Protect People

Effective communication is the key to supporting your employees, reassuring your vendors and suppliers, and getting your business back on its feet quickly.

Maintain Contact lists

Update your emergency employee, vendors/suppliers, and key contact lists. People are an irreplaceable asset, so create and update lists to be used during and after an emergency. Keep in mind that a disaster may affect one of your vendors. Do you have an alternate supplier?

Contact lists should include all possible methods of reaching a person. Beyond the usual phone numbers and email addresses (business and personal), consider including the spouse’s contact information or other known contact information. The contact list for employees can be used as a phone tree for sharing critical information.

Once contact lists are created, they must be kept updated. Time and time again, businesses tell stories about the vast amounts of time they had to spend trying to reach a missing employee or vendor simply because their contact info was outdated.

Businesses that have recovered successfully, however, share stories, too. One such story comes from a chocolate company that was able to keep its largest customer in the loop as it relocated due to building damage, and then was able to coordinate the movement of newly delivered product from one customer’s building to another customer so a critical order could be filled. None of this could have happened if the company hadn’t been in direct contact with its customers to create workable solutions. Most importantly, especially because it was a small business, it didn’t lose any customers.

Communicate with Employees

Keep your employees informed before, during, and especially after a disaster. No communications can mean rumors replace facts. Recovery is delayed when employees are uncertain of what has happened and what the next steps should be.
Crisis communications take two forms:

• External
• Internal

This section focuses on internal communications, while external communications are discussed under Protect Your Brand.

Internal communications are often handled by the Human Resources department, in coordination with the Public Relations department. Key pieces of information that should be communicated to all employees include what you are doing to prepare, the status of your plan development efforts, the steps that each employee will need to take at work in the event of a disaster, available training for employees should they volunteer for emergency response roles like evacuation wardens, and most importantly, what they should do at home to be prepared. Tie national and regional preparedness campaigns to your company’s own preparedness initiatives to encourage employee readiness.

When a Disaster Strikes

Keep in mind that regular communications using computers, networks, emails, websites, and possibly internal websites – all of which are great everyday methods of communicating with employees, especially for preparedness messages – may not be available in an emergency. You will need to use those that are available, and also consider alternative means of sharing information, such as text messaging, phone trees, an out-dialer, an out-of-state emergency call-in line, and emergency web portals.

Recent social media tools, such as Facebook pages, have been used by companies to reach their employees. Some were established in advance, but others were established only after a disaster. Save critical time by setting up social media portals in advance so there is no delay in getting information out and ensuring that employees know where to go for information.

Set a schedule for regular updates, and then keep the information coming. Use old and new channels to keep your employees in the loop. The main purpose here is to reduce stress by keeping your employees informed. They need to know what is happening, that their company has matters under control, and that someone is in charge.

Even if you don’t have something for employees to do from home after a disaster, find ways for them to remain engaged with other employees. This is particularly important for non-essential staff, whose departments are not critical and won’t be recovered right away. You can still use these people to support the recovery process. Efforts to address the traumatic aspects of a disaster can sometimes get lost in the shuffle of a company’s efforts to restore its business operations, but people need to share their stories as a way to recover emotionally. (Consider taking measure to have crisis counseling services available for employees, too.)

Bring all employees together to celebrate recovery milestones. Through your regular communications, everyone can feel like they are a part of your success.

Recruit employee volunteers to become trained emergency responders. These employees will be vital assets in handling an emergency situation. Your company will have to determine what kind of employee preparedness program it wants to employ, and then find willing volunteers to participate.

Emergency Response Team training is offered by organizations such as the Fire Department, Red Cross, local emergency management offices, the county sheriff’s office, FEMA, and other organizations. A wide variety of trainings are offered, including:

• Evacuation and carries
• First aid
• Light search and rescue
• Fire extinguisher use
• 2-way radio use
• Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
• Workplace Violence (Run-Hide-Fight)

Since emergency responder duties are not the primary responsibility of your employees, it’s important to refresh their training annually. Also, involving your trained response teams in exercises is a great way to keep them engaged and to test their part of your disaster plan, updating anything that needs improvement.

Home preparedness is an especially important goal for all Emergency Response Team members, as they will need to be assured that their own families know what to do in an emergency. Knowing their family members are safe will help employee responders participate in workplace response more effectively.

Many businesses have experienced an increase in loyalty when providing employee safety training; it lets the staff know that their company cares about them. This positive reaction is an additional benefit to the company. Many of these trained employees have also saved lives in the community. They were in the right place after car accidents or when someone was choking in a restaurant.

Provide Necessary Equipment

Now that employees have volunteered and been trained, it’s time to give them equipment that matches their level of training. It doesn’t make sense to spend money on an advanced first aid medical bag if no one is trained on how to use it. Equipment should always match the level of the training.

There are two levels of emergency response equipment: personal and team. Personal equipment, such as face masks and latex gloves, are used for individual protection when performing response tasks. Team equipment can be used by any of the Employee Response Team members. Also, every team member that has undergone training should be identified by a hat or vest so that others know they have relevant knowledge and will follow their lead.

General employee emergency response equipment for your Emergency Response Teams (depending on their training) might include:

• Hard hats
• Work gloves
• Employee floor rosters
• Flashlights and batteries
• Pens
• Emergency forms and checklists
• Handheld 2-way radios
• First aid supplies
• Light search and rescue tools
• Bullhorns
• Pry bar and fulcrum

Once Employee Response Team equipment is purchased, it stays with the company. Annual replacements need only be made of used items, which typically include some first aid supplies. Having to only replace items used means low-cost annual maintenance expenses and ensures that the company is always ready for a disaster.

Stock up on essential emergency supplies. Take a quick trip to an office supply store to stock up on basic and affordable supplies. You can add to your list with specific supplies for specific hazards but the basics are always the same. You need to have supplies sufficient to support yourself and your employees for at least three days:

• First aid kit(s)
• Emergency water (with purifier or bleach with dropper)
• Flashlights and extra batteries
• Battery-powered radio
• Light sticks
• Sanitation kit and supplies (no water means no restrooms, so you need to plan ahead. Even businesses on lock-down for several hours have had to deal with this type of challenge.)
• Plastic garbage bags
• AM/FM radio
• Duct tape
• Emergency blankets
• Dust mask (N-95 particulate)

Each employee should be encouraged to have their own personal supplies at work sufficient to support themselves for at least three days based on their own personal needs, to supplement the company’s emergency supplies. Here are some suggestions:

• Extra prescription medicine
• Ordinary non-prescription medications, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, etc.
• Personal first aid kit (if the employer does not provide first aid supplies)
• Personal hygiene items (toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, brush, soap, extra eye glasses or contact lens supplies, and feminine supplies)
• Extra clothing, sturdy shoes
• Non-perishable, compact food items (high protein, high energy)
• Emergency blanket
• List of important phone numbers
• Emergency whistle on lanyard
• Dust mask (N-95 particulate)

Develop a prepared workforce – business readiness doesn’t end at work. It is important for all employees to be prepared at home and even in the car.

Securing belongings at home, building a kit, having family members attend first aid classes, and other similar measures all are parts of more effective workplace preparedness. Preparedness at home ensures that your most valuable assets are protected. From the business perspective, if employees are not prepared at home, they won’t be able to return to work quickly. Everyone benefits by taking preparedness steps on all fronts.

Throughout the year, you can use different methods to encourage your employees’ understanding of why preparedness is important and teach them how to take action. For example, you might hold quarterly sessions with guest speakers to focus on one specific aspect of preparedness. Speakers can come from police, fire, emergency management, health, and weather service agencies. You can also have prizes focused on readiness to encourage attendance. Topics can include measures at work and home.

As part of your internal communications, circulate information like news articles or monthly preparedness tips at staff meetings, new employee orientation, or monthly “lunch-n-learn” events. These can focus on one or two key preparedness elements, such as how to build an emergency kit.

Also, connect your educational efforts to local, regional and national campaigns, such as National Disaster Preparedness Month in September, to bolster your message.

Employees with Children

Employees who have children should be advised to check on their schools’ emergency plans and engage in their preparedness efforts. Many parents try to rush to see their children after a disaster, even when it may be unsafe to do so. Being involved in the planning activities conducted at their children’s school(s) may help reassure parents that their children are being taken care of and prevent them from putting themselves at further risk after a disaster. Parents should include the phone numbers of their children’s school(s) in their personal emergency contact lists at work.