Free Safety Plan Template

What a Safety Plan Is and Who Needs One

A safety plan is a personalized, written document that a person creates (often with the help of a therapist or counselor) to navigate a mental health crisis. It is not a contract or a medical order. It is a practical reference tool: a list of warning signs, coping steps, people to contact, and professional resources that someone can turn to when they are in distress and struggling to think clearly.

Mental health safety plans are widely used in therapy for depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, PTSD, severe anxiety, and other conditions where crises can occur. Research supports their effectiveness: having a written plan reduces the likelihood of acting on a crisis impulse by giving the person concrete steps to take before the situation escalates.

The term safety plan is also used in workplace safety to mean a documented emergency response or hazard control plan. Both uses are covered in this guide, but the mental health format is the more commonly searched version.

• Individuals in therapy for depression, suicidal ideation, or self-harm
• Anyone who has experienced a mental health crisis and wants a plan before the next one
• Teenagers or young adults at a school or college working with a counselor
• Families creating a plan together for a family member with a serious mental health condition
• Workplaces required to document emergency response and hazard procedures
• First responders, military personnel, and veterans who may use specialized crisis plan formats

What a Mental Health Safety Plan Template Must Include

The most widely used mental health safety plan format follows a six-step structure developed by researchers Stanley and Brown. Each step builds on the previous one, moving from self-directed coping toward external support and professional intervention. The steps are ordered so that the person tries less intensive steps first before escalating.

• Step 1: Warning signs, the personal thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or situations that signal a crisis is building
• Step 2: Internal coping strategies, things the person can do independently to manage distress (walking, music, breathing exercises, journaling)
• Step 3: Social distractions, people or places that provide connection and help interrupt the crisis without requiring a heavy conversation
• Step 4: Trusted people to reach out to directly, with phone numbers, for emotional support during a crisis
• Step 5: Professional resources including therapist contact, local crisis line, and emergency services
• Step 6: Environmental safety measures, concrete steps to reduce access to means during a crisis period
• Reasons for living: a personal list written during a stable period that can remind the person of what matters during the worst moments

How to Create a Mental Health Safety Plan

A safety plan is most effective when created during a stable period, ideally with a therapist, counselor, or trusted healthcare provider. Creating it alone during a crisis is difficult because the cognitive and emotional load of a crisis makes careful thinking harder. Here is the process:

1. Choose a calm, stable moment to work on the plan. If you are currently in a crisis, contact a crisis line (988) or a mental health professional first.
2. Fill in Step 1 with your own specific warning signs. Generic examples like "feeling sad" are less useful than personal, observable ones like "isolating for two or more days" or "canceling plans three times in a row."
3. For Step 2, list coping strategies you have actually tried and that have worked for you, not ones that sound good in theory. Be concrete: "watch 20 minutes of a specific show" works better than "watch TV."
4. For Steps 3 and 4, write real names and current phone numbers. A safety plan with names and no numbers is nearly useless during a crisis.
5. In Step 5, include your specific therapist's direct line (not just the main office number) and at least one crisis resource like 988 or the Crisis Text Line.
6. For Step 6, work with your therapist on environmental safety. This step often involves having a trusted person temporarily hold medications or other items. Be specific.
7. Review and update the plan every few months or after any crisis. Phone numbers change, coping strategies evolve, and what worked before may need adjusting.

Workplace Safety Plan Template: Key Sections

A workplace safety plan is a different document with a different purpose: it documents how a business identifies hazards, prevents accidents, and responds to emergencies. OSHA regulations require many workplaces in the US to maintain a written safety program, and the format varies by industry and workplace size.

A basic workplace safety plan includes the company's safety policy statement, identification of the person responsible for safety, a list of known workplace hazards and how they are controlled, emergency response procedures, and training and inspection schedules.

• Safety policy statement: a short declaration of the company's commitment to employee safety, signed by leadership
• Hazard identification: a list of the specific hazards in the workplace and the controls in place for each (engineering controls, PPE, procedures)
• Emergency response procedures: what to do in case of fire, chemical spill, medical emergency, active threat, natural disaster, or power outage
• Emergency contact list: local fire department, police, poison control, company safety officer, employee emergency contacts
• Incident reporting procedure: how employees report accidents, near-misses, and injuries, and who handles the documentation
• Training schedule: who receives safety training, on what topics, and how often
• Inspection checklist: regular walkthrough schedule to identify new hazards before they cause incidents

Safety Plan Tips and Common Mistakes

A safety plan only works if it is accessible, specific, and reviewed regularly. The most common failure is writing a plan and never looking at it again until the next crisis. A few practices make the plan more effective in practice.

• Keep the plan somewhere accessible: printed and stored in a drawer, saved as a PDF on your phone, or shared with a trusted person who can remind you of it
• Personalize every section. Generic plans feel impersonal in a crisis and are less effective. Your specific warning signs, not examples, should be in the document.
• Review the plan with your therapist or counselor at least twice a year, and after any significant life change or crisis event
• For the workplace safety plan: make sure employees actually know where to find it and that they receive regular training, not just a document in a binder
• The reasons-for-living section is the most personal and often the most powerful. Write it when you are feeling stable and make it specific (names, experiences, goals)
• Do not mistake a safety plan for a crisis intervention. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.