When disaster strikes, the difference between chaos and control often comes down to one thing: preparation. A well-written emergency response plan is essential, but unless your team knows how to implement it under pressure, it’s little more than a document gathering dust. That’s where regular training and drills come in. They transform theory into practice, uncertainty into confidence, and risk into resilience.
In this article, we explore why ongoing emergency preparedness training is vital for organisations of all sizes, and outline how practical drills can ensure that when the worst happens, your people know exactly what to do.
The Problem With “Paper Plans”
Far too many organisations invest time and effort into creating an emergency response plan—only to stop there. The plan might be compliant, comprehensive, and signed off by the board, but unless it is regularly tested through live exercises and reinforced through training, it may prove ineffective in a real crisis.
Why? Because during an emergency, people don’t rise to the occasion—they fall to the level of their training. Even the most detailed plan can fall apart if staff don’t understand their roles or panic under pressure.
Training Turns Knowledge Into Action
Training ensures that all personnel—whether front-line workers or senior managers—are familiar with your procedures. It provides an opportunity to:
• Clarify roles and responsibilities so everyone understands who does what.
• Strengthen decision-making skills under stressful conditions.
• Reinforce communication protocols so that messages are relayed quickly and clearly.
• Reduce hesitation and uncertainty during evacuations, lockdowns, or technical failures.
Regular sessions help embed the plan into day-to-day thinking. They also serve as a reminder that emergency preparedness is everyone’s responsibility—not just something delegated to facilities teams or health and safety officers.
Drills: The Closest Thing To The Real Thing
If training builds knowledge, drills test its application. A practical simulation forces your team to respond in real time, exposing weaknesses in the plan and helping identify where further training may be needed.
Drills can be simple or complex, depending on your objectives. A fire drill, for instance, may test evacuation times and staff movement. A more sophisticated desktop exercise might simulate a cyberattack or data breach, involving cross-departmental collaboration, external communications, and IT recovery plans.
The key is to make drills realistic, regular, and reviewed. That means:
Realistic: Scenarios should reflect genuine risks faced by your organisation.
Regular: Conducted at intervals appropriate to the nature of your operations—annually at minimum, but quarterly or even monthly in high-risk sectors.
Reviewed: After-action reviews (AARs) should be held to assess performance, capture lessons learned, and update the emergency plan accordingly.
What Good Training And Drills Should Include
To be effective, emergency training and drills should follow a structured approach:
Clear Objectives: Know what you’re trying to achieve. Are you testing response times? Communication channels? Inter-departmental coordination?
Varied Scenarios: Don’t just repeat the same evacuation drill. Mix things up with different threats—severe weather, equipment failure, medical emergencies, supply chain disruption. This ensures adaptability and prevents complacency.
Inclusive Participation: Everyone in the organisation should be involved at some level. Tailor the content to different roles—from on-the-ground responders to senior leadership managing crisis communications.
Post-Drill Debriefs: After each drill, gather participants to discuss what went well and what didn’t. Encourage open feedback and make improvements based on honest assessments.
Documentation And Updates: Keep records of all training and drills. Update your emergency plan to reflect new learnings and ensure that revisions are communicated effectively.
Beyond Compliance: Building A Culture Of Preparedness
In the UK, many industries are subject to legal requirements around emergency planning—particularly those working in manufacturing, healthcare, education, or critical infrastructure. But ticking boxes for compliance shouldn’t be the goal.
Organisations that invest in regular training and drills tend to foster a culture of preparedness, where employees feel empowered to take the right actions under pressure. This not only improves safety but can also safeguard your reputation, reduce downtime, and even save lives.
Staying Consistently Safe
Emergency preparedness isn’t a one-off exercise. It’s an ongoing commitment to safety, leadership, and resilience. Regular training and drills take your emergency response plan off the page and into the real world—where it matters most.
Whether you’re leading a small office or a large multi-site organisation, now is the time to review your training schedule, refresh your scenarios, and get your people ready. Because in an emergency, you won’t have time to learn on the job.