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  How Do I?
  For Businesses
  Prepare My Business for an Emergency

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      For the PublicPrepare My Business for an Emergency
Businesses can do much to prepare for the impact of the many hazards they face in today’s world including natural hazards, human-caused hazards or technology related hazards.

Natural hazards could be a flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake or a widespread serious illness such as the H1N1 flu virus pandemic.
	Human-caused hazards include accidents, acts of violence by people and acts of terrorism.
	Examples of technology-related hazards are the failure or malfunction of systems, equipment or software.DHS/FEMA sponsors a resource called “Ready Business” to assist businesses in developing a preparedness program by providing tools to create a plan that addresses the impact of many hazards. The direction recommended is to adopt a standard for Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs called an “all hazards approach.”
      
      Steps to Create a Business Preparedness Program
      To develop an “all hazards approach,” DHS has adopted National Fire Protection Association 1600 (NFPA 1600) as the American National Standard for developing a preparedness program.

There are five steps toward creating a business preparedness program:

1. Program Management

Organize, develop and administer your preparedness program
	Identify regulations that establish minimum requirements for your program2. Planning

Gather information about hazards and assess risks
	Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA)
	Examine ways to prevent hazards and reduce risks3. Implementation

Write a preparedness plan addressing:

Resource management
	Emergency response
	Crisis communications
	Business continuity
	Information technology
	Employee assistance
	Incident management
	Training4. Testing and Exercises

Test and evaluate your plan
	Define different types of exercises
	Learn how to conduct exercises
	Use exercise results to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan5. Program Improvement

Identify when the preparedness program needs to be reviewed
	Discover methods to evaluate the preparedness program
	Utilize the review to make necessary changes and plan improvements
  
    
    TopicsDisastersKeywordsBusiness
              How Do I - For Businesses
              How Do I?
              Preparedness

    Last Updated: 11/29/2023
  
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