Being Proactive Saves Lives

As crazy as this concept may sound, you can in fact prepare for an emergency. You’re probably left wondering how, the tactic here is of course not to prepare for every possible scenario as that’s impossible but rather, to have all of your bases covered giving you the capacity to handle any type crisis promptly.

Get a Lay of the Land

Getting an idea of your surroundings is essential, how far is the closest hospital? Do you have waring systems in place to warn individuals at large?

You need to have an exact idea of what will need safekeeping in a time of emergency. The first thing that should come to mind should be human life, your employees and if concerned any customers should be the first brought to safety. After this comes any essential infrastructure your company makes use of that would need management. Identifying this information will tell you who would be affected by an emergency. Remember to take note of any “special cases” you may have such as employees presenting a particular handicap or for example if any hazardous material(s) is being handled.

Designate Leadership

To avoid having people succumb to panic and acting as they see fit, it’s important to elect a select group of people as leaders to be in charge in the case of an emergency. Leaders should be individuals cool under pressure who are frequently on site. The role of this designated leadership should clear to them as well as the rest of the work force. Although they will be subjected to the same training as other employees, feel free to add padding to their knowledge by providing them with further training on leadership, first aid or more.

Do You Have All the Tools you Need?

Here, communication is a matter of life or death. This is where mass notification systems come in play. With various options such outdoor warning sirens alert concerned individuals within seconds. It’s important you test these systems to ensure they work and that employees can accurately recognize and identify them.

Draft your Plan

It’s likely you have a couple procedures in place in case of an emergency such as a fire drill however, this type of threat is way too specific, as previously emphasized you want a plan in place that will help you deal with all emergencies.

• Establish Evacuation routes for people to reach safety
• Have a roll as well as everyone’s contact information
• Locate nearby hospitals
• Contact info for relevant help like the police

Practice Make Perfect

As repeated again and again throughout this article preparation is key, to avoid panic and encourage the right course of action, practice, practice practice, your employees should know emergency routes and procedures like the back of their hand.

Go a Step Further

Monitor and adapt your emergency plan response. Times and circumstances change it’s important you review your emergency measures periodically to make sure your safety measure aren’t falling behind.