Protecting Businesses Against Disaster

Auburn, Oct. 24---The events of September 11^th brought into sharp focus the need for businesses to have a contingency plan in place to protect the business and its employees in the event of an emergency.

"It does not take an act of terrorism or a catastrophic natural disaster to place businesses and jobs in jeopardy," says Dr. Jacquelyn Robinson, community workforce development specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. "Anything that interrupts business as usual for more than a day can have lasting effects."

A business doesn’t have to be physically devastated to be placed in a threatened position. Power outages, computer problems, both onsite and at remote locations, a disgruntled worker that becomes violent, or a chemical spill a few blocks away from the business are only a few problems that can leave a business in dire straits, Robinson says.

Small to midsize businesses who have to close for four to five days lose up to 50 percent in operational capacity. Approximately 60 percent of small to midsize businesses close their doors permanently within a year following a disaster. Most of these failures had not planned for the disaster that ruined them.

The most efficient way to protect your business and the people who work there is to be proactive. You need an emergency plan. But simply having a disaster plan filed in a drawer someplace or on a shelf is not adequate. A good emergency management program is tested monthly or more frequently and ensures that:

Someone is responsible for maintaining the emergency program and for its implementation should a disaster happen
Every employee knows and is practiced in the emergency procedures.
In the event of a widespread disaster, a system is in place for employee accounting
The business can remain financially solvent for up to 30 days
All sensitive records needed for running and maintaining the business are backed up in a secure location or with a third-party contractor
There is a contingency plan for communicating with suppliers, maintaining a power and water supply and for continuing accounting procedures

Many businesses have some type of emergency plan on file. The emergency plan is a good place for any business to begin developing a workable, manageable program that will protect both lives and property. There are seven steps to having an effective disaster preparedness program.

Make emergency preparedness for your employees, your business and your customers top priority.
Write emergency preparedness into the your company’s budget.
Train key personnel how to handle emergencies.
Identify crisis practices, if any, that are already in place.
Identify potential problems, hazards and risks to your business.
Walk through the existing procedures. Practicing existing emergency instructions points out obvious weaknesses in the program.
Develop emergency response and recovery procedures that include regular reviews of the program, periodic training, practice for every employee, a flowchart showing who is responsible for what, and inspections of the physical plant.
Be sure financial, personnel and customer data files are as equally protected as the employees and the facility.

Source: Dr. Jacquelyn Robinson, Community Workforce Development Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 844-5353