Sounds about right, unfortunately. The usual policy is to have you evacuate to the designated area (or the backup thereof) and to remain there until an okay is given.
I'm surprised the managers were even allowed inside, really. They wouldn't do anything because they didn't want to lose track of their workers and they never planned for this. They're usually too afraid of legal problems to take any initiative at all. The only good thing is that a lawsuit like this might make them and others plan for such things in the future.
I doubt this is the place where people have been stuck outside in inclement weather during an evacuation.
Upon reflection, I'm guessing that the managers weren't technically allowed back inside per the policy, but were the only people there safely able to ignore that policy and stay warm....
Though I guess they could've been helping the fire department locate the fire or something; I'm sure it'd take quite a while to check for fires before giving an all clear.
"Though I guess they could've been helping the fire department locate the fire or something; I'm sure it'd take quite a while to check for fires before giving an all clear."
As a firefighter, I can -guarantee- that would never be the case. Depending on the severity of the alarm, we have our own tools for a) finding the fire - thermal cameras, etc, and b) getting to them - there's a reason forcible entry is taught in Fire Academy. :)
No, they were just putting themselves above their employees.
I don't know, but my guess would be that they did whatever OSHA told them to and called it a day. Factories aren't the kind of environment where people take the initiative to improve things, generally. And I bet they told the workers that they comply with all OSHA guidelines (no matter how inadequate they might have been in this instance...) and had a meeting with anyone who had been grumbling.
At least, that was about my experience in very similar circumstances, though I took a bit more initiative to prevent heat-related injuries in the first place. Then we had some slightly uncomfortable meetings where I was told to keep up the good work.
Legal fears largely dominate both common sense and initiative, I fear. It would be nice to be able to just do the right thing without so much worry, but I doubt that will happen any time soon.
I've never had to deal with OSHA. I managed to get them to consult some of our former safety guy's recommendations that they had apparently forgotten about and find some stuff that addressed the heat issues. So they spent a few grand or so on swamp cooler fans to cover areas they should have a long time ago and they got some of those cheap necklaces that absorb water. Those work much better than fans, BTW, though it can be hard to get people to wear them (ironically, I had to badger the one guy who needed one the most and he benefited more than anyone).
A lot of things were forgotten, I guess, because the guy responsible for safety was laid off back in 2008 or something like that, which is probably what made them seem so nervous.
Anyhow, no one got sick from the heat, and this was a downright miserable summer, even by Arizona standards, and we did pretty good from the look of things. Nobody has anything to sue over that I know about. I'm not the type who'd sit back and watch someone get hurt if I could prevent it.
I'm surprised the managers were even allowed inside, really. They wouldn't do anything because they didn't want to lose track of their workers and they never planned for this. They're usually too afraid of legal problems to take any initiative at all. The only good thing is that a lawsuit like this might make them and others plan for such things in the future.
I doubt this is the place where people have been stuck outside in inclement weather during an evacuation.