Emergency Preparedness

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure – emergency preparedness for small businesses

Small business owners are some of the busiest people in America, so it’s easy to just look at the most pressing, immediate business concerns. But as natural and man-made disasters seem to be happening with increased regularity, it seems it’s just a matter of time before a disaster comes knocking on your door. FEMA publishes a guide to help businesses prepare for emergencies. For a copy of the full guide, visit http://www.fema.gov/pdf/business/guide/bizindst.pdf. Below is a summary of their approach.

There are four steps in the planning process:

1. Establish a planning team
a. Form the team – the size of the team will depend on the needs, size, and resources of your company
b. Establish authority – demonstrate owner’s commitment and promote an atmosphere of cooperation by giving the planning team authority to take the necessary steps to implement an emergency plan
c. Issue a mission statement – your statement should define the purpose of the plan, indicate it will involve the whole organization, and define the authority and structure of the planning group
d. Establish a schedule and budget – establish a work schedule, planning deadlines, and an initial budget
2. Analyze capabilities and hazards
a. Where do you stand right now?
i. Review internal plans and policies
ii. Meet with outside groups, such as a community emergency management office, the fire or police department, and telephone and utility companies
iii. Identify codes and regulations, such as occupational safety and health regulations, environmental regulations, fire codes, seismic safety codes, and zoning regulations
iv. Identify critical products, services, and operations to assess the impact of potential emergencies and to determine the need for backup systems
v. Identify internal resources and capabilities that could be needed in an emergency, including personnel, equipment, facilities, and backup systems
vi. Identify external resources that could be needed in an emergency, such as the fire department, local and state police, utilities, insurance carriers, and community service organizations
vii. Meet with your insurance carriers to review all policies
b. Conduct a vulnerability analysis
i. List potential emergencies
ii. Estimate the probability of each emergency’s occurrence
iii. Analyze the potential human impact of each emergency – the possibility of death or injury
iv. Assess the potential property impact, including cost to replace, cost to set up temporary replacement, and cost to repair
v. Assess the potential business impact, or the potential loss of market share, including business interruption, employees unable to report to work, customer unable to reach facility, and interruption of product distribution
vi. Assess internal and external resources and your ability to respond
3. Develop the plan
a. Your plan should include the following components
i. An executive summary that gives a brief overview of the purpose of the plan, the facility’s emergency management policy, authorities and responsibilities of key personnel, the types of emergencies that could occur, and where response operations will be managed
ii. Briefly describe the plan’s approach to the core elements of emergency management
iii. Spell out how the company will respond to emergencies
iv. Include documents that could be included in an emergency, like call lists, maps, etc.
b. The development process
i. Identify challenges and prioritize activities
ii. Write the plan
iii. Establish a training schedule
iv. Meet periodically with local government agencies and community organizations
v. Review the plan, conduct training, and revise the plan as necessary
vi. Get final approval from senior management
vii. Distribute the plan to key personnel
4. Implement the plan
a. Integrate the plan into company operations – test how completely the plan has been integrated
b. Conduct training – training activities can include:
i. Orientation and education sessions
ii. Tabletop exercises
iii. Walk-through drill
iv. Functional drills
v. Evacuation drill
vi. Full-scale exercise
c. Evaluate and modify the plan – conduct a formal audit of the plan at least once a year