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You have a plan for your business, but do you know if your building is prepared? If you own the building, then you have to plan to ensure the safety of other occupants, as well as of your employees. The articles below contain information that can help you be as prepared as possible for disruptive events.

Education on the subject of emergency management is an essential measure for keeping employees safe and businesses running after catastrophe hits. (Item #1) Asking the right questions will help facilities avoid the confusion and destruction witnessed during and after Hurricane Katrina. (Item #2) A highly effective planning and response team can be formed between the facility staff and community groups. (Item #3)

When an emergency event occurs, mass notification capabilities can help keep people safe. (Item #4) During a fire, facility managers need to evacuate employees and protect the building's future. (Item #5) As the lead person in the internal emergency-response effort, the facility executive may also be the logical one to push for business involvement in the community disaster-response effort. (Item #6)

As always, we look forward to hearing about your concerns with regards to business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, please email me at [email protected]

Best Regards,

Bob Mellinger
President
Attainium Corp

Quote of the Week

"We live in the midst of alarms; anxiety beclouds the future;
we expect some new disaster with each newspaper we read."
- Abraham Lincoln -

Articles

1. Disaster preparation can save your business
Facility managers play a key role in preparing for disasters, mitigating potential problems, responding quickly to an event and then managing the recovery process. The following ten-step plan could one day protect employees and companies from the effects of catastrophe.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3840/is_199812/ai_n8822173

2. A Disaster Checklist
Since most facilities managers have critical, if not leadership, roles for their company's business continuity planning, it's important to be good students of history and learn from the successes and failures of others. An informal brainstorming session with key department heads might be a good way to kick off a more formal review of a current biz-con plan.
http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/tfm_05_10_commentary.php

3. Disaster Preparedness Planning Guide For Facilities
This preparedness planning guide is directed to facility managers and administrators and is intended to provide assistance in meeting the planning requirements necessary to protect employees and clients who may be conducting business within the facility.
http://www.pema.state.pa.us/pema/cwp/view.asp?A=566&Q=254838

4. Getting the Message
In responding to incidents, one of the most important tools a facility manager can have is the ability to communicate effectively with facility occupants. Alerting people to the presence of danger and instructing them to act appropriately is an absolute necessity.
http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/tfm_08_07_factech.php

5. Escaping the Ring of Fire
An alarm rings. This time it's not a fire, just the monthly drill, practiced to ensure employees know what to do should a blaze occur. And yet not one person makes a move for the exit. For facility managers, this conditioned response is more of a concern than ever when it comes to fire management in their buildings.
http://www.todaysfacilitymanager.com/tfm_08_07_trends.php

6. Disaster Response Begins Here
As hurricane season begins, facility executives in hurricane-prone regions can be forgiven for wondering whether FEMA-the Federal Emergency Management Administration - will be ready this time if a major storm hits. But a better question might be, is your local community ready?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3922/is_200707/ai_n19434305