Does Your Business Have A Storm Plan?

1/14/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of West Bradenton/Anna Maria (941) 792-7715, you can count on us to get to the disaster faster

Understanding Storms And Your Business

Natural disasters can happen quickly and without advanced notice. Everything from floods, hurricanes and tornadoes to wildfires and earthquakes. The key to being able to keep your business going is to be prepared for any or all of the worst-case scenarios.

Taking action and being prepared for those scenarios involves developing a natural disaster plan for your business. Some of the aspects to be considered when designing that plan are below.

What to Take Into Consideration

There are many things you will need to consider when you are developing a disaster plan for your business.

Included in those considerations are:

How to safely protect your employees
Securing your assets

How to get your business up and running smoothly again

FEMA, the Red Cross and Ready.gov have created many helpful checklists that can identify areas that need to be included in your natural disaster preparedness plan as well as highlight areas where more planning needs to take place.

Employee Safety Is Key

When disaster strikes without warning, your primary concern must be having a plan in place that lays out procedures and safety measures for the protection of employees and visitors.

Evacuation routes and all exits from your facility need to be clearly marked—and you need to provide a place where people can take shelter, look into installing emergency lights, and have a designated staff of “safety wardens” properly trained and ready to help with all emergency efforts.

When picking out a place to take shelter, a basement or storm cellar is ideally the best location in the event of tornadoes or other high-wind situations. If that is not possible, designate a small interior room on the lowest level of the building or use a closet or interior hallway.

Don’t Forget About Your Assets

While brick and mortar locations are generally sturdy places to have a business, there are still important considerations to make about how to protect the assets inside the building. Everything from equipment to merchandise is at risk and so are thousands of dollars when a natural disaster strikes.

Be sure you have put together a very detailed and up-to-date inventory and pictures, if possible, of these items. This will be needed for filing insurance claims. If your assets are located on a computer server, take the necessary steps to ensure that it is regularly performing backups and that you are using a storage system that cannot be damaged, such as cloud storage options.

As a building owner, spend time walking through your building with a contractor to uncover areas that may need to be improved with regard to structural integrity. A contractor can also walk you through safety upgrades and advise on any areas that may not be structurally sound to withstand certain weather situations.

Get Back to Business, Faster

Businesses usually must shut down after a natural disaster due to damage and needed repairs or rebuilding. Every day you remain closed is another day you’re losing lost profits. Make a wise move and set up a storm fund, which will help you with additional costs that may not be covered by your insurance.

Compile a list of contractors who will make themselves readily available for repairs and/or construction needs, and find a cleanup and restoration service will be available to quickly respond to your emergency situation.

SERVPRO of West Bradenton/Anna Maria (941) 792-7715, you can count on us to get to the disaster faster and make it "Like it never even happened." Our training and expertise have prepared us to help with water damage, storm damage, fire damage and mold remediation quickly and effectively.

Knowing what to do when disaster strikes your business is of the utmost importance. When it comes to the cleanup and restoration aspects, depend on SERVPRO of West Bradenton/Anna Maria to be there for you.