Commercial Businesses: The Best Disaster Is The One You Avoid

2/18/2016 (Permalink)

Businesses that survive a natural disaster tend to have an emergency plan in place.

In the constant pressure to keep costs low, some businesses fail to invest in steps that can save them tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future. Even worse, some commercial businesses think they’ve protected their property and employees when they have not.

In the case of natural disaster protection, most businesses understand the need for a written emergency plan. Having a plan like the SERVPRO Emergency Ready Profile can help prevent a disaster or make handling a disaster much less costly. But just having a plan isn’t enough.

For Expert Disaster Preparation Advice Call SERVPRO Bloomfield/Enfield At (860) 216-2785

Having A Written Emergency Plan Isn’t Enough
Putting an emergency preparation plan together often eliminates risks. For some businesses it might mean getting rid of dangerous chemicals that are being stored on site. Creating your Emergency Ready Profile could reveal a serious fault in your building’s sprinkler system so you can correct it before damage occurs. But businesses with an emergency preparation plan sometimes rest too easy.

Many plans are not kept up-to-date. New machinery is bought but the emergency plan isn’t adjusted to take the protection of that expensive machinery into account. Or your business develops a plan for your existing site but then move the business to a different location.

Have A Dated Plan? Here’s What To Do
Here are a few things to do if your emergency preparation plan may be dated:
1. Review your plan every year. Look for gaps.
    Are all your facilities and buildings covered?
    Have you made recent renovations that are not noted in the plan?
    Have you added or moved hazardous material or valuable equipment?
2. Conduct training for the team charged with implementing your emergency plan.
3. Check to make sure all the key players know how to immediately access your emergency plan. 
4. Have SERVPRO of Bloomfield/Enfield do an analysis of your plan.
5. Ask a new facility manager or other key employees to test your business’s emergency plan.
    Does the plan make sense to them?
    Would they add or change anything?
6. Run a disaster drill.
    Conduct a mock exercise around the conference table with all the key players.
    Or conduct a full scale mock disaster at your facility.
7. Re-evaluate who’s in charge of the plan.
    During a natural disaster you want the decision-makers to be people who remain calm
    The disaster team should know the plan and be able to make quick decisions.
    Your team should also know how to actively engage others and give clear direction.  

Think Before Disaster Happens
When do you want to think about a natural disaster? By far the best time is well before it happens. Having a complete emergency plan, having a trained disaster team in place, and knowing the steps you will take does more than bring peace of mind. It can protect your commercial business and your employees from some of the huge costs involved in a major disaster.

Prepared Businesses Survive
When a natural disaster strikes, one out of every two businesses never returns to the marketplace. And of those businesses that do recover, half go bankrupt within three years. But businesses that survive a disaster tend to be those that have an emergency preparation plan in place before disaster strikes.

We’re here to help. The team at SERVPRO Bloomfield/Enfield has specialized training and experience in virtually all aspects of cleaning up after water, sewer, fire, smoke, wind or other similar natural disasters. You can create your own SERVPRO Emergency Ready Profile with us in less than a few hours. That time could save you days or weeks of business interruption and help keep the cost of any damage from a disaster down.

SERVPRO of Bloomfield/Enfield
100 Peters Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002
IICRC Certified
Noemi Garcia
Franchise Owner
Call (860) 216-2785
24 hour emergency service