Planning Is Key For Businesses

By RICH MULLINS and DAVE SIMANOFF The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 21, 2006

Want your company to survive hurricane season? Then start planning now.

"You should view potential disasters, such as hurricanes, as one of your worst competitors," said Charlie Reese, communications specialist for the Institute for Business and Home Safety, a nonprofit group based in Tampa.

Planning for hurricanes, then, is savvy business.

Plan Ahead

•Develop a disaster plan and update it regularly.

•A good plan should address the basics of your business, such as how to keep key operations going and how to back up vital computer records.

•A plan should include emergency contact information for your employees, as well as your major vendors and employees.

•The plan does no good if it's sitting on a shelf. Make sure employees know what they're expected to do in the event of a hurricane or other disaster.

•Need help crafting a plan? The Institute for Business and Home Safety Web site, www.ibhs .org, offers an "Open for Business" tool kit that can be downloaded.

Protect Vital Operations

•Figure out how to secure your inventory and equipment in case you have to evacuate. Some items might be wrapped in tarps; others might have to be moved to higher ground in case of flooding.

•Identify the operations that must continue to keep your company afloat and assign primary and secondary backup locations for those operations and workers in case you can't return to your place of business.

•Consider pacts with other companies in the same line of business, but in a different region, that could help serve your key customers in the event of a disruption.

Be Safe

•Identify how employees will be protected or evacuated. Employees also want to protect their homes and families. Having a good disaster plan will mean your employees will have more time to attend to personal matters.

•Consult local governments and emergency personnel to identify circumstances that would require your staff to evacuate. Become familiar with flood zones near your business and identify the best evacuation routes.

•Consider consulting safety experts if the company handles potentially dangerous items such as welding material, high-pressure gases such as propane, toxic chemicals, paint or high-voltage equipment.

Communicate

•Distribute information about how employees would contact the company during a disaster, where employees should meet and how to contact key vendors and customers. Check regularly to see if phone numbers change and distribute laminated phone lists if possible.

•Set up alternate lines of communications in case phone and Internet services fail. Consider safe meeting places where employees could gather.

Back It Up

•Identify the company's vital records, such as customer lists, production schedules, lists of hazardous materials, an employee roster, bank account numbers and contact information for lawyers, accountants, bankers and insurance agents.

•Keep copies of those records in a remote location. The more remote the location, the better: storing records upstairs or next door won't help if you can't get back into the area. Record where that information is stored to help those involved in recovery find it. For help identifying key records, contact the Association for Professional Records Managers at www.amra.org.

•Back up vital computer records. This may be as extensive as hiring a data vault service or as simple as backing up data on portable devices such as jump drives.

•Make copies of recent sales information, such as customer receipts, in case your business interruption insurance requires you to share information about sales.

•Keep these items ready for a move: blank company checks, purchase orders, other important business forms and extra cash for emergency purchases.

•Identify backup locations where the company could operate and what equipment, information and documents need to be taken there.

Get It Insured

•Evaluate your business coverage and ask such questions as: Has your business grown or added assets, equipment or real estate? Do you need business interruption insurance that provides cash in times of disruption? How would you pay bills and payroll if revenue stopped?

•Remember, with rising material and construction costs, it may be more expensive to rebuild an office or production site than when original policies were written.

Train, Practice, Update

•The best plan is useless if employees don't know about it, so take time to train employees.

•Drills can calm fears and identify flaws.