We're all a little shaken up about the recent earthquakes (oh yes, pun definitely intended). In the recent months we've also had a tsunami warning and a tornado warning. Never before in San Diego history have we had a tornado warning! Does this make you just a little more wary as fire season approaches? Well, maybe it's time to really take a serious look at your emergency preparedness and business continuity plan.
If you are saying, “What emergency preparedness plan?”, and “What's a business continuity plan?” then it is most definitely time to take the first steps towards ensuring that your business and your employees are prepared to face and recover from a disaster. Here are just a few quick things that you can do to prepare your business and your employees:
• Have every employee in your company register his or her cell phone on the Alert San Diego reverse 911 system. www.alertsandiego.com
• Set aside part of your storage space for supplies intended to keep all of your employees safe for at least 72 hours (food, water, blankets, first aid, hygiene products, etc.).
• Purchase a battery-powered radio and tune it to KOGO-AM 600 (the emergency broadcast system for San Diego County).
• Bookmark the “Emergencies Affecting Carlsbad” page of the City's Web site to be able to quickly access information about area-wide situations. http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/emergency-preparedness/current-incident/Pages/EOC-current-incident.aspx
• Create a floor plan of your facility indicating individual employee offices to furnish to emergency responders during a search-and-rescue operation.
• Review your insurance policies to determine those events for which you are covered and those for which you are not.
• Make sure all of your critical data is backed up and stored in an off-site location.
These steps are by no means comprehensive but it's a start. Businesses that survive a disaster are not lucky unless you consider that the definition of 'luck' is 'preparation coinciding with opportunity.' The time to prepare is now. For more information on disaster preparedness and business continuity planning, contact the Chamber and ask a member of the Business Emergency Task Force to contact you.
Deb Beddoe can be reached at (760) 603-1800 and on the Web at
www.youropsmanager.com.
If you are saying, “What emergency preparedness plan?”, and “What's a business continuity plan?” then it is most definitely time to take the first steps towards ensuring that your business and your employees are prepared to face and recover from a disaster. Here are just a few quick things that you can do to prepare your business and your employees:
• Have every employee in your company register his or her cell phone on the Alert San Diego reverse 911 system. www.alertsandiego.com
• Set aside part of your storage space for supplies intended to keep all of your employees safe for at least 72 hours (food, water, blankets, first aid, hygiene products, etc.).
• Purchase a battery-powered radio and tune it to KOGO-AM 600 (the emergency broadcast system for San Diego County).
• Bookmark the “Emergencies Affecting Carlsbad” page of the City's Web site to be able to quickly access information about area-wide situations. http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/departments/emergency-preparedness/current-incident/Pages/EOC-current-incident.aspx
• Create a floor plan of your facility indicating individual employee offices to furnish to emergency responders during a search-and-rescue operation.
• Review your insurance policies to determine those events for which you are covered and those for which you are not.
• Make sure all of your critical data is backed up and stored in an off-site location.
These steps are by no means comprehensive but it's a start. Businesses that survive a disaster are not lucky unless you consider that the definition of 'luck' is 'preparation coinciding with opportunity.' The time to prepare is now. For more information on disaster preparedness and business continuity planning, contact the Chamber and ask a member of the Business Emergency Task Force to contact you.
Deb Beddoe can be reached at (760) 603-1800 and on the Web at
www.youropsmanager.com.