Preparing Your Commercial Site For A Disaster

9/25/2020 (Permalink)

We’re dedicated to responding immediately when you contact us. A fast response lessens the damage, limits further damage, and reduces cost.

The key to being able to make sure your business can recover from disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires and earthquakes is to be prepared for a multitude of worst-case scenarios.

Some of the considerations that need to be addressed when preparing for those scenarios are discussed in this blog.

What to Consider

Where your business is involved, there will be many things you will need to consider concerning a disaster plan. Everything from your employees to your business’s assets should be included.

Some considerations to address include:

Employee protection

Asset protection

Getting your business back up and running again
Fortunately, there are sources like the Red Cross, FEMA and Ready.gov that have created checklists available that can help you identify areas that need to be included in your natural disaster preparedness plan and also show you how prepared you truly are.

Protecting Employees and Visitors
Having a plan that lays out procedures and safety measures to follow for employees and visitors is extremely important should a disaster strike without warning. Evacuation routes and exits from your facility should be properly marked and visible. Identify an area that will be used as a shelter space, have designated “safety wardens” properly trained and ready to implement your disaster plan and assist with all emergency efforts, and consider installing emergency lighting throughout your workspace.

Obviously, when choosing a shelter space, a basement or storm cellar is the ideal location in the event of tornadoes or other high-wind situations. A small interior room on the lowest level, such as a closet or interior hallway, should be used if there is no basement space.

How to Protect Assets
There are thousands of dollars at risk when a natural disaster strikes, so it only makes sense to devise a plan to protect the assets inside the building even if your business is located in a brick and mortar location.

Always have a comprehensive and up-to-date inventory of your assets and, if possible, have photographs prior to a disaster and keep these stored in a safe place as it will be helpful if insurance claims have to be made. Look into a cloud storage option for safely keeping computer files and assets, and make sure your backup system is working.

As a building owner, work with a contractor to uncover areas that need improvement regarding structural integrity. This contractor will be able to walk you through possible safety upgrades and offer advice on any areas that may not be able to stand against certain weather situations.

Getting Back to Work

When a natural disaster does occur, you may have to close the doors to your business for several days or months to recover from the damage. Every day you remain closed becomes another day of lost profits. Having funds set aside helps with additional costs that are not covered by your insurance.

Locate and establish a relationship with a list of contractors who would be available for construction matters, and find a cleanup and restoration service that will be available to quickly respond to your emergency situation.

With SERVPRO of East Bradenton/Lakewood Ranch, 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 East Bradenton/Lakewood Ranch (941) 747-2333 to be there for you.