Is Your Office ‘Crisis Prepared’?
Crisis is something that people don’t like to think about. However, it is something you need to be prepared for nonetheless. In fact, it is vital for offices to know what to do in case of an emergency. Whether it’s flooding, epidemic flu, terrorist attack or fire, employees in your office should always be prepared to handle any of these situations.
Having a disaster recovery plan helps offices to protect their firm’s data and other records. For example, offices can make use of fireproof filing cabinets to prevent loss of data due to fire. While it is important to be prepared to prevent harm to your valuable data and files, it is also important to think more about the human side of disaster.
The most important source of a company is its people. Therefore, the most important step in any emergency situation is to track all your employees and make sure they are safe. Companies should consider using CBEC (Capture Business Emergency Contacts), which helps you download the 10 minute plan and use this template for documenting all key contacts. According to UK Government guidance, it is essential to remember the 8 important principles of responding and recovering from emergencies in order for your office to be prepared.
Anticipation
It is important to anticipate all types of crisis that could occur. Anticipation enables offices to deal with any ongoing risks or disasters.
Preparedness
Every employee has a role to play in handling and recovering from emergencies. It is important for offices to train their employees about their roles and responsibilities in any kind of crisis. It is important to have all rescue numbers noted down for immediate assistance.
Delegation
A decision needs to be taken at the lowest-level, with co-operation and co-ordination from the highest level management. It is important for all managers to remain calm while delegating during emergencies.
Direction
A strategic aim and supportive objectives are required to make the purpose of procedures clear. This in turn enables companies to focus on priorities and how to recover from the disaster.
Information
Protecting vital information is also critical in any sort of disaster. Companies need to make sure they store all their important files and documents together in storage cabinets, from where they can be easily recovered in case of an emergency.
Integration
It is crucial to co-ordinate within the organisation at all levels in order to sustain minimum losses in any disaster or crisis.
Co-operation
Positive engagement and information sharing is the key to ensuring effective co-operation at all levels of your company.
Continuity
It is important to continue preparing your employees to handle any situation at any given time. Preparing them for a crisis helps your company to be more prepared to handle any disaster with minimum losses (Gov UK, 2016 ¹).
A crisis can occur any time, and offices need to prepare for it immediately, in order to sustain minimum damages. Taking simple measures such as using fireproof cabinets for your important files and documents, and educating your employees to handle emergency situations are some ways in which your company can be "crisis prepared."
