Emergency Response Planning
Most small businesses neglect the need for an ERP. Most businesses that have a ERP, is outdated or ineffective.
An ERP describes strategies, resources, plans, and procedures utilities can use to prepare for and respond to an incident, natural or man-made, that threatens life, property, or the environment. Incidents can range from small main breaks or localized flooding to large scale hurricanes, earthquakes or system contamination
What are emergency response plans?
Emergency response plans are a thoroughly researched and planned policy that instructs employees on how to respond during an incident so that they are not harmed and operations are minimally impacted.
How to develop an emergency response plan: 5 important safety steps
Unless you have a real-deal crystal ball, you don’t know if any emergencies are down the road. However, there are a series of five impactful steps in an emergency response plan that you can take to make sure you and your team are ready if something should happen.
1) Assess your safety risks
Before you look at the objectives of your emergency response plan, you need to know what you’re facing first. Perform a hazard assessment of not only the current safety hazards but potential ones as well. A hazard assessment notes every danger facing a specific role, team, work location, or department. If it’s a small organization and company, it may be possible to assess the hazards of the entire team as one unit.
2) Identify potential emergencies
Again, it is impossible to predict what will happen down the road but talk to the experienced professionals in your organization to provide insight on emergencies that could possibly take place. For an emergency response plan, also look at the company’s employee incident history and records, as well as any other issues that could be a factor during an emergency such as fragile mental health or complicated, dangerous equipment.
3) Identify and designate communications
Reliable communications are essential if you want to react and send help quickly. Within the context of your emergency response plan, you need to look at what communications will take place during an emergency establishing who will be talking to who and how they will be communicating. To help you and the team, develop internal emergency communications plans to detail how everyone within the organization will be notified and instructed during and following an incident.
4) Assess company safety resources
Particularly if you work in an industry in which dangerous equipment and tools are regularly used, it is imperative that these tools and equipment are diligently inspected and upgraded or replaced as needed – and all of this documented in an emergency response plan. But there are other resources that need to be monitored and maintained like smoke alarms, fire code inspections as well as simpler, often-overlooked, smaller factors such as stair railings and walkways which can be hazards during the winter.
5) Training, drills, and exercises
When sent a new safety policy from your manager, how many of you read it? I mean, actually read and learn from it. Well, if you’re like me, you’re more likely to skim and then read the parts that catch your eye – if that. In order to really ingrain and teach the staff about their roles in an emergency response plan, safety or first aid training , and incident drills and exercises must be held on a regular basis to keep them update and engaged.
