Severe Weather and Tornado Sheltering
Severe weather procedure covering weather monitoring and alert sources, watch and warning response levels, shelter-in-place locations chosen away from dock doors, skylights, and racking, equipment shutdown before moving to shelter, headcount accountability in the shelter, and the all-clear and damage assessment required before work resumes.
- Audience
- All employees, temporary workers, contractors, carrier drivers, and visitors on the property, and the supervisors and monitors assigned severe weather duties
- Review cycle
- annual
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- Revision
- 1
What is in the procedure
7 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.
- 01
Purpose
FixedThis procedure implements the severe weather portion of the facility emergency action plan required by 29 CFR 1910.38. Severe weather is one of the few emergencies where the correct response is to move deeper into the...
- 02
Scope
CustomizedThis procedure applies to every person on the property, including employees on all shifts, temporary workers, contractors, carrier drivers, and visitors, and to severe weather events that threaten the building or the...
- 03
Responsibilities
CustomizedAll personnel move to their assigned shelter location immediately when the shelter signal is given, and stay there until released.
- 04
Procedure: Weather Monitoring and Alert Levels
CustomizedWeather is monitored actively during the severe weather season and whenever a watch is issued, not checked once a shift.
- 05
Procedure: Moving to Shelter, Sheltering Safely, and Accountability
Fixed1. On the shelter signal, stop work immediately and move to your assigned shelter location.
- 06
Procedure: All Clear, Damage Assessment, and Return to Work
CustomizedNo one leaves the shelter on their own judgment, on the sound of the wind dropping, or because a community siren stopped.
- 07
References
Fixed29 CFR 1910.38 Emergency action plans. 29 CFR 1910.165 Employee alarm systems.
OSHA references
Severe Weather and Tornado Sheltering: 29 CFR 1910.38(b)
Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.
| Standard | Title | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| 29 CFR 1910.38(b) | Emergency action plans: written and oral plans | An emergency action plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review. An employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally. |
| 29 CFR 1910.38(c)(4) | Emergency action plans: procedures to account for employees | The emergency action plan must include procedures to account for all employees after evacuation, so a headcount is taken and reconciled and any missing person is identified promptly. |
| 29 CFR 1910.38(d) | Emergency action plans: employee alarm system | An employer must have and maintain an employee alarm system. The employee alarm system must use a distinctive signal for each purpose and comply with the requirements in 29 CFR 1910.165, so employees can tell a severe weather shelter signal apart from a fire evacuation signal. |
| 29 CFR 1910.38(e) | Emergency action plans: training | An employer must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation of other employees. |
| 29 CFR 1910.165(b) | Employee alarm systems: general requirements | The employee alarm system must provide warning for necessary emergency action called for in the emergency action plan or reaction time for safe escape, must be capable of being perceived above ambient noise or light levels by all employees in the affected areas with tactile devices available for employees who could not otherwise recognize it, and must be distinctive and recognizable as the signal to evacuate or to perform the actions designated in the plan. |
| 29 CFR 1910.165(d) | Employee alarm systems: maintenance and testing | The employer must keep all employee alarm systems in operating condition except when undergoing repairs or maintenance, must test the reliability and adequacy of non-supervised employee alarm systems every two months, and must have servicing, maintenance, and testing performed by persons trained in the designed operation and functions necessary for reliable and safe operation of the system. |
| 29 CFR 1910.176(b) | Handling materials, general: secure storage | Storage of material must not create a hazard, and material stored in tiers must be stacked, blocked, interlocked, and limited in height so it is stable and secure against sliding or collapse. This is the reason shelter locations are chosen away from racking and stacked product, which can shift when a building is struck by wind or debris. |
Compliance checklist
What an inspector looks for
The emergency action plan is written, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review, and it addresses severe weather sheltering
29 CFR 1910.38(b)
The plan includes procedures to account for all employees, and a headcount is taken and reconciled in the shelter
29 CFR 1910.38(c)(4)
An employee alarm system is maintained and a distinctive signal is used for sheltering that cannot be confused with the fire evacuation signal
29 CFR 1910.38(d)
Employees are designated and trained to assist in a safe and orderly movement of other employees, and facility policy staffs enough of them to cover every area on every shift
29 CFR 1910.38(e)
The alarm can be perceived above ambient noise and light levels everywhere in the building, including high noise areas, with tactile or visual devices where needed
29 CFR 1910.165(b)
The alarm system is maintained in operating condition and non-supervised systems are tested for reliability and adequacy every two months
29 CFR 1910.165(d)
Stored material is stacked, blocked, interlocked, and limited in height so it is stable and secure against sliding or collapse
29 CFR 1910.176(b)
Racking is inspected after any severe weather event and no product is handled in a damaged bay until a qualified person clears it, which is facility practice under ANSI MH16.1 rather than a duty imposed by 1910.176
Shelter maps are posted in every area and shelter locations are kept clear, lit, and unlocked on every shift
More than one weather alert source is in service, including an indoor alert that does not depend on outdoor community sirens
Waitlist
Generate this SOP for your facility
At launch you answer the facility questionnaire once and this template comes back with your equipment, your titles, and your sign-off sheet attached.
This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.