Making Sure Your Business is Ready for Disaster Situations

11/4/2019 (Permalink)

Many things must be taken into consideration on a day-to-day basis when you are a business owner, but one of the most important factors to think about is emergency preparedness.

Even though having a plan in effect does not stop disasters from happening, it is still helpful from a safety standpoint in making sure that your employees know what to do if a disaster or emergency situation should occur.

You Need a Plan

It is highly suggested that you take the time to sit down and work out an emergency preparedness plan for various disaster situations. Make it your No.1 priority!

There are numerous emergencies your business should have a preparedness plan in place for, including:

• Fire
• Severe weather, including thunderstorms and winter storms
• Other natural hazards like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes
• Human-caused hazards, including accidents or acts of violence
• Technology-related issues like power outages and equipment failure

Whether your business experiences a man-made incident or one created by nature, you need to have an emergency preparedness plan because if there is no emergency plan for your business, things may go from bad to worse quickly.

Make it a point to ensure that safety training and familiarization of emergency preparedness plans are included in the company onboarding process, team-building activities and continuing education opportunities. By helping employees familiarize themselves with proper safety protocol and emergency procedures, you’re not only giving them the tools to protect themselves, but you are also setting them up to help protect guests/visitors and the business itself.

Begin Here

As you look to begin to set up an emergency plan for your business, you’ll first need to evaluate which scenarios are most likely to occur—and those that are a longshot but could still happen. After all, it’s better to prepare for all the worst-case scenarios and not be caught off guard.

There are plenty of online resources to help guide you through this process, including Ready.gov, the American Red Cross, FEMA and the CDC.

You should also consider having a business impact analysis (BIA) done to help in predicting the potential effect a disaster may have on your business. This would include lost or delayed sales and income, increased expenses from repairs, and delayed implementation of business plans. Don’t forget to make sure a crisis communications plan is in place, too.

Once you have that emergency preparedness plan, make sure to go over it and practice the plan with employees, as reviewing and rehearsing various scenarios will ensure the process remains fresh in their minds and can help employees feel more empowered.

Disaster can strike when you least expect it, but by being prepared and having a plan in place, your business will be better suited to handle whatever Mother Nature has in store. If the worst should happen and your business is damaged, know that SERVPRO® of Garden Grove East/Anaheim Central is here to help make it “Like it never even happened.”