How prepared are you for an emergency?

These are major points and issues we had during the Sept 8th power outage.

 

Dust off your Emergency Response Plan and reintroduce it to your staff 

Review the "main" emergency sections like earthquake, fire, power outage. and fire alarms with your team. UPDATE your plans if your ERP is old!

Consider buying a case of light sticks today

A case of light sticks costs less than $50 and will last for years. Do not use candles....ever....they start fires. Light sticks can be given to employees to illuminate hallways and stairwells if emergency lighting fails.

Buy some heavy duty flashlights and batteries for your staff to use during a blackout 

Your staff needs good quality and durable flashlights to manage the business.

If you have an emergency generator, make a list of the areas that will have power during a blackout 

This includes; what business machines will work, what computers are available, will the elevators work, and will your internal phone system work? Know ahead of time what electric sockets will work on your generator.

Revisit how to handle trapped employees in elevators 

You DO NOT want maintenance personnel flipping switches and turning dials in the elevator equipment room! Contact your elevator maintenance company and have them train you, or advise you on how to handle a trapped guest in an elevator.

Will your fire alarm system still work during a  

power outage?  

Most fire alarm systems have battery back up systems, but how long will that battery last? Do you know how to implement a "fire watch" if your fire safety system does not work?

Train senior staff on how to "power down" your building if the power goes out

Your building's electrical system may get damaged once the power is restored, due to "surges" back into your building. Best practices is to turn off main power switches if there is a power outage. Slowly turn them back on, one at a time, once the power is restored. A power surge can blow out fuses and trip circuit breakers if your building receives electricity all at once. Check with your electric power company for advice on "powering up" your building after a power outage.

MAKE AN EMPLOYEE CELL PHONE LIST TODAY

We found out that TEXT MESSAGING was the only form of communication during the outage, as the cell call towers can only process so many verbal calls at once. Even if you cannot make a voice call on your cell phone, a text message will still go out. **Many cell towers actually stopped working after a couple of hours, so no calls OR text messages worked. Cell towers have a limited battery back up system, which started to fail, as a "routine" power outage usually does not last this long. Because the power outage lasted so long, the cell towers power backups started to fail....prepare for this reality. Keep your employee cell phone list updated.