Contact Us

Continuity Insights Management Conference

Natural disasters can have serious consequences for business. From having a plan in place to including emergency procedures in all employee development efforts, the this seven-step plan will help you prepare your business for a natural disaster.

There are several important facets of a business that be impacted by natural disasters including personnel, clients and customers, assets, facilities, records, communications, and supply chains. Let’s quickly review each.

PERSONNEL: Concern should be first and foremost centered on people. Businesses must ensure that their employees are all safe and able to return to work as soon as possible.

CLIENTS AND CUSTOMERS: It might be necessary to reach out to customers to let them know they can expect delays or disruptions in service or in their supply chains.

ASSETS: Physical assets can be damaged or destroyed during a natural disaster, causing losses and disruptions to service.

FACILITIES: Depending on the severity of the disaster, a business’s facilities may be damaged, incapacitated or even destroyed. Any loss of utilities can have serious consequences, as well.

RECORDS: Cleaning up after a natural disaster will require businesses to refer to important records and documentation, such as deeds, insurance policies and banking records — all of which could be damaged or lost in a catastrophic event.

COMMUNICATIONS: Lines of communication that are taken for granted may be severed or otherwise compromised. This may make it more difficult to coordinate recovery efforts or communicate with suppliers and customers.

SUPPLY CHAINS: When roads and other means of transportation are damaged or impassable, businesses have to scramble to make alternative arrangements.

Now that we’ve considered these potential areas of concern when it comes to the impact of natural disasters, the following seven steps will help your business better prepare to deal with them.

  1. Have a plan in place.
  2. Designate alternative locations or create a plan to allow employees to work remotely during recovery efforts.
  3. Always have backups of essential data and documents stored in a secure location.
  4. Establish a phone tree to make checking in on employees easier.
  5. Make sure locations and facilities are equipped with emergency supplies and that emergency routes and exits are adequately marked.
  6. Keep an updated list of all assets for insurance claims.
  7. Test your backups regularly and include emergency procedures in all employee development efforts.

Download the guide from Precision Software.

This was created by Precision Software

About Precision Software: Precision Software, a division of QAD Inc., provides industry-leading transportation and global trade management software solutions from a single, integrated platform that streamline global trade and shipping execution transactions for global industry leaders.

Continuity Insights

Similar Articles

Continuously Selling the “Value-Add” of Your BCM Program to Everyone

For years we’ve heard, “you need to gain executive buy-in” in order to have a successful program. While having the support of senior management is important, it is equally important …

Compounding Risk: Business Continuity For Insurance Companies

Insurers writing protection for property and casualty losses need to plan for business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) at several levels. From a basic actuarial approach, they need to calculate …

PANDEMIC NEWS: COVID-19 Case Numbers Drop, Signaling Winter Surge is Slowing

This report from ABC News takes a look at the dramatic decline in the number of Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, the result of the end of the winter holiday season …

Leave a Comment

Share to...