In an emergency, the actions you take in the first few minutes will heavily influence the severity of the consequences that will follow. Unexpected events can occur at any time, which means your company must have a plan of action in place to minimize damage and loss.
This article will walk you through the ten steps of developing an effective emergency response plan for your company. You’ll learn how to respond to emergencies effectively, protect your employees and tenants, minimize downtime, and fully recover operations. Here’s how you can get started.
Business continuity teams’ emergency response planning
Step 1: Recognize the significance of emergency response planning.
It is critical to plan for interruptions, emergencies, and disasters when running a business. An emergency response plan is intended to assist businesses in dealing with various emergency situations that may arise within their organization.
The best plans include who to contact in an emergency, how to act in an emergency, how to mitigate risk, and what resources to use to minimize loss.
The primary goal of an emergency response plan is to minimize human injury and property damage during an emergency. It also specifies which staff members should implement emergency response plans as well as which local emergency teams.
Step 2: Make a list of possible risks, hazards, and threat scenarios.
Every organization faces risks, hazards, and threats that, if not addressed, can result in financial loss, illness, injury, or even death. In a risk assessment, it is a good idea to go over potentially dangerous scenarios. A risk assessment identifies potential hazards and analyzes what might occur if the hazard occurs.
Understanding your organization’s vulnerabilities is the first step toward proactive emergency response planning, and it will assist you in protecting your staff and occupants.
Step 3: Collect emergency personnel’s contact information.
The summary of potential risks you compiled in step 2 will help your organization determine which emergency services to contact in the event of a crisis. At the very least, contact your local fire department, police department, and emergency medical services to find out their expected response times, knowledge of your facility and its hazards, and ability to stabilize an emergency at your facility.
Step 4: Evaluate your company’s resources.
During a disaster, resources are needed to keep occupants safe, protect infrastructure, and implement recovery plans. Within your organization, you’ll want to assess the availability and capabilities of resources for incident stabilization. People, systems, and equipment, both internal and external to your company, are examples of resources.
Step 5: Make sure your plans and evacuation routes are correct.
A facility’s egress plan is a map that includes critical indicators like posted emergency routes, evacuation paths, and red exit signs that lead to stairs and doorways. Even if the facility’s occupants have never practiced a fire drill, it should be obvious where to go in an emergency.
Floor plans are also essential for police officers, medical personnel, and other emergency services. They assist emergency responders by notifying them of the best ways to enter a building in order to respond to a threat quickly, safely, and efficiently.
Step 6: Create an emergency communication plan.
Internal and external crisis communications are covered in detail in an emergency communications plan. Internal communication alerts can be sent to mobile devices via email, paging systems, voice messages, or text messages. Instructions on how to evacuate the building and relocate to assembly points should be communicated through these channels. You can also send updates on the situation’s progress and a notification when it’s safe to return.
Business continuity planning should also include external communication in the event of an emergency. External alerts usually talk to the media about the disaster and update key clients and stakeholders on the situation. To address a variety of emergency situations, your emergency communications plan must be flexible, have management support, and be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.
Step 7: Describe the steps that must be taken in the event of an emergency.
Develop protective, threat-specific emergency procedures for your facility’s occupants, staff, and visitors to follow in the event of a disaster. Life safety protocols, such as evacuation, shelter, shelter-in-place, and lockdown, will be detailed in this section of your emergency response plan. You’ll also want to figure out what actions occupants must take to protect themselves in the event of an emergency.
Step 8: After the disaster, distribute responsibilities.
Many tasks must be completed during and after an emergency in order to resume normal operations and ensure that all occupants are safe and comfortable.
Step 9: Inform and train your internal staff about your emergency response plan.
To stay current on the latest emergency protocols in your business, your business continuity team, as well as your emergency preparedness team, will require ongoing training. During and after a disaster, education and hands-on training will help your team members fulfill their roles and responsibilities.
Step 10: Test your emergency response plan and make any necessary changes.
Developing a comprehensive emergency response plan is a critical step in preventing and recovering from disasters. However, until the plan is put to the test, it can be difficult to predict all possible scenarios.
Conduct exercises and drills to practice critical parts of your plan before putting it into action. Sending text messages through your emergency notification systems or practicing an evacuation or lockdown are examples of this. These tests will reveal areas that need to be improved before a disaster occurs.
Review and revise your plan when flaws are discovered. At least once a year, revisit it and make note of any changes to the building’s infrastructure, processes, materials, resources, and key personnel.