdy completed building, in the lowest floor, interior room or hallway away from windows, walls and large roof spans; a tunnel or basement. Mobile trailers, vehicles and unfinished structures are not safe
- Know how long it takes to get to shelter from each work area
- Set a signal (air horn, siren, radio call) that everyone knows
- Keep a headcount method. See Evacuation Headcounts
- Train and drill crews, including subcontractors and new workers
On a tornado watch day
- Secure loose materials, signs, scaffolding planks, dumpster lids, porta-potties and tools.
- Lower or secure cranes and booms. Stop lifts when winds rise. See Lift Wind Limits.
- Plan work so people are near shelter.
- Keep radios and phones charged.
When a warning is issued
- Sound the alarm and stop work. Turn off equipment only if it takes seconds.
- Move to the designated shelter immediately. Do not try to outrun a tornado in a vehicle unless you are told it is the only option.
- Crouch low, face down, covering your head and neck with arms or a hard hat, away from windows and heavy objects overhead.
- If caught outside with no shelter, get to the lowest ground, such as a ditch, lie flat and cover your head. Beware of flooding. Avoid overpasses.
- Stay until officials say the danger has passed.
After the storm
- Account for everyone and give first aid. Call 911.
- Beware of downed power lines, gas leaks, unstable structures, sharp debris and fires. See Disaster Response & Recovery Workers.
- Do not return to damaged cranes, scaffolds or frames until a competent person inspects them.
Standards & references
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