Natural disasters can strike with only a moment’s notice. It’s not a question of if but when a disaster will strike your facility, and you need to make sure you are prepared. With the Atlantic hurricane season starting on June 1, it’s important to stay in the know. Keep reading to learn how to protect yourself and cope with a hurricane by planning ahead so that you can protect your facility, your employees and lessen the financial impact of a disaster.
1. Have a Plan
It’s important to have a preparedness plan in the event a hurricane strikes. Disaster preparedness is all about creating an effective Disaster Preparation Plan to recover from a temporary disruption to business operations. After creating your plan, run through a drill with your team. This will give your staff familiarity with potential problems that can arise allowing for a more quick and efficient response time during a real hurricane.
2. Make a List of the Potential Things that Could Go Wrong
Making a list of potential disasters that could happen to your company can help prepare you for the worst a hurricane has to offer. Include emergencies that you will be warned about and ones that will occur unexpectedly. Think flooding, electrical outages, impassable streets and so on. Think about how these disasters can affect your employees, customers and business facility.
3. Disaster Mitigation
Disaster response and recovery can be limited by proper disaster mitigation. It is important to prepare your facility when there is a hurricane brewing. Install shutters that you can close to protect windows from damage caused by debris blown by strong winds. Other precautions include bolting tall bookcases or display cases to wall studs, securing breakable objects using hook-and- loop fasteners and installing latches to keep drawers and cabinets from flying open.
4. Disaster Recovery
Once the crisis is over, it’s time to get your company back in business as soon as possible. First, make an assessment of the damages. Consider short term recovery needs to get your business back up and running such as restoration of communications, alternative locations to continue to serve your customers and staffing schedules. Long term recovery will include filing claims with your insurance agent, replacing equipment and performing repairs.
