For legal and financial risk management, consider including an attorney and an insurance professional to your disaster planning team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Craft Your Plan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Begin by identifying and prioritizing the risks your business may face. These will likely include physical injuries to employees or customers. Also important to consider are business interruption, revenue loss and damage to property, equipment, inventory or vital records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your plan should address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Employee roles.<\/strong> Assign responsibilities to staff with relevant skills for different emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Evacuation procedures.<\/strong> Develop clear evacuation routes and protocols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Safety equipment.<\/strong> Define needs for items such as first aid kits, fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data protection.<\/strong> Secure vital records and documents by means such as remote backups and physical copies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication strategy.<\/strong> Establish how you\u2019ll keep employees and customers updated as to status and recovery timeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inventory and supplier list.<\/strong> Keep a current list of critical equipment and replacement suppliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Operational continuity.<\/strong> Create contingency plans to run essential functions remotely with a minimal team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HR and payroll policies.<\/strong> Set guidelines for compensating nonexempt employees who can\u2019t work during downtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep your plan thorough but manageable to ensure it\u2019s practical, updatable and easy to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To implement your plan, inform employees of their roles, assign responsibilities and provide any necessary training. Ensure that all essential emergency equipment is readily available and that your insurance coverage is sufficient to meet your needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Identify possible infrastructure gaps and address them promptly to ensure safety. An example would be inadequate emergency exits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regular practice strengthens preparedness. Conduct drills to ensure safe evacuation procedures are clear and compelling. Verify that safety equipment, data backups and other safeguards function as intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be proactive. Don\u2019t wait for a real emergency to discover weaknesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With a solid plan in place, relax, but not too much. Review and update your plan at least annually to reflect changes in staff, operations or layout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Incorporate feedback from various sources, such as test results, employee input and new risks you\u2019ve discovered or lessons learned. Adapting and refining your plan regularly will maintain its effectiveness and help keep your assets, especially your human assets, safe over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your business may never be directly impacted by a severe weather event or other natural disaster. But having a solid emergency preparedness plan can still offer tangible benefits, such as lowering certain business insurance costs. More importantly, it brings peace of mind that allows you to stay focused on running and growing your business, rather than worrying about the possibilities. Contact the office for guidance tailored to your situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article is sponsored by Accounting & Tax Edge locally owned by Christina Hansen CPA<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winter Haven 863-875-7853<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lakeland 863-617-6107<\/p>\n\n\n\n help@yourtaxedge.com<\/p>\n\n\n\nPut the Plan to Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do Run-Throughs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Monitoring and Tweaking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Assurance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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