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Preparing Your Business for Potential Disaster Situations | SERVPRO® of Madison/Goodlettsville
5/9/2019 (Permalink)
Business ownership brings with it a multitude of things that must be taken care of when running a business, but one of the most important factors to think about is emergency preparedness.
While creating an emergency plan does not protect you, your business or your employees from experiencing a disaster, it can still give your business a leg up on the safety side and at least make sure that your employees know what to do and how to respond if a disaster or emergency situation should occur.
Have you taken the necessary time to sit down and work out an emergency preparedness plan for various disaster situations? If not, it should be a 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
Disasters can come in different ways—man-made incident or one stemming from nature—and if there is no emergency plan for your business, things could become even more devastating 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.
Setting up an emergency plan for a business should begin by first evaluating which scenarios are most likely to occur—even those that you think that could never happen. After all, it’s better to prepare for all the worst-case scenarios and not be caught by surprise.
There are plenty of online resources to help guide you through this process, including Ready.gov, the American Red Cross, FEMA and the CDC.
A business impact analysis (BIA) can be performed to help predict the potential effect a disaster may have on your business. This should 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 come up with an emergency preparedness plan, make sure that you conduct drills to go over it and practice 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 Madison/Goodlettsville is here to help make it “Like it never even happened.”