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Emergency Planning and Preparation Checklist Businesses can do much to prepare for the effects of the many threats they face in today’s world. Your business needs a comprehensive plan for dealing with unexpected events. The more you are prepared for them, the better you will be able to act should an emergency occur. Here's a checklist to help you put together an emergency plan for your SME.

Checklist

1.

Preparedness programme It is important to have a preparedness programme but how much detail, time and effort it entails depends on several factors. Regulations such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act establish minimum requirements and beyond these each business needs to determine how much risk it can tolerate. Many risks cannot be insured against, so a preparedness programme may be the only means of managing those risks.

2.

What the programme should contain A preparedness policy that is consistent with the mission and vision of the business should be prepared and distributed to staff. The policy should do the following:

• Define roles and responsibilities • Authorise selected employees to develop the programme and

keep it current • Define the goals and objectives of the programme.

Typical goals of the preparedness policy could include:

• Protect the safety of employees, visitors, contractors and others at risk from hazards at the facility. Plan for persons with disabilities and functional needs

• Maintain customer service by minimising interruptions or disruptions of business operations

• Protect facilities, physical assets and electronic information

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• Protect the organisation’s brand, image and reputation.

3.

Allocate responsibilities Key employees should be organised into a committee that will assist in the development, implementation and maintenance of the preparedness programme. A programme coordinator should be appointed to lead the committee and guide the development of the programme and communicate essential aspects of the plan to all employees so they can participate in the preparedness effort.

4.

Programme administration The preparedness policy should be reviewed periodically to ensure it meets the current needs of the business. Keep records on file for easy access. Lastly, where applicable, make note of any laws, regulations and other requirements that may have changed.

5.

Identify all potential threats There are many different threats or hazards to a business. The probability that a specific threat will impact your business is hard to determine. That’s why it’s important to consider many different threats and the likelihood they will occur. Threats that are classified as probable and those that could cause injury, property damage, business disruption or environmental impact should be addressed. In developing a preparedness plan:

• Potential threats should be identified • Vulnerabilities must be assessed • Potential impacts should be analysed.

6.

Implementation Implementation of the programme includes identifying and

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assessing resources, writing plans, developing a system to manage incidents and training employees so they can execute plans. Consider including the following in your preparedness programme:

• Resource management: Resources needed for responding to emergencies, continuing business operations and communicating during and after an incident should be identified and assessed

• Emergency response: Plans to protect people, property and the environment should be developed. Plans should include evacuation, sheltering in place and lockdown as well as plans for other types of threats identified during the risk assessment

• Crisis communication: A plan should be established to communicate with employees, customers, the news media and stakeholders

• Business continuity: A business continuity plan that includes recovery strategies to overcome the disruption of business should be developed

• Information technology: A plan to recover computer hardware, connectivity and electronic data to support critical business processes should be developed

• Employee assistance and support: The business preparedness plan should encourage employees and their families to develop family preparedness plans. Plans should also be developed to support the needs of employees following an incident

• Incident management: An incident management system is needed to define responsibilities and coordinate activities before, during and following an incident

• Training: Persons with a defined role in the preparedness programme should be trained to do their assigned tasks. All employees should be trained so they can take appropriate actions during an emergency.

7.

Testing You should conduct testing and hold practice sessions to evaluate the effectiveness of your preparedness programme. Testing is necessary to determine whether or not the various parts of the preparedness programme will work, while practice sessions will improve the ability of team members to perform their roles and to carry out their responsibilities.

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8. Programme re-evaluation You should update your programme regularly to keep pace with best practice and/or advice proffered by trade associations, professional societies, newsletters and government websites. Gaps identified during testing or practice sessions should be recorded and addressed.