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The sprinkler system put the fire out almost immediately. However, water continued to surge out of the front and back doors at 15 gallons a minute.
George remembers standing in the middle of her pitchblack restaurant, speaking to the fire department with sprinklers at full blast, wondering how in the world she was going to turn the water off. It’ s something she never expected to face. But, expecting the unexpected, is the key to emergency preparedness and planning. To help, Washington’ s Emergency Management Division is upping its efforts to better educate owners of small- to medium-sized businesses on how to be ready when the unexpected happens.
don’ t get caught unprepared
“ Forty percent of businesses that go under as a result of a disaster do not reopen their doors,” said Tristan Allen, private sector program manager at the Washington Emergency Management Division. He said the main reason is because of tight budgets and that businesses don’ t have a lot of personnel to throw at preparedness. The number of businesses that fail is jarring, Allen said, and many business owners are unaware of the potential harm in not preparing for the worst. That’ s why Allen and his team are starting education and outreach to smaller employers across the state and providing accessible, easy-to-follow and free material as a way to encourage businesses to take the first step in preparing for disasters.
The Washington Emergency Management Division outlines eight important steps to emergency preparedness for employers:
1. take the washington business preparedness survey
If business owners haven’ t already, they should take the Washington Business Preparedness Survey.
The survey has 16 questions, eight of which are basic information. The average completion time for the survey is five minutes, according to Allen.
The questions zero-in on key themes: geography, type of industry and overall emergency management planning, Allen said.“ You can identify regions in the state that are lacking in a certain kind of preparedness. Once that’ s recognized, we can reach out to those regional government organizations to help address the specifics.”
Whether a business has five or 100 employees, Allen said this step will help them.
2. determine which hazards threaten your business
From major earthquakes and fires to minor flooding and power outages, businesses need to be prepared for any type of disaster.
Preparing for the worst-case scenario— a catastrophic event— will make your business more resilient for even the smallest disruptions, Allen said.
3. conduct a risk and vulnerability assessment
Spending a couple of hours on a non-business day discussing and assessing risk potentials can drastically improve overall business resiliency.
“ Any disruption to either their physical workspace, their supply line or their employee’ s ability to get to their facility can have extremely hazardous effects to their overall operations,” said Allen.
“ Any disruption to either their physical workspace, their supply line or their employee’ s ability to get to get to their facility can have extremely hazardous effects to their overall operations.”
— Tristan Allen, program manager, Washington Emergency Management Division
4. conduct a business impact analysis
A Business Impact Analysis predicts the consequences of a business’ disruption and gathers information to develop recovery strategies.
In today’ s economic climate, businesses should account for a wide variety of impacts. A Business Impact Analysis identifies and evaluates possible impact of disasters and provides investment structure for business recovery.
5. create a business continuity plan
What can you do as a business owner if something you cannot control occurs?
Whether it’ s a road closure, weather advisory or any other business disruption, business owners can do one of three things, according to Lucianne Phillips, private sector and tribal liaison for FEMA Region 10: do nothing; pay someone else to do it if you don’ t have the time; or, to use the free planning template, saving time and money.
6. review insurance coverage on an annual basis
George knew, to an extent, what her business was covered for in case of a fire. Maintaining contact with your insurance company, and yearly reviews of insurance coverage are the most essential practices a business owner can maintain, Allen and Phillips agreed.
“ We don’ t have a blue book of step one, step two and step three. Which, we really probably should. I know as a small-business owner, and I have been all my life, that I don’ t have one of those.”
– Debra George, former owner, The Mark Restaurant & Bar
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