Emergency Planning, the Most Critical Step: Communication

Dan Blank -- Expert Business Source, 4/2/2007 5:05:00 AM

When planning for emergencies, and implementing your business continuity plan, communicating with your employees is imperative to ensure your business is protected. All the planning in the world is useless if people don’t follow it properly. Ready.gov offer several tips for ensuring your staff is prepared.

Involve your employees.

• Include employees from all levels of your organization in emergency planning. They may be aware of risks and procedures that you may not.
• Use meetings and internal communications to share emergency plans and procedures.
• Determine how you will communicate with employees in the event of an emergency. Create backup systems in case your office is not accessible, computer networks are down, or if the phone system is out.
• Ensure emergency numbers for each staff member are up-to-date.

Practice the plan.

• Conduct regular training sessions with your staff.
• Ensure new employees are made aware of your emergency procedures.
• Do walk-through drills, where each element of the plan is carried out.
• Always look for ways to revise and improve the plan.

You can find more information, and some useful (and free!) downloadable documentation on the Ready.gov website.