Starting a Disaster Plan
Even small businesses should have a plan. And if you are a small business, you probably have just enough to cover your rent and other expenses so you need cost effective ways to plan. Here are several things that you can do for free to get you started:
- Meet with your insurance provider to review current coverage.
- Create procedures to quickly evacuate and shelter-in-place. Practice the plans.
- Talk to your people about the company's disaster plans. Two-way communication is central before, during and after a disaster.
- Create an emergency contact list including employee emergency contact information.
- Create a list of critical business contractors and others whom you will use in an emergency.
- Know what kinds of emergencies might affect your company both internally and externally.
- Decide in advance what you will do if your building is unusable.
- Create a list of inventory and equipment, including computer hardware, software and peripherals, for insurance purposes.
- Talk to utility service providers about potential alternatives and identify back-up options.
- Promote family and individual preparedness among your co-workers. Include emergency preparedness information during staff meetings, in newsletters, on company intranet, periodic employee emails and other internal communications tools.