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5/29/06 Is
Your Company Disaster Ready?
In light of the upcoming hurricane season, it may be a good
time to ask yourself “is my business prepared for a natural disaster?”
Did you know that when a disaster strikes, 40% of all small businesses shut
down immediately and over a two-year period an additional 29% follow suit?
By integrating protection from natural disasters into your company’s risk
reduction measures, you will safeguard your investment for yourself, your
employees, your customers and your community at large.
An easy way to begin a disaster preparation plan is a “fire drill”.
Children in school participate in fire drills – everyone quietly gets into
an orderly line and then exits the school building. As business
owners, take this concept a step further - have a fire drill but have
everyone who works on computers stop and backup their files onto a disk
system then forward their phones to a central number and finally walk out
of the building with the disk in their hand.
If you do not have business insurance, now is the time to look
into obtaining it for your business. If you do have insurance, invite
your agent out to review your policy and make sure that you are properly
covered. Then, consider calling up your local police and/or fire
department and ask them to do a quick inspection on your site. These
departments are experts in helping to prevent some kinds of disasters and
in reducing the damage caused by natural disasters.
Finally, take the time to record such things as an emergency
contact list, creditor contact information, supplier contact
information, key customer information, and most importantly a list of your
employee’s home addresses and phone numbers.
Remember that when you protect your business from natural
disasters, you are also protecting one of your community’s most valuable
assets. Be smart and start today.
Links:
City of St. Petersburg
Police Department
Pinellas County Emergency Management
State of Florida Emergency Management
Tampa Bay Association of Contingency Planners
Tampa
Bay Regional Planning Council
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