Prepare your business:

  1. 1
    Think broadly--Do not focus on any one scenario.
  2. 2
    Do disaster related planning now while not under stress.
  3. 3
    Plan for catastrophic events that could last a while--plan for 10 days of ferry disruptions
  4. 4
    Conduct a vulnerability analysis to determine where the business stands right now.

Steps to Comprehensive
Business Planning and Preparation

Got a business on Vashon? Here’s what you need to know to avoid disruption after a fire, a storm, a pandemic, or an earthquake. It is courtesy of the Washington State’s Emergency Management Division’s Business Preparedness Website, that includes a ton of additional resources to help your business survive!

 

Step 1: Develop a Business Continuity Plan to ensure core functions and key personnel are identified and to ensure normal operations are resumed as quickly as possible.

 

Step 2: Promote Employee/Individual Preparedness:

 

Step 3: Conduct a Non-Structural Hazard Assessment of your workplace. Take steps to reduce potential impacts.

 

Step 4: Develop and test Emergency Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place at Your Business that includes site specific information for each business location.

 

Step 5: Take steps to protect vital records.

 

Step 6: Develop a communication plan:

 

Step 7: Review insurance coverage on annual basis to ensure you have adequate coverage to meet your risk level.

Step 8: Learn how to drill/exercise using ICS principles.

  • Update plan to include changes from lessons learned.

 

Step 9: Complete the Key Vendors and Suppliers Form and ensure they have a Continuity Plan to validate integration of plans.

 

Step 10: Collaborate with local neighborhoods, community/volunteer groups, and businesses to promote disaster preparedness and plan for community recovery. The Vashon Chamber of Commerce provides coordination between business and support.

 

Step 11: Get to know your local fire, law enforcement, and local Emergency Management personnel; discuss their role and how you can support their response to your business if an event occurs.

Business (and organizational) Preparedness – also known as Business Continuity – is fairly simple on the face of it according to the Washington State Emergency Management Division‘s Business Liaison:

 

Develop plans to handle these four circumstances:

  • Fire or other building failure forcing evacuation
  • Inability of staff to get to work (whether due to sickness or transportation reasons)
  • Technology failure
  • Failure of any unique supplies or resources your organization needs to work

 

Having basic plans and backup resources identified and possibly under contract can help businesses handle a wide range of routine and exceptional incidents including fire, pandemic or earthquake. Accomplishing this requires a plan and there are commonly a number of templates, useful guidence and pitfalls that VashonBePrepared hopes to explain in this section of our web site.

 

If your business has a critical reliance access to off-island supplies, be sure you or your shipper has applied for access to the Washington State Business Re-Entry Registration

 

Also see this professionally accepted guidance to create a Business Continuity Plan: https://ibhs.org/BusinessDisasterRecovery