Earthquake Mitigation Walkthrough

Effective July 23, 2018, the University of Washington no longer supports the Seismic Resilience program. All Seismic Resilience Program services, training, and support are officially discontinued as of this date.  All information on the Seismic Resilience Program webpage is provided as historical  and for-information-only purposes. Thank you for your support of this program during our 2015-2018 pilot process.

 

Contrary to common assumption, earthquake safety goes far beyond the type of building you might find yourself in when the ground starts shaking. A mitigation walkthrough will focus on easy fixes to common workplace hazards based on real world experiences.

 

Walkthrough FAQs

“I work in a lab. Will you come do a Mitigation Walkthrough for my department?”

• Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) is the primary contact for lab safety on campus. In general, if you follow these safety guidelines, then you and your lab should be sufficiently protected if/when an earthquake strikes. You can find a more detailed description of each of the guidelines here.

“You have already done a walkthrough in our space, what’s next?”

• It is recommended that you compile a list of the earthquake mitigation measures your office/department would like to move forward with. Create it in a “Good – Better – Best” format, so that your “upgrades” are prioritized. Facilities, Maintenance, and Construction (FMC) will use this list to give you a few pricing options depending on what work gets done.
• If your department or building has the resources to begin ordering needed supplies and placing work orders, then do so ASAP. If you chose not to engage in projects that physically alter to the space (thus requiring an FMC Work Order), the Seismic Resilience Program Manager can provide you with a list of vendors that will work with you to get discounted bulk pricing.

“Will you help our department with our Emergency Procedures plan during the walkthrough?”

• UW Emergency Management provides many emergency preparedness services to the UW community, which are all free of charge. A mitigation walkthrough is simply an evaluation of space. If you are interested in learning more about Personal Preparedness, Business Continuity, or All-Hazards Planning, and you cannot find the answer easily somewhere on our website, send a quick note to: disaster@uw.edu