Oregon Statutes 401.900 – State and local agency earthquake drills; rules
(1) Each state or local agency shall drill agency employees working in office buildings on emergency procedures so that the employees may respond to an earthquake emergency without confusion or panic.
Terms Used In Oregon Statutes 401.900
- Emergency: means a human created or natural event or circumstance that causes or threatens widespread loss of life, injury to person or property, human suffering or financial loss, including but not limited to:
(a) Fire, wildfire, explosion, flood, severe weather, landslides or mud slides, drought, earthquake, volcanic activity, tsunamis or other oceanic phenomena, spills or releases of oil or hazardous material as defined in ORS § 466. See Oregon Statutes 401.025
(2) The state or local agency shall conduct the drills annually in accordance with Oregon Department of Emergency Management rules.
(3) The drills must include familiarization with routes and methods of exiting the building and the earthquake emergency response procedure recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency known as ‘drop, cover and hold on.’
(4) Consistent with rules of the department, the state or local agency may drill earthquake emergency response procedures in addition to ‘drop, cover and hold on’ when the state or local agency determines, based on evaluation of specific engineering and structural issues related to an office building, that ‘drop, cover and hold on’ may not be the most effective earthquake emergency response procedure to prevent or limit injury or loss of life.
(5) The department may, by rule or on application, grant exemptions from the drill requirement for good cause.
(6) As used in this section, ‘state or local agency’ means a state or local office, department, division, bureau, board or commission that is assigned, renting, leasing, owning or controlling office space for carrying out its duties. ‘State or local agency’ includes the Legislative Assembly when in regular session. [Formerly 401.538; 2013 c.266 § 1; 2021 c.539 § 45]