What 29 CFR 1910.38 requires (plain English)
29 CFR 1910.38 requires an emergency action plan (EAP): the written plan that tells employees what to do when a fire, chemical release, or other emergency forces an evacuation. Many OSHA standards (for example, several fire, hazardous-materials, and process-safety rules) require an EAP, and 1910.38 sets what that plan must contain and how it must be communicated. A good EAP turns panic into an orderly evacuation; the absence of one is a common finding after emergencies go wrong.
The plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace, and available to employees for review, with one exception: an employer with 10 or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally instead of in writing. At a minimum, the EAP must include procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency; procedures for emergency evacuation, including the type of evacuation and exit-route assignments; procedures for employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate; procedures to account for all employees after evacuation; procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties; and the name or job title of the person to contact for more information about the plan.
The employer must also designate and train enough people to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation, and must review the plan with each employee when the plan is developed or the employee's responsibilities change, when the plan changes, and at initial assignment. An EAP works hand-in-hand with the exit-route requirements (1910.36/1910.37) and, where employees will fight incipient fires, with the portable fire extinguisher training of 1910.157, but it is specifically about getting people out and accounted for.