Disaster Preparedness

According to the Institute for Business and Home Safety, an estimated 25 percent of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster.

Being able to reopen after a disaster occurs means taking the necessary steps before the event. Business owners devote a tremendous amount of time, money and energy into their organizations, spending resources to make it successful. And yet the vast majority of business owners never get to planning for a disaster or emergency. It’s the “it won’t happen to me” syndrome.

But recent experience with New Orleans and Hurricane

Katrina has shown that disasters can happen when least expected. For small to medium business owners, being prepared can mean the difference between staying in business following a disaster or closing your doors forever.

Secure Strategies can assist you with preparing for a minor or major disaster. Let us work with you to prepare a Disaster Preparedness Plan, emergency procedures for your employees and backup steps for your data, documents and equipment.

As the business owner, you should ask yourself the following questions: Am I prepared to relocate temporarily? What would happen if my suppliers shut down? Do my employees know what to do in case of an emergency?

Employees should know where all the emergency exits are located. A safety coordinator should be appointed—someone who will take responsibility for making sure all the fire extinguishers work, planning safety drills, developing evacuation plans.

Vital business records—information stored on paper and computer, should be copied and saved on both the hard dive and on backup diskettes at an offsite location away from the main business site.
Your business should also have a “recovery communications” plan in place. Key employees can be assigned as spokespersons who will contact suppliers, creditors, other employees, customers, media and utility companies to get the word out that the business is still viable. Also, that spokesperson can keep the public informed of rebuilding efforts, if necessary.

Secure Strategies can help with this preparation. Call us today to find out how.