- UWEM Home
- Organization Chart
- UWEM Strategy Map & Balanced Scorecard
- Immediate Emergency Assistance
- UW's All-Hazards Disaster Plan
- UW Emergency Procedures Poster
- Fire & Building Evacuation Resources
- Studies and Special Reports
- Preparing Yourself & Your Family
- Training Offered by UWEM
- What to do in Case of an Emergency
- Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
- People That Can Help You Prepare
- Reducing Your Risk / Mitigation
- Other Disaster Resources
- FEMA / DHS Grants
- Business/Academic Continuity Management
- Overview
- Specific Topics
- Best Practices
- Training
Continuity Checklist for Office-Oriented Businesses
In addition to the items on the checklist for Small Businesses, consider these steps as well:
- Have an emergency communication plan for your office. If your employees cannot get to work or your office is not accessible, how will you inform your employees of updates, temporary office locations, etc?
- Develop an alternate office plan. Identify a place, preferably at least an hour away, to act as an alternative site to go to if the main location is destroyed, inaccessible or somehow is unusable. Go to the alternate site and confirm it will meet your business needs.
- Develop an alternate staffing plan. If some form of pandemic flu hits the region, and you are down 40% on your office staffing, how will you stay in business?
- Protect your supply chain. You may be prepared, but what if your main supplier is not? Develop multiple suppliers, so that your supply chain is more distributed and survivable.
- Plan for employee assistance. Just because the disaster is over doesn’t mean your employees are able to return to work. Develop a plan to assist employees with post-event traumatic stress, family-related emergencies and the potential for increased absenteeism due to trauma. A little investment in providing for this disaster psychology and employee assistance can go a long way to restoring your business to full operations.
- Build partnerships. Before the next disaster, get to know those people who will be directly involved in responding to the disaster. Meet your local police, fire and emergency management professionals. Find out what plans they have for your area or street. Learn how you can help them. A cup of coffee and a friendly chat with such folks can be just the thing to help you better prepare.
- Become More Self-Reliant. There are some disasters that are so destructive, that the local emergency infrastructure (the 911 system, police, fire, medical, hospitals, etc) are instantly overwhelmed. Plan to help you and your employees become more self-reliant by getting some basic disaster skills training now. Programs, like the Community Emergency Response Team, train private citizens in basic disaster response so they can help themselves and their communities until professional responders are able to arrive. A national list of available CERT programs by State may be found at: http://www.citizencorps.gov/citizenCorps/certsByState.do