Why an earthquake plan is not a fire evacuation script
Every New Zealand office needs an earthquake preparedness plan that is distinct from its fire procedures. When earthquakes occur in Aotearoa New Zealand, the safest first move in most offices is to shelter in place rather than rush for the stairs as you would during a fire evacuation. Your role as office manager is to make sure every person understands why an office seismic plan separates the two protocols clearly and treats each disaster as a different emergency scenario.
During a fire, the priority is to move people quickly away from smoke, heat and small fires that can escalate, while during an earthquake the priority is to avoid falling glass, ceiling tiles and other items that may fall from height. That is why the national guidance from Civil Defence and emergency management agencies is to use the Drop Cover Hold method during shaking, then only evacuate once the shaking stops and you have assessed obvious damage such as broken power lines or structural cracks. A robust workplace earthquake response will help your team avoid the deadly instinct to bolt for the exit mid shaking, which in many New Zealand buildings is the moment of highest risk.
Think of your earthquake drill as the opposite of your fire drill, because one tells people to get out and the other tells them to stay under a table or desk until the immediate danger passes. In a fire, wardens will guide staff to a safe place outside, while in an earthquake preparedness context wardens must first check whether stairwells, lobbies and car parks are actually safe before ordering any move. Embedding this distinction in your emergency plan for a New Zealand office is not optional under the Health and Safety at Work Act; it is part of your primary duty of care for every worker, contractor and visitor on site.
Drop, cover, hold in real New Zealand offices
Most people can recite “drop, cover, hold” from the national New Zealand ShakeOut campaign, but very few have practised it properly in their actual workspace. Your earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office should specify exactly where each person will drop, which structure they will cover under, and how they will hold on if the table or desk starts to move. The goal is to turn a vague earthquake drill into a precise emergency management routine that staff can execute even when lights fail, alarms blare and items fall around them.
In open plan floors with extensive glazing, staff should be trained to move quickly away from windows before they drop, cover and hold, because glass shards can travel several metres when earthquakes occur near urban centres. Where there is no sturdy table or desk, instruct people to drop beside an internal wall, cover their head and neck with their arms or a bag, and hold that position until the shaking stops and a warden signals the next step. If your building has heavy shelving, server racks or tall cupboards, your plan must map out safe place zones that are clear of these hazards so that no one is sheltering where items may fall or where small fires could start from dislodged equipment.
Lifts deserve special treatment in any office earthquake plan, because staff may be between floors when a quake hits. Train people that if they are in a lift during an earthquake they should drop to the floor, cover their head and neck, and hold on to a rail until the lift stops, then wait for instructions from building management or emergency services. After the shaking stops, no one should use lifts until a competent person has checked for damage, and this rule should be reinforced on your internal website, in your household emergency style staff guides and in your annual privacy and resilience review, which can sit alongside your four hour office data audit process described in the privacy week NZ office audit guide.
Know your building: base isolation, old masonry and practical limits
An earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office is only as good as its understanding of the building it lives in. Offices in modern base isolated towers in Wellington’s CBD behave very differently during an earthquake from older unreinforced masonry buildings in provincial town centres, and your emergency management assumptions must match that reality. As the office manager, you should request the seismic rating, structural reports and any Civil Defence liaison notes from your landlord or body corporate and then translate those into plain language for staff.
In a base isolated building, the structure is designed to move, so staff may feel a long rolling motion while ceiling systems and services are engineered to limit damage when earthquakes occur. Your earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office in such a building can assume that staying put under a table or desk until the shaking stops will usually keep people safe, but it must still address hazards like suspended light fittings, sprinkler heads and unsecured shelving where items may fall. In older buildings, especially those with brick façades or parapets, the plan should emphasise staying away from exterior walls and stairwells that could be compromised, and it should include clear instructions not to move into laneways or under verandas where falling masonry is a known disaster risk.
Do not accept generic landlord manuals that treat fire, earthquake and other emergencies as a single checklist, because that approach will not help you meet WorkSafe expectations under the general risk and workplace management regulations. Instead, use resources such as the GetReady.govt.nz style guidance from New Zealand Civil Defence, Peninsula NZ’s employer guides and Advanced Safety NZ’s WorkSafe compliance material to benchmark your own procedures. When you next review storage layouts or choose new archive boxes, use that moment to rationalise heavy loads and follow practical advice such as the guide to choosing the right banker box size for your New Zealand office, because reducing top heavy shelving is one of the cheapest ways to cut earthquake damage in ordinary schools, offices and co working spaces.
Running an annual drill that actually teaches people what to do
Too many New Zealand workplaces treat the annual earthquake drill as a compliance theatre exercise that ticks a box but leaves people confused. A serious earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office treats the drill as a live test of systems, timing and decision making, not just a quick Drop Cover Hold moment followed by a casual chat in the car park. You should schedule at least one full earthquake drill each year, ideally aligned with the national New Zealand ShakeOut campaign, and treat it with the same discipline you apply to payroll or IRD filing.
Before the drill, brief wardens on their roles, confirm who will initiate the alarm or announcement, and decide whether you will simulate secondary hazards such as small fires, blocked exits or items that fall and obstruct corridors. During the drill, time how long it takes from the first instruction to when everyone is in a safe place under a table or desk, then how long it takes after the shaking stops to complete a controlled evacuation and headcount. Capture feedback from wardens and staff immediately, while the experience is fresh, and record specific observations about emergency management gaps, such as people trying to move during shaking, confusion about where to assemble or uncertainty about who can turn gas off if a leak is suspected.
After the drill, run a short debrief meeting and publish a one page summary on your internal website so that lessons will help improve the next exercise and your overall earthquake preparedness. Use a simple template that lists what worked, what failed and what changes you will make to the plan, then assign owners and due dates so actions do not fall through the cracks. This is also the right moment to align your emergency budget with broader operational planning, and resources such as the analysis of Budget settings for office costs and compliance pressure can help you argue for realistic funding for Civil Defence kits, training and structural improvements.
Stockpiles, utilities and the boring details that save lives
An earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office is not complete without a realistic stockpile and clear utility controls, even if your landlord claims to have everything covered. Aim for at least three days of safe water for every person who might be in the office, along with first aid supplies, torches, radios, blankets and a simple medication register for staff who choose to disclose critical needs. Store these household emergency style supplies in multiple locations so that if one area suffers damage or items fall from shelves, another cache is still accessible.
Label and train specific people to turn gas off at the main valve and to isolate electricity if power lines are down or if there is visible damage to switchboards, because guessing in the dark is not an emergency management strategy. Your workplace earthquake plan should include photos of key valves and switches on the internal website, laminated copies near the equipment and a short script for wardens to follow when deciding whether to shut systems down. Make sure everyone understands that they should never touch fallen power lines or attempt to move heavy debris, and that their priority after the shaking stops is to stay in a safe place until trained responders or building engineers give clear instructions.
Do not forget fire risk in the aftermath of an earthquake, because small fires from damaged appliances or spilled flammable liquids can escalate quickly when alarms and sprinklers are compromised. Train staff to use extinguishers only if the fire is truly small and they have a clear exit behind them, and to evacuate immediately if there is any doubt, because no plan will help if people try to be heroes. Regularly check expiry dates on food, water and medical supplies, rotate stock as part of your normal facilities routine and log these checks so that your Civil Defence and defence emergency obligations are met without last minute scrambles when the next New Zealand ShakeOut reminder email lands.
Communication, wardens and the office manager as default coordinator
In most New Zealand SMEs the office manager becomes the de facto emergency coordinator, whether it is written into the job description or not. Your earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office should formalise that reality by naming wardens, alternates and a clear chain of command for when you are on leave, working from home or stuck on a train when earthquakes occur. The plan should also define how staff will check in after a major disaster, including what happens if mobile networks are congested or your usual messaging platforms are offline.
Set up a simple multi channel communication protocol that includes text trees, a recorded message line, a cloud based status page and a nominated external website or social media account where updates will help staff and families know what is happening. During your annual earthquake drill, test not only the Drop Cover Hold response but also the post event communication flow, including who will log headcounts, who will liaise with Civil Defence and emergency management agencies, and who will talk to landlords, neighbouring schools or nearby offices if shared facilities are affected. Make sure your plan covers scenarios where students from nearby schools or members of the public may shelter in your lobby, because in a real disaster your office may become a temporary safe place for people who have nowhere else to go.
Finally, treat feedback from staff as operational data, not as a courtesy exercise, because their lived experience of each earthquake drill will help improve the next one and refine your procedures. Encourage people to report near misses, such as unsecured monitors that almost fell, blocked routes or confusion about who would turn gas off, and then close the loop by showing what you changed. That is how you build trust in your earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office; not through a glossy PDF, but through the Monday morning queue at reception where people can see that their comments turned into tangible safety upgrades.
Key figures for New Zealand office earthquake preparedness
- New Zealand experiences thousands of earthquakes each year, with GeoNet typically recording more than 20,000 events annually, although only a small fraction are felt in major office centres such as Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
- Emergency management guidance in New Zealand commonly recommends at least three litres of safe water per person per day, which means an office of 50 people should hold at least 450 litres to cover a three day disruption after a major disaster.
- Following the Canterbury earthquake sequence, government and industry reviews highlighted that unsecured shelving and ceiling fixtures were responsible for a significant proportion of non structural damage in offices, reinforcing the need to secure items that may fall during shaking.
- WorkSafe New Zealand’s general risk and workplace management regulations require every Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking to have and maintain an emergency plan, which in practice means an earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office must be reviewed at least annually and after any significant workplace change.
- National ShakeOut campaigns have involved more than one million participants across schools, offices and households in some years, showing that large scale Drop Cover Hold drills are now an established part of New Zealand’s Civil Defence culture.
FAQ: earthquake preparedness in New Zealand offices
How often should we run an earthquake drill in a New Zealand office ?
Most New Zealand offices should run at least one full earthquake drill each year, ideally aligned with the national ShakeOut campaign so staff can practise Drop Cover Hold alongside the rest of the country. Many high risk or high occupancy workplaces choose to run shorter drills or tabletop exercises every six months to keep procedures fresh. The key is to document each drill, capture feedback and update your earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office accordingly.
What is the difference between Drop Cover Hold and a fire evacuation ?
Drop Cover Hold is the recommended immediate response when earthquakes occur, and it means dropping to the ground, taking cover under a sturdy table or desk and holding on until the shaking stops. A fire evacuation focuses on moving people quickly and safely out of the building to an external assembly point, which is dangerous during strong shaking because of falling glass, debris and power lines. Your emergency management documentation should explain clearly when to shelter in place and when to move so staff do not confuse the two responses.
What emergency supplies should an NZ office keep on site ?
Every New Zealand office should maintain at least three days of safe water, basic food, first aid kits, torches, batteries, radios, blankets and essential hygiene items, stored in multiple locations in case of localised damage. Many workplaces also keep a list of staff with critical medications and encourage people to store a small personal supply in a labelled container, similar to a household emergency kit. These supplies should be checked at least annually, with expired items replaced and records kept as part of your facilities routine.
Who is responsible for earthquake preparedness under New Zealand law ?
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking has the primary duty of care, which includes planning for emergencies such as earthquakes. In practice, senior leaders set the tone and allocate resources, while office managers and wardens usually design and run the day to day earthquake preparedness plan for a NZ office. Landlords are responsible for building safety and structural issues, so effective preparedness depends on clear communication and shared planning between tenants and building owners.
Should we evacuate immediately after every felt earthquake ?
Staff should always follow Drop Cover Hold during shaking, then wait until the shaking stops before deciding whether to evacuate, based on visible damage, official guidance and building specific procedures. Many minor earthquakes do not require evacuation, but any strong or long event, or any quake that causes obvious damage, should trigger a cautious move to a safe place outside once it is safe to do so. Your plan should empower trained wardens or managers to make that call, informed by Civil Defence updates and landlord instructions.