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Emergency services are the public response organizations such as firemen, EMTs and police officers that deal with emergencies. If your business faces a natural disaster, security issue or fire, you would call on these emergency responders. However, this should not be your first line of defense against these types of events. Instead, you must develop an emergency preparedness plan for your business. Follow our five tips for creating a plan below so that you can do more than call on emergency services.
Establish A Committee
The first thing that you can do to prepare for events that may require emergency services is to establish a committee. Bring together trusted managers, operations personnel, and employees to help you develop a plan. Connecting with your front end and behind the scenes employees will help you assess the hazards your business may face. Your team can then work together to create the perfect plan for any crisis.
Prioritize Your Functions
Prioritizing your business functions will help you determine how you can move on from a disaster. For example, filing insurance claims would be at the top of the list of things to do, while opening a new savings account would be a lower priority. Having these priorities laid out can help you keep a level head in the aftermath of a disaster. When you have a plan for how to recover, you will be much more likely to succeed.
Plan For Continuity
Part of prioritizing your business functions relies on planning for continuity. Your emergency preparedness plan should outline how you can stay in business. This should include the best way to contact clients and vendors after an emergency. Additionally, you may want to have a list of any important staff, materials, procedures and equipment that are necessary to keep your business going. That way, you can assess the damage and quickly return back to your regular operations.
Make An Emergency Kit
An emergency kit is another key tip for business owners who want to be prepared. In addition to having a plan laid out, you should always have some necessities on hand for any type of disaster. Blankets, canned food, and extra copies of important business documents should be kept in a safe place for emergency access. Having a kit will ease your employees minds while also helping to keep everyone safe while they await emergency services.
Train Your Employees
Finally, the last thing that you can do for your emergency preparedness plan is take the time to train your employees. It is not always enough to have a fire escape route laid out. Instead, go over the exact procedures that should be followed in the event of any emergency. Once you have covered all of the basics, you can trust that they will be safe until emergency services arrive.
Having an emergency preparedness plan is the key to helping your business recover from an emergency. If you train your employees and provide them with a proper plan in the event of a disaster, you can limit the casualties your business faces before emergency services even arrive. To make their job easier, and yours, consider following these 5 tips for business emergency planning.
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