Your time clock already knows who to count.

How an emergency roll call app works

An emergency roll call app gives the person at the muster point an up-to-date list of who should be there. TrackBadges builds that list from the time clock: everyone scanned in and not yet scanned out.

1. 1Evacuate. The alarm goes and everyone leaves by the nearest exit. Nobody stops to sign anything.
2. 2Open roll call. At the muster point, the person running it opens the TrackBadges dashboard on their phone and taps Roll call.
3. 3Check people off. The list shows everyone on the clock. Tap each name once that person is accounted for, and the count shows how many are left.
4. 4Report who's missing. Anyone still unchecked goes to the fire department or incident lead, by name.

The list comes straight from the time clock, so someone who scanned out at noon isn't on it, and the temp who was scanned in an hour ago is.

What OSHA requires

OSHA's emergency action plan rule, 29 CFR 1910.38(c)(4), requires procedures to account for all employees after an evacuation. It doesn't say how. A paper list, a radio check or an app can all meet it, as long as the procedure works when the alarm actually goes off. This isn't legal advice; the rest of 1910.38 applies too, and states that run their own OSHA plans may add rules.

The emergency roll call procedure guide walks through writing that procedure, including the muster point and who's responsible for what.

Why paper sign-in sheets fail in a real evacuation

Paper works in a drill when everyone is calm. In a real evacuation:

• The sheet stays inside. It's on the clipboard by the door you just left through.
• Nobody signed out. People who left for lunch or went home sick are still on the list, and you're looking for them.
• It's in arrival order. Finding 40 names, in the rain, takes time you don't have.
• Handwriting. Half the names are initials or a scrawl.

The last row is the honest trade-off: the phone needs signal to load the list. If your muster point has none, keep a printed emergency roll call sheet with the lead as a backup.

Who the list doesn't cover

A time clock only knows about people who scan in. Plan for everyone else:

• Visitors and delivery drivers. Keep a visitor log at the front desk and bring it out with you.
• Subcontractors. Unless they have your badges, get their crew list from their lead each morning.
• Staff who don't clock in. Managers and salaried staff often don't. Give them badges, or add them to the printed sheet.
• Anyone who forgot to scan. A missed scan-in means a missing name, one more reason to scan the crew in at the door.

If you run several sites, the list includes everyone on the clock at all of them, so whoever runs the roll call should know who belongs at their site.

Keep the list accurate before you need it

A roll call is only as good as the scans behind it. Four everyday habits keep the list right:

• Scan everyone in at the door, every shift, including late arrivals and the temp who started this morning.
• Scan people out when they leave early, so nobody is searching the parking lot for someone who went home at ten.
• Turn on auto clock-out, so a shift someone forgot to close yesterday doesn't put their name on today's list.
• Glance at the live board at the start of each shift and compare it with who's actually there.

These are the same habits that keep timesheets accurate, so they pay off every payday, not just on the day of an emergency.

Practice it in a fire drill

A roll call procedure only works if people have used it. In your next drill:

1. 1Name a roll call lead with the dashboard on their phone, and a backup with the printed sheet.
2. 2Pick a muster point a safe distance from the building, clear of traffic and the route fire trucks will take.
3. 3Run the drill without warning the crew.
4. 4Time it from the alarm to the last name checked off.
5. 5Fix whatever slowed you down, and update the written plan.

Workplaces with more people on site than one person can recognize, such as warehouses and manufacturing plants, get the most from a list built by the time clock.