Preparing Your Business for a Disaster | SERVPRO of East Fullerton/Placentia
10/7/2024 (Permalink)
How prepared do you feel for a disaster? Maybe you have spent time talking with your family about fire safety and you have an emergency kit ready to use if a storm comes through, but what about at work?
If you own a business, it is crucial to prepare for anything that can come your way in order to survive potential interruptions. That should include preparing for potential disasters, both natural and manmade.
With a plan and help from our SERVPRO® team, you can keep your employees safe, your building protected and your business running.
Plan for Everything
Running a business can feel a lot like walking on a tightrope. With so much on your plate, just keeping things running daily can be an enormous challenge. You need to be prepared for anything to happen—which means you need a plan for everything.
When it comes to creating a plan for a potential disaster, the best first step is to consider your risks. A risk assessment is a great way to dig into the potential ways your business may be interrupted.
Risk assessments will look into disasters that Mother Nature could bring, as well as industrial risks and liability risks. Your disaster plan will need to be broad in order to function well for a variety of risks, but should also cover some specific areas according to those disasters that are most probable.
Include in your plan specific tasks for your employees in order to protect your building as much as possible. When a storm is headed your way with high winds, make sure someone brings in any loose items and secures anything that could become projectile.
In case a plumbing failure strikes, assign someone to shut water off at the main valve. Teach your employees how to use fire extinguishers and initiate other fire safety equipment should a fire start in your building.
Prepare to Respond
Creating a plan ahead of disasters allows you some reassurance that you have done everything possible to prevent a potential disruption to your business. A plan won’t stop a disaster, though, which means you also need to know how to respond after one does strike.
Once you have done everything you can to secure your building, safety should be your next top priority. You and your staff will need to ride out the storm, fire or flood somewhere safely so that you can get back to work as soon as it is safe to do so. In your disaster plan, create an alternate work plan for after a disaster.
If you are going to be working remotely, make sure your data is going to be secure ahead of the disaster striking. Check equipment and networks to ensure everyone can log on as anticipated. If you will be using an alternate location, make sure your staff knows how and when to access it.
As you get work going again, call our office so we can start your restoration. Our experts are available around the clock to put your building back together, no matter what has happened.
Need help creating a disaster plan, or has your business been damaged in a disaster? Contact us so we can help keep your business going.