Preparedness is the Key to Business Survival

The following checklist is intended to be used in surveying buildings to determine whether the contents pose a danger to building occupants during an earthquake.

For information on non-structural mitigation contact your local emergency management office or Washington State Emergency Management, 1-800-562-6108.

Equipment and Furnishings

  • Do desktop computers have unsecured monitors?
  • Do file cabinet drawers lack latches?
  • Are large and heavy office machines unrestrained and located where they could slide a few inches and fall off counters to the floor or roll a couple feet on casters and block exits?
  • Are tall storage cabinets or lockers unattached to the wall or unattached back-to-back to each other?
  • Do tall industrial storage racks lack adequate bracing?
  • Are heavy or potentially sharp wall decorations insecurely mounted (without closed eye-hooks for example)?
  • Do fragile art objects lack protection against tipping over or sliding off shelves or pedestals?
  • Is equipment placed on countertops without protection against sliding off and falling?
  • Is floor-supported freestanding industrial or other large equipment unsecured against overturning (if about twice as tall as wide) or sliding (if sliding a couple feet would cause a hazard)?
  • Are fire extinguishers insecurely mounted?
  • Are potted plants or other heavy items placed on top of file cabinets or other high locations without restraint?
  • Are display cases or aquariums unprotected against overturning or sliding off tables?

Hazardous Materials

  • Are laboratory chemicals on shelves unrestrained?
  • Do tanks or vats lack earthquake bracing?
  • Are automatic gas shut-off devices lacking, even though specially hazardous substances are piped through a building?
  • Is equipment containing hazardous materials unsecured and prone to sliding or overturning, with the potential of causing a spill?
  • Are containers of hazardous materials stored on unbraced storage racks or tall pallet stacks?

Overhead Elements

  • Does the suspended ceiling lack diagonal bracing wires?
  • Are the lay-in fluorescent light fixtures merely resting on the hung ceiling grid, without positive independent support such as at least two hanger wires per light fixture?
  • Are pendent or stem light fixtures free to swing excessively?
  • Are decorative ceiling panels or latticework insecurely attached?
  • Are spotlights unable to remain securely attached if they were shaken?
  • Do sound system speakers in elevated locations lack positive anchorages?
  • Are suspended space heaters, especially gas fired, unbraced and/or lacking flexible gas connections?
  • Could chandeliers swing and impact each other or windows?
  • Do hanging plants lack closed eye-hooks?
  • Are large metal air distribution ducts, especially if they are suspended a few feet, without diagonal bracing?

Electrical Equipment

  • Is the emergency power motor-generator inadequately secured, especially if mounted on motor vibration isolation springs?
  • Are the batteries for the emergency power generator unsecured?
  • Is the fuel tank for the generator unbraced?
  • Are emergency battery-powered lights prone to falling off shelf supports?
  • Are radios and other essential telecommunications equipment unsecured?
  • Are tall telephone or telecommunications racks unbraced?

Mechanical Equipment

  • Are water heaters unrestrained?
  • Is the furnace or boiler unrestrained?
  • Are fans, chillers, pumps or other heating-ventilating-air conditioning equipment that is typically found in mechanical rooms unrestrained, or mounted on vibration isolation springs without seismic restraint added?
  • Are large diameter pipes unbraced, or do pipes cross expansion joints without accommodation for movement?

Partitions

  • Are freestanding movable partial height partitions (especially if supporting bookshelves) inadequately braced?
  • Do partitions lack plastic or safety glass panels?
  • Are masonry partitions not reinforced?
  • Do lightweight drywall partitions extend only as high as the hung ceiling, without braces or other support by the structure above, and are these partitions used as lateral support for tall shelving or cabinets?

Windows

  • Are large panes of non-safety glass present, and is it unknown whether the mounting of the panes was designed by architect/engineer to accommodate expected seismic distortion of the surrounding structure?
  • Are transoms (glass panes over doors) of non-safety glass?

Exteriors

  • Are decorations or appendages inadequately attached?
  • Are statuary or decorative objects unanchored?
  • Are fences made of concrete, concrete block, stone, or brick, inadequately reinforced to resist earthquakes, or is their earthquake resistance unknown?
  • Are large trees leaning or in poor health?
  • Is signage inadequately secured, especially if heavy?
  • Are lights inadequately attached?
  • Is the natural gas meter large and heavy, yet unsecured against sliding that could cause a pipe to leak?

CONTACT

PublicEducation@emd.wa.gov or 800.562.6108