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