Being prepared in the workplace for a major emergency or disaster is simply a matter of prudent risk management. Every year American businesses spend large sums of money on insurance coverage in order to mitigate potential economic damage from an unforeseen or accidental event. These businesses spend thousands or even millions of dollars annually to insure their various assets like buildings, vehicles and equipment yet often fail to spend just a few dollars a year to ensure the safety of their most valuable asset, the people who work for them.
In the event of a major disaster, the health and safety of a business’ employees is critical to the continuity of the business. If employees and their families aren’t safe and provided with the basics to sustain life after a disaster, they won’t be back to work to sustain the life of the business. An employer significantly increases the chances of quickly resuming operations after a disaster by ensuring that every employee (1) safely survives the initial disaster, (2) has adequate survival supplies to get home or shelter -in- place at work until help arrives, and (3) has adequate disaster supplies at home to be ensured that his or her family will have its emergency needs met.
An employer-supplied emergency kit that provides for basic emergency needs like water, food, breathing protection, first aid, shelter, warmth, communication, light, tools and sanitation will cost a business approximately $5 to $6 per employee per year. Such an emergency kit can provide useful supplies to help employees safely evacuate a facility or shelter-in-place if evacuation is not the most appropriate response to a given disaster or emergency. Depending on a business’ geography and the likely emergencies it may face, a small, portable evacuation kit with enough supplies for one day, may be adequate to help the employee evacuate and return home safely. In other situations, the business may need to equip each employee to survive in place or in transit for up to three days (maybe more). In this case bulks supplies, group kits or individual 72 hour kits may be most appropriate.
I've found that an increasing number of employers not only provide emergency preparedness kits for their employees at work, but also purchase emergency kits for their employees’ families. Other businesses are partnering with emergency preparedness providers to encourage employees to purchase their own family emergency kits by providing a purchase discount at no cost to the business. Many businesses actually provide employees with these kits as a Holiday or safety program gift. Because each commercially produced emergency kit is designed for long life, its costs only a few dollars per year per person to ensure secure survival with a basic emergency kit for the home or vehicle.
Protecting one’s employees and their families in case of disaster makes good business sense and requires a very small investment. The best way for a business to secure its own future after a disaster is to ensure that each of its employees and his or her family is secure. The best way to secure the people that make a business work is to ensure that they have basic survival supplies ready for any emergency.
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