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.

The following examples highlight the importance of regularly reviewing your disaster contingency plan.

Staff Members Come and Go

Reviewing your office’s disaster plan on a regular basis not only allows you to update information, it allows new employees to practice the plan for the first time and long-term employees to reacquaint themselves with it.

Different employees have different duties and assignments when it comes to managing office disasters and evacuations. Duties will need to be passed on to other employees as people leave the job. Contact information, including call lists and telephone numbers, will need to be added and deleted. Have you added a new employee with special needs or disabilities? If so, your disaster plan will need to be modified accordingly.

Each staff member handling an aspect of the disaster plan can have their roles reinforced regularly in staff meetings, and the staff can review possible disasters and the steps that should be taken in each situation. Roles and responsibilities can also be updated and reassigned at such times.

Needed Resources Can Fail Over Time

Imagine doing everything you can to prepare for a disaster that eventually arrives, but not for years. When you really need them the fire extinguishers no longer work, batteries are dead, structural changes to your building mean the evacuation route has changed, important medications have not been updated, and so on. Things change. First aid kits can become depleted, and you often won't notice until it's too late. Review these resources at least once every six months to make sure they’re ready when you need them.

Remember, your disaster contingency plan won’t be effective unless everyone in your office knows and understands their needs and responsibilities when a disaster occurs. Arrange first aid and CPR classes through local emergency officials. Develop and maintain offsite storage policies, office operating procedures, and computer backup schedules and procedures. When you read about a disaster affecting other businesses, review your disaster plan and make sure it covers such an event.

Vital Records Need Protection

Of course, preparing for a disaster at the office doesn’t only mean protecting the welfare of your company’s most important asset, its employees; it means protecting vital information as well. Therefore, identify records essential to your business operations and store copies offsite. Implementing a records management program, including a computer data backup system, will help ensure that when a disaster strikes, all information will not be lost.

Part of this program should entail developing a policy for creating an alternate or emergency location from which you can perform the critical functions of your business should you be unable to access your business facility. Ensure that all members of your staff understand these policies, including their individual responsibilities, before a disaster occurs.

Brainstorming all the possible disasters that could strike your business and drilling your office staff on its disaster plan every few months will help you evaluate your efforts so that you will know where you need improvement.