HAVE A WRITTEN PLAN
Every business needs a written disaster plan. This plan must be unique to your business, your facility and your employees. The plan must address a variety of potential disasters such as but not limited to:
- Fire
- Tornado
- Loss of Utilities
- Loss of a Key Employee
- Active Shooter/Workplace Violence
- Loss of a Key Vendor or Supplier
- Other situations that are particular to your business. We will help you uncover these.
The plan should go beyond just the identification of the potential threats to a business. It should address, in detail, the response the business and employees will take should the situation occurs.
HAVE A DISASTER PLANNING TEAM
Your team needs input and participation from all levels of the organization from upper management to the facilities staff. One of the biggest mistake an organization can make is to have only management involved in the formulation of a disaster plan. A diversified employee team will do a better job in creating an effective disaster plan that actually works and will create better “buy in” throughout the organization.
TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN
Continually train your supervisors and employees. Success will depend on the readiness of your organization to response adequately to threats. Once training or “test runs” are completed, obtain feedback from employees and supervisor, find out what worked and what didn’t.
REGULAR REVIEW OF PLAN
Developing a plan and putting on the shelf will not cut it. Your disaster plan is a living document. It needs to be constantly updated as your company’s operations change and as the threats change. Ten years ago, the thought of having “active shooter” training seemed excessive, now it should be required.
REVIEW INSURANCE
Ultimately, insurance is really just a funding mechanism for responding to disasters, whether it is a fire, tornado, violent act, a liability claim or a car accident. It all boils down to the question, who pays for the damages and the expenses that are incurred. Does the business pay for it or is the risk transferred to an insurance policy. It is important to note that a good insurance program can offer funding that helps pay for some elements of a disaster plan.
