Disasters can strike any company or organization with little to no advance notice. That’s why it’s important to prepare for disasters as comprehensively as possible. Creating a disaster plan and reviewing it with the entire office on a regular basis can help ensure that all employees will be prepared when a disaster strikes.

Disasters can result from fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake, terrorism, and many other causes. The net result is the same: Employees can suffer severe injury and even death, while businesses can lose access to their data systems and phone, Internet, and fax lines at the very time when hundreds of stakeholders need assistance.

Simulating evacuation plans as a form of review and setting times to do so (every six months at minimum) is often the key to a successful evacuation because it provides the opportunity to make necessary changes and updates, promotes quick reaction times, and helps prevent injury and panic. It also ensures that key officiators of the plan are practiced in how to protect business-critical hardware and operations.