Business Preparedness

Business & Industry:

Publications

NFPA 1600—Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs (PDF)
Preparing Your Business for the Unthinkable (American Red Cross) (PDF) Large File
Emergency Management Guide for Business and Industry (FEMA) (PDF) Large File

Web Sites

NFPA-Employee and Life Safety excerpts (PDF) Large File
IBHS-Institute for Business and Home Safety
SBA - Expect the Unexpected

In order to protect the health and safety of their employees and their businesses, business owners and managers should:

Prepare, review, revise, and exercise their emergency plans and evacuation procedures.
Maintain an emergency supply kit, including survival items such as water, flashlights, and a first-aid-kit

Emergency Planning for Businesses:

As a business owner or manager, your emergency planning team should include all areas of your business. You should also include human resources, finance, administration, and executive level personnel.

There are seven critical elements of a business emergency plan:

Direction & Control: Who is in charge of making critical decisions, managing resources, analyzing information? Ensure that the chain of command during an emergency is clear to all of your employees.
Communications: How will you contact your employees? Your customers? Neighboring businesses? Local Officials?
Life Safety: Teach your employees about evacuation vs. sheltering-in-place. Identify external assembly areas if you are evacuated. Establish a system to account for your employees. Plan for employees with special needs or disabilities.
Property Protection: Install protection systems. Make sure you have plans for shutting down or moving critical equipment. Identify critical records or data and back them up at another location.
Public Information/Media Relations: After a large emergency affecting your business, media representatives will likely contact you. It is a good idea to prepare background information about your company. Designate and train a spokesperson who can represent your company and provide important information for your clients and customers.
Recovery and Restoration - Business Continuity Planning: A thorough business continuity plan may help you maintain your business operations throughout an emergency or ensure a quick recovery after an emergency has occurred. A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) should include:
- Essential Functions: Identify and prioritize functions and identify the number of personnel and the equipment needed to perform these functions.
- Delegation of Authority: Identify personnel who are able to make critical decisions and identify the circumstances under which their authority would be used.
- Order of Succession: Develop orders of succession of sufficient depth and geographical dispersal for key positions within your department and develop procedures for the conditions under which succession will take place.
- Alternate Facilities: Identify alternate facilities where priority functions could be performed.
- Communications: Describe methods of communications needed for operations and tools that are available at alternate facilities.
- Vital Records & Databases: Identify critical operations documents, financial records, and time keeping items and describe where and how they are duplicated.
- Recovery and Restoration - Business Continuity Planning: A through business continuity plan may help you maintain your business operations throughout an emergency or ensure a quick recovery after an emergency has occurred. A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) should include:
Administration & logistics: Identify required record keeping methods and designate resource acquisition and tracking personnel.