Shelter-in-Place

Sheltering in place may become necessary in many types of situations, and every workplace should be prepared to do so. A shelter-in-place incident may not require plastic on the windows and duct tape around the doors; it may be a storm or other disruption in which authorities need people off the streets. This week's articles discuss many aspects of sheltering in place, including a sample plan that you can adapt to your use.

Knowing what to do under specific circumstances is an important part of being prepared to shelter-in-place. (Item #1)   In an emergency, people may not be able to rely on their normal systems of communication. (Item #2)   Choosing to take shelter is necessary in many emergencies. (Item #3)  

These questions are designed to stimulate thinking about important issues regarding sheltering in place. (Item #4)   Sheltering in place in your workplace is similar to sheltering in place at home, but there are some significant differences. (Item #5)   You can buy ready-made shelter-in-place kits or make your own... good information here to help. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Shelter-in-Place

There are variety of unplanned events and disasters that would require you to shelter-in-place such as a tornados, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, chemical spills, quarantine and isolation. This article contains guidelines for sheltering in place at work, at home and in your vehicle.
http://www.disaster-survival-resources.com/shelter-in-place.html

2. Shelter-in-Place - Communication

Communication is crucial when people need to shelter-in place. Some people have limitations that make it hard to understand important information. These limitations vary. Examples include hearing, vision, speech, thought processing, intellect and language limitations. Such problems make it difficult to process information in an emergency. Nevertheless, it is important to make sure these people get the information they need to stay safe in an emergency.
http://www.hhs.gov/od/disabilitytoolkit/shelter/communication.html

3. Be Informed: Shelter

Taking appropriate shelter is critical in times of disaster. Sheltering is appropriate when conditions require that you seek protection in your home, place of employment or other location when disaster strikes. The length of time you are required to shelter may be short, such as during a tornado warning, or long, such as during a winter storm or a pandemic. It is important that you stay in shelter until local authorities say it is safe to leave.
http://www.ready.gov/shelter

4. Preparing to Shelter-in-place: Issues for Work Places to Consider

When almost 2,000 diverse community residents in the Redefining Readiness demonstration sites considered what they would face in a shelter-in-place emergency, they identified many issues that are critical to their protection. If you want your work place to be prepared to deal with this kind of emergency, get together with other people there to consider the questions in this paper.
http://www.redefiningreadiness.net/pdf/workplace.pdf

5. Shelter-in-place at Your Office - A guide

In addition to general information about sheltering in place, this document provides an example of a plan that a business could develop for shelter-in-place actions. You should develop your own plan with an employee planning team. The following plan can be used to assist in developing your own plan.
http://www.nicsinfo.org/docs/SIP%20plan%20for%20offices%20NICS%20feb2003.pdf

6. Shelter-in-place Kits

Whether at home or at work, these kits have basic disaster supplies which would be essential when public services such as water and sanitation are not available. If you'd rather make your own kits, take at look at the contents listed here for a good start on kits for your workplace.
http://midwestdisastersupply.com/shelter-in-place-homeoffice-survival-kits.html