Emergency Response Contingency Plans

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” ― Benjamin Franklin

If disaster strikes…

Disasters come in many forms: fire, flood, oil spills, chemical spills, traumatic incidents, equipment failure and technical breakdowns. If disaster struck your business, would you be ready? What’s your plan? Does everybody know exactly what to do? Who are you going to call? What’s the worst that could happen?

• Disruption to service
• Loss of revenue
• Business plans halted
• Unplanned expenses
• Potential fines
• Missed deadlines
• Customers let down

By definition, emergencies are unplanned, but they don’t have to be unplanned for. Now is the time to get your emergency response contingency plans in place, “failing to plan is planning to fail”.

Emergency response contingency planning could make the difference between disaster and recovery. In this article, we will look at the stages needed to create an emergency plan and the steps you could take to support your business. Make sure you are aware of any regulations surrounding your business and the minimum requirements they impose.

Emergency Response Contingency Plans:

1. Risk assessment – This stage should include a Business Impact Analysis (BIA). Involve every individual in the organisation with relevant knowledge, go through every disaster that could happen to your business and each possible consequence, think about the length of time each disaster could last. What are the potential impacts to your business? Consider the smooth-running of the business operation as well as the potential costs; If the impact incurs high costs, you should consider a proportional investment in any emergency response strategy. Analyse any steps you could take to reduce the chance of emergency events happening to your business and to reduce the impact if they do.
2. Put your strategies in to place – Designate people for each responsibility. Plan your response for each scenario, document trails of communication, create a process that allows business to continue, create a step-by-step incident management plan. For each eventuality, train every person involved with every action required!
3. Put it to the test! Your planning might be brilliant, but it isn’t until you put it to the test that you discover just how good it is. Practise for every potential emergency, every member of the business should know exactly what they need to do to help you to minimise the impact on the business. Now analyse how your practices went, what could be improved?
4. Make it better – Now you have identified weak points, try to put strategies in place to fix them. Evaluate how prepared your business is now for potential emergencies and the impact this will have on the outcome. Set a date to review your emergency response strategy annually.

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Once you have identified each potential emergency that could affect your business you need to find a reliable and experienced, accredited emergency response organisation that covers your area. Contact your chosen provider to set up the relationship. Put an agreed plan in place and ensure contact details are readily available to relevant people as part of your response to an emergency. This saves valuable time and greatly reduces the impact of a disaster.

Your Business Impact Analysis and recovery strategy will have a bearing on the impact an emergency has on your business. In the event of an emergency such as a flood, fire, oil spill or chemical spill, the chain of events that follows needs to be efficient and fast. Flood and fire damage remediation and remediation after oil spills and chemical spills needs to begin as quickly as possible to limit secondary damage and stop costs escalating. A rapid, planned response will minimise business down-time and its consequences to your operation.

Ideal Response can provide an emergency response package tailored for your needs that will have you covered in the event of an emergency and give you peace of mind. With over 15 years’ experience in the emergency response industry, our accredited organisation has helped over 10,000 people to recover quickly from a range of disasters.

Our package includes:

✓ Pre-site visit to assess risk and requirements of your organisation
✓ Tailored response – we will arrive with prior knowledge and the precise equipment needed
✓ Account Manager – To take care of your needs as they arise
✓ Comprehensive cover for a range of emergencies
✓ Access to a wide range of resources and technology to provide the fastest and most efficient response
✓ 24 Hour response, 7 days a week

When faced with an emergency, you can deal with it calmly, methodically and quickly with a smooth and well planned response. Use our experience and professionalism to get your business up and running after disaster.

Call us to discuss the right package to protect your business 01622 926 505