In light of Hurricane Sandy, employers should take some time to review their plans to protect their employees and businesses in the event that a natural disaster hits. Whether the disaster is a fire, flood, earthquake or some other emergency, all have the potential to greatly impact a business, and employers must be ready.
Start ahead of time
Planning for a natural disaster isn't something that can be thrown together in the last minute, says Jerry Irvine, chief information officer of Prescient Solutions and member of National Cyber Security Taskforce. From the beginning, employers must consider how they would handle a natural disaster because there are so many details that take time to execute. Developing a communications plan, protecting hardware and ensuring smooth business operations all require careful planning.
Recommended For You
"If you're just starting to plan for a natural disaster a week or a few days before it hits, you're already too late," Irvine says. "This is something that needs to be at an executive level from the beginning and defined in all of your core applications."
Provide an alert system to employees
To keep employees safe, an employer must have an effective communications plan, and today's technology allows employees to be informed through automated systems, Irvine says. Some systems operate a hotline for employees to call to receive information while other systems proactively alert employees through emails, text messages and phone calls, cautioning them of any hazardous conditions.
"The most important thing of disaster recovery is keeping people safe, and the first step to that is having an emergency communications plan," Irvine says. "Automated emergency communications systems are a really important part of that."
Have a disaster recovery plan in place for hardware
To protect important data and hardware, it's critical that employers have backup centers offsite, Irvine says. These backup systems usually have either a small subset devices or an exact replica at a different location. Despite this being an important protection, Irvine finds that many employers are not properly prepared should their hardware fail.
"Having backup systems and making sure they work offsite is the No. 1 priority when it comes to protecting your hardware, but that is something that doesn't get done," Irvine says. "When we do assessments of business environments, the first thing we look at is their backups, and most are failing."
Develop a business continuity plan
Employers should develop a business continuity plan, and this goes beyond disaster recovery, Irvine says. While a business continuity plan does include aspects of disaster recovery, it also includes elements that outline how each individual department in an organization would run following a natural disaster. Irvine even recommends having a business continuity professional available should a natural disaster occur.
"You need to know how the business runs, and if a disaster happens, how each individual department is going to run and where it's going to run," Irvine says.
Encourage participation among employee assistance programs
The Society for Human Resource Management recommends that employers encourage participation in employee assistance programs for those who have been impacted by a natural disaster. Employee assistance programs offer counseling and support, and this is often helpful for those who suffered devastating losses.
An employer should also consider extending its leave policy to affected employees, and those who experienced injuries during the natural disaster could qualify for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for themselves or a family member.
Also read:
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
