Practice, practice, practice George Chadwick Insurance is based in Wilmington, North Carolina, which has afforded this agency plenty of opportunities to test its disaster plan. For a while back in 1989, it looked as though Hurricane Hugo might land in Wilmington instead of further south in Charleston, South Carolina. As operations manager for the 23-person agency, Aileen Batchelor began developing an agency disaster plan after Hugo pummeled Charleston. In our October 1997 issue we discussed some of the technology elements of that plan. This year, Batchelor shares some tips on the importance of looking out for your employees before, during and after the disaster strikes.
Service workers are the essential workers at that point in time.
However, the length of time the office is open should be modified, given the intense pace of the day, Batchelor recommends. Another option would be to have two five-hour shifts. This gives the essential workers time at home to do what they need to do after the disaster. For agencies that are just getting started with developing a disaster plan, identify what constitutes a disaster in the context of your operation. Batchelor She urges agency principals not to underestimate the amount of stress that service workers experience following a disaster.