Active Shooter Response Toolbox Talk

An active shooter or armed threat can happen without warning and can create confusion, panic, and life-threatening danger on a jobsite. Construction sites have open areas, multiple access points, loud equipment, unfinished rooms, stair towers, lifts, trenches, and workers spread across different zones, which can make communication and movement difficult.

This talk focuses on how the crew should respond to an armed threat, including when to run, hide, or fight as a last resort, how to report clear information, and how to stay accounted for during and after the emergency.

Why This Matters

• Fast decisions can save lives when there is an immediate threat.
• Workers need to know exits, hiding areas, and safe routes before an emergency happens.
• Clear communication helps warn others without spreading rumors or causing more panic.
• Responding police may not know who the threat is, so workers must keep hands visible and follow commands.
• Planning ahead helps crews avoid freezing, scattering, or running into a more dangerous area.

Common Hazards

• Workers not hearing gunshots, alarms, radios, or warnings because of equipment noise or hearing protection.
• Crews running toward the threat because exits, stairs, gates, or site routes are not known.
• Open gates, unfinished walls, temporary stairs, roof access, or multiple floors making it hard to secure an area.
• Workers hiding in areas with glass, light doors, no lock, no second exit, or little cover.
• People stopping to gather tools, bags, phones, or personal items instead of moving to safety.
• Confusion when visitors, delivery drivers, or subcontractors do not know the emergency plan.
• A crew working in a lift, trench, roof area, basement, or remote section of the site when the threat starts.

Safety Checklist

Before Work Begins

• Review the site emergency action plan and how an armed threat alert will be communicated.
• Identify exits, gates, stairways, safe routes, and areas to avoid for each work zone.
• Know nearby places that may provide cover or concealment if escape is not possible.
• Confirm who will call emergency services and who will account for workers after the event.
• Make sure visitors, delivery drivers, and subcontractors know who to report to during an emergency.

During Work

• Run if there is a safe route away from the threat. Leave tools and belongings behind.
• Warn others as you leave only if it does not slow you down or put you in more danger.
• Hide if escape is not possible. Lock or block doors, silence phones, stay low, and stay out of sight.
• Fight only as a last resort if your life is in immediate danger and there is no way to escape or hide.
• Call emergency services when safe and give the site address, gate location, description of the threat, injuries, and last known direction of travel.
• Do not pull fire alarms unless there is a fire, because this may send people toward danger.
• When police arrive, keep hands visible, drop items, follow commands, and do not make sudden movements.

Crew Talking Points

• What are the closest exits, gates, stairs, or safe routes from today’s work area?
• Where could the crew hide or take cover if escape is not possible?
• How will an armed threat alert be communicated over equipment noise?
• Who is responsible for calling emergency services and accounting for the crew?
• What should workers do if they are in a lift, trench, roof area, or separate floor when the threat starts?
• Speak up if you do not know the escape route, alert method, shelter location, or who to contact during this emergency.

Stop Work If

• Shots are heard, a weapon is seen, or there is a credible report of an armed threat on or near the site.
• Police, security, supervision, or local authorities issue a lockdown, shelter-in-place, or evacuation order.
• Workers cannot safely leave a work area because of the threat location, blocked exits, or poor communication.
• A visitor, worker, or unknown person makes threats of violence or displays a weapon.
• The crew cannot account for workers, visitors, subcontractors, or delivery drivers after moving to safety.

Final Reminder

Know your exits before there is an emergency. If an armed threat happens, get away if you can, hide if you cannot, fight only as a last resort, and follow police instructions.