How to Get Your Business Ready for Emergencies

5/8/2019 (Permalink)

There are various matters and tasks that must be taken care of while running a business, but one of the most important tasks to think about, which is often overlooked, is emergency preparedness.

While having a plan in place is not insurance against having a disaster of some sort occur, it can still give your business a leg up where safety is concerned and at least ensure that your employees will know what to do if a disaster or emergency situation should occur.

Making a Plan

We highly recommend that you make this a priority and take the time to sit down and work out an emergency preparedness plan for various disaster situations.

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

Emergencies come in many shapes and forms, and it doesn’t matter if one is man-made or natural. Where there is no emergency plan for a business, you can be sure things will get chaotic quickly.

You should make sure 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.

Where to Start

As you think about beginning to set up an emergency plan for your business, consider which scenarios are most likely to occur—and even those that you feel are a longshot but could still happen. After all, it’s better to be over-prepared for any worst-case scenario and not be caught off guard.

You will find 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 conduct a business impact analysis (BIA), which can help predict 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.

After you have developed an emergency preparedness plan, be sure to review it and practice it with your employees. Reviewing and rehearsing various scenarios can help 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 North Huntington is here to help make it “Like it never even happened.”