Why, Who, What, When, and Where of Disaster Training





Next month I am slated to speak to a rather large audience in Florida about disaster plan training. It seems ironic that my talk is in Florida, because Florida businesses and communities are considered some of the best prepared in the US for disasters.

The reason for this is that Florida is on the Southeast edge of the US, and receives major storms and/or hurricanes every year. So individuals who live in Florida (particularly Southern Florida) take preparedness very seriously. And training is one the most critical aspect of their disaster programs, and it should be for any company serious about disaster preparedness.

Without it, your plan that you spent time, money, and resources constructing is essentially worthless. 

Why

One of the ways in which they remain prepared is through workforce training on how to respond to a disaster. Your workforce should be trained methodically and thoroughly on disasters and on their responsibilities to your workplace after a disaster.

Who

Everyone.

From the interns to the CEO, every single individual should be trained. Even those employees you do not plan to work during the disaster, being trained on what not to do is just as important as what they should do. Obviously, the training for each is not going to be the same; it should be tailored for content and format by a Certified Business Continuity Professional.  

For a few years, an ambulance service hired me seasonally to train their EMT’s and paramedics. What I didn’t realize until later was that even the office staff and operating managers were coming to the trainings as well.  This was a company that was clearly committed to 100% employee workforce disaster training.

What

Your employess should receive training on many types of disasters, not simply the ones that are experienced most. They need to learn about hurricanes and terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and operations. Not that they would likely experience all these; but the knowledge of them can go a long way to eliminate confusion and fear.

As noted above, the vast majority of companies will need to have a Certified Business Continuity Professional and emergency manager who wrote their plan (or an outside consultant) to construct their training. There are hundreds of delivery types, and those individuals can help find the right fit.

When

This will depend on your industry. Some are highly regulated, and have specific dates when training must be conducted (depending on the calendar year), and others have no standards at all.



One critical element of a successful program is training



Generally, training should be conducted after the plan is written. This is why we conduct training with our clients immediately after we finish their plan.  Our delivery method is a live training with an emergency manager who walks the leadership through the plan, and then we renew that training annually. 

Where



Many companies choose to show videos to demonstrate how to operate in a disaster. These delivery methods never work, and almost always are a terrific remedy for insomnia. Therefore, training should be interactive and hands-on. The actual location will depend on what that indivdual will be expected to do during the disaster.



For example, a food service professional working in a hotel who, in a disaster, will be mostly assisting with logistics and moving supplies, should not be trained in the kitchen. That employee should be shown the docking bay and proper lifting techniques.

 Conclusion

These few items make up the core elements of training. Of course, this is not plenary; there are nuances to effective disaster training that can make the difference between an effective presentation and not. But either way, planning without training makes no sense, which is why I have made sure our company provides effective and thorough training available for all our clients. After all, it is one critical step to successfully Reversing Disaster.

phardy
http://www.hytropy.com



The 5 Essentials for Every Business Disaster Plan

The completion of a disaster plan is a critical step in your company's overall emergency management program. It provides the operational framework and overall strategy for any response to a disaster or business interruption.

How do you know if your disaster plan is sufficient? There are quite a few elements to an effective plan, but I can identify 5 elements that have proven time and again as being the most important.

1. Impact Analysis

A Business Impact Analysis essentially answers the "What if" question in a disaster plan. It examines vulnerabilities, and establishes the running assumptions upon which a company's response will be based. It will give the general overview of a company's operations and the implications of certain threats if they were to strike.  

The creation of the impact analysis is a critical step, and yet I have found that it is so often ignored. This is an invitation for disaster (so to speak) because it is the foundation for the entire disaster program. This is the reason it should be constructed by a Certified Business Continuity Planner, and updated annually.  

2. Training Schedule

Any plan, no matter how well written, is worthless without training. I see this time and again with institutions that have the "Rolls Royce" of disaster plans, but either inadequate or absent training plans. Put simply, neglecting to train essentially dooms the plan to failure.

So make sure every employee is trained! From the CEO to the interns, everyone should know the plan, and be aware of your company's expectations. Of course, not everyone should be trained on the same topics, and not everyone needs to know every page of the plan. So tailor it to your workforce size and your industry so that you receive sufficient coverage.  





3. Testing Schedule

Once your company has a solid plan in place with saturated training, the plan must be tested to examine weaknesses and strengths. All response agencies (fire, police, EMS) go through dozens of hours of exercises every year. Outside of a disaster or an acute, company-wide emergency, there is no way to test the plan except through the crucible of an well-organized exercise!

The test doesn't have to be an all-day marathon of your entire workforce running around and pretending the building is on fire; there are many options available. Some can be department specific; others can be a discussion with the major stakeholders sitting around a table with a moderator running a scenario.

4. Communication Plan

If your employees and leadership don't know what's going on during a disaster, you have the genesis of a very serious problem. It significantly affects your response, and makes recovery of an operation nearly impossible.

I was once hired to run a multi-state response program for a large engineering firm with roughly 20 sites along the Gulf Coast during hurricane season, with employees performing a myriad of jobs. First thing I did after I got contracted was write the communication plan. Second thing I did was get in my car and drive to each site, and explained the communication plan to every eyeball and ear in that operation. I showed them the phone numbers (primary and alternate), and made sure every cell phone had them programmed. Then I explained the backup system and how it would work. And sure enough, we got through the season with very few problems.

5. Improvement Schedule

One of the funniest experiences I ever had as an emergency manager was when I was contracted by a company to audit their disaster plan. They told me that the plan was pretty old, and they felt as though it was time to get it updated. So, the first thing I did was that I called all the numbers on the emergency contact list. Within an hour I discovered that all 14 people listed were already retired! Then, I later discovered the person who had written the document had passed away 4 years earlier!

Every plan should have a complete annual audit and monthly improvement schedule so that everything from the Impact Analysis to the Training, Testing and Communications Plan is examined thoroughly. This will continue to ensure your plan is doing what it was meant to do!

Conclusion

These five elements at least provide a baseline standard to which you can judge your company’s disaster plan. While there are, of course, other necessary elements, if it doesn’t have at least these 5, I am almost certain that during a disaster, the plan will not work to your company’s expectations.

phardy
http://www.hytropy.com/