Checklist offered to determine level of preparedness

Ada City-County Emergency Management
June is National Safety Month and many businesses will take this time to encourage workplace safety for their employees.

This year, the National Safety Council (NSC) also is promoting emergency preparedness as part of the larger message.Employees who are prepared both at home and at work can more safely deal with a disaster, help the business recover from an event and be of assistance to the community after it occurs.

How Prepared Is Your Business For An Emergency?

  1. Does your business know what kinds of emergencies might affect it – both internally and externally?
  2. Does your business have a written, comprehensive emergency plan in place to help ensure your safety and take care of employees until help can arrive?
  3. Has your business created and practiced procedures to quickly evacuate and find shelter in case of an emergency?
  4. Has your business created a communication plan to communicate with employees in an emergency? (Examples include set up a telephone call tree, password-protected page on the company Web site, e-mail alert or call-in voice recording, and a contact list that includes employee emergency contact information.)
  5. Has your business talked with utility service providers about potential alternatives and identified back-up options?
  6. Has your business determined operations that need to be up and running first after an emergency and how to resume key operations?
  7. Has your business created a list of inventory and equipment, including computer hardware, software, and peripherals (such as backed up/protected records and critical data) for business continuity and insurance purposes?
  8. Has your business met with your insurance provider to review current coverage in case of an emergency?
  9. Does your business promote family and individual preparedness among co-workers (such as emergency preparedness information during staff meetings, newsletters, company intranet, periodic employee e-mails, and via other internal communication tools)?
  10. Have emergency shutdown procedures been developed for equipment such as boilers, automatic feeds or other operations that can not simply be left running in an emergency evacuation?
  11. Has your business worked with your community on emergency planning efforts and helped to plan for community recovery?

8-11 Yes responses = Good Start, Keep Up The Good Work
4-7 Yes Responses = Nice Beginning, Work On Gaps
1-3 Yes Responses = Start Developing /Implementing An Emergency Plan-

This survey can be the first step. The score is a very general look at the business’s preparedness and is just one potential planning tool. For more information on how to better prepare your business go to: http://www.accem.org/businessprep.html

Published 6-7-13