Don’t wait until it’s too late. Let us help get your business prepared when the next storm comes.
With the 2019 hurricane season already underway and approaching its peak, the time to start preparing your business for any hurricane-related emergency is now. Taking proactive steps to prepare your business for the unpredictable season is essential to ensuring your company is protected.
Waiting until a storm is approaching is often too late to properly implement a hurricane preparedness plan for your business. Keeping your employees and the business safe from the hurricane’s destruction requires meticulous planning and efficient organization to help minimize any damage.
Implementing a Hurricane Preparation Checklist
Hurricane preparedness for businesses starts with crafting a customized plan to inform your employees on their obligations and to have their contact information in order to stay in touch during the storm. With a company only as strong as their employees, hurricane preparedness for businesses should be prioritized to safeguard your employees first.
A proper hurricane preparation checklist for employees begins with the following procedures:
- – Update all basic and emergency contact information for all employees
- – Create emergency response teams to ensure every employee has references to rely on
- – Implement a mass notification system to help keep all employees abreast of storm updates
- – Use emergency communication software to streamline communication during a storm
- – Map out evacuation routes around your property to help lessen confusion for your employees
- – Help evacuate your employees to provide them time to secure their family and property
Once employees are notified and are aware of the company’s procedures before, during, and after a storm, hurricane preparedness for your businesses can expand into securing valuable documents and equipment.
Your hurricane preparation checklist for the business itself should include:
- – Taking inventory of your assets, equipment, and products and prioritize the most important assets for your business.
- – Fortify your property by installing shutters to protect windows and doors from debris
- – Trim any branches or trees near the building that could fall and cause property damage
- – Help protect against flooding by placing sandbags around the property
- – Secure large furniture like bookcases to the wall using wall studs
- – Relocate or cover electronics and computers to protect from water damage
- – Protect and backup available documents and data most critical to your business
- – Turn off all water and electric utilities prior to the storm reaching land
Hurricane Preparedness Tips
In order to ensure you don’t miss any steps during hurricane preparedness for businesses, there are other hurricane preparedness tips to consider. A hurricane preparation checklist should also be created if you or any employee is forced to ride out the storm using company property.
Having on-site materials from a hurricane preparation checklist can ensure you and your employees can have access to valuable items during and after a storm. The items a hurricane preparation checklist should include are:
- – Battery-powered radios, flashlights, lanterns, and fans
- – Non-perishable food capable of providing a food supply for three days
- – Have at least 1 gallon of water per person per day for three days
- – Coolers and water containers
- – First aid kit
- – Basic tool kit
- – Camera to document before and after photos
- – Signal flares to signal for help
- – Cleaning supplies
- – Electric generator to power essential systems
- – Gas for vehicles and the generator
- – Cash to purchase items after a storm if the power remains out
With so many hurricane preparedness tips to consider, waiting until the last minute can have severe consequences for your business and its employees. The time to start crafting a hurricane preparedness plan for your business is now.
Contact All American Facilitiy Maintenance today for more hurricane preparedness tips and start preparing your business now.