Acknowledging these incidents as well as the possibility of future ones, the United States Small Business Association is now offering loans of up to $2 million to repair and replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery, and equipment. And while this offers some reassurance, a disaster preparedness plan is still critical in order to keep your company afloat. According to the Santa Monica Office of Emergency Management, lack of preparation can come at a price:
While we hope for the best, it’s smart to plan for the worst. So we’ve identified five important areas of your business that should be evaluated to stay prepared for whatever may come your way.
1. Evaluate Your Facilities
Manufacturers are constantly working to make the factory floor a safe place to be. But even with the most stringent of safeguards and safety procedures, a disaster can still turn deadly. Three steps you can take to better safeguard your facilities include:
Some manufacturers also look at their adoption of automation and advanced robotics as part of a disaster plan; while the initial intent may have been to increase efficiencies, these technologies can also keep employees away from dangerous equipment and hazardous material that could become even more life-threatening in the event of a sudden disaster.
In addition to these safety precautions, you should always be sure your facilities have each of the following supplies stored on premise:
Some of these may sound like no-brainers, and while they may be present in your facility, they often aren’t checked with enough frequency—supplies get used, batteries die over time, and flashlights break, so it’s important to check your supplies regularly.
2. Evaluate Your Insurance
While small and medium-sized manufacturers usually have some form of commercial property insurance, it’s not likely all-encompassing. Insurance policies should be reviewed annually, and you’ll want to look into the following four coverage policies to mitigate potential damage from disaster.
Are your employees trained in CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation)? Can they operate an AED (Automated External Defibrillator)? Training for this and other first aid skills can be a literal lifesaver in the event of disaster (of course, they can be useful in non-disaster situations too, offering further benefit).
There are numerous ways to schedule training with a licensed provider at your workplace; for example, the American Red Cross offers customized OSHA-compliant training on-site for small or large groups of employees.
There’s also CERT programs (Community Emergency Response Teams) available in California that educate people about disaster preparedness, training them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT members can assist others in their workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help; of course, this training could also come in handy outside the workplace giving further incentive for employees to partake.
A few additional steps to consider when it comes to employees:
4. Evaluate Your Data Recovery Plan
Physical equipment shouldn’t be your only concern. You also need to consider what’s housed inside some equipment—namely, your IT systems. Your computers and servers may be holding years of irreplaceable data and customer records that could become irretrievable in the event of a disaster if your only source of data backup is on premise.
Backing up data in the past took a lot of effort and money, involving physically moving data to another location that wouldn’t be affected by the same disaster potentially wreaking havoc on your main site. But today, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) allows you to store critical data in a cloud-based solution. This can be especially beneficial and cost-effective for small to medium-sized manufacturers that can’t afford an IT army to support a disaster recovery plan.
5. Evaluate Your Supply Chains
In the aftermath of disaster, people always come together—even those who would normally be on opposite sides! Before an incident occurs, consider the following supply chain management techniques:
As recent events have shown us, disasters can strike anytime, anywhere, making a disaster preparedness plan crucial to secure your company and employees (according to the Office of Emergency Management, over 60 percent of American workers have expressed concern regarding their employer’s disaster management plans; these worries are not only stressful, but can affect overall productivity). However, by evaluating the five areas we've highlighted—facilities and supplies, insurance, employee skills and pay guidelines, data recovery, and supply chains—both you and your employees can gain a better sense of security. After all, preparation is the best, and sometimes the only, defense!