For nearly 20 years, CTEH Senior Consultant Brendon Bailey, MS, MBA has helped organizations, companies, and governments respond to and recover from environmental and natural disasters. During this time, he has taken lead roles on some of the largest projects in the U.S, including serving in a variety of Incident Command positions.
With the focus on the business impacts of extreme weather events increasing, particularly in coastal areas, Brendon recently partnered with Skillsoft and EHS Today to share his expertise with the environmental, health, and safety community. During his webinar, he shared the following takeaways about business continuity:
Planning is essential to ensuring organizations have the right resources in place, if or when disaster strikes.
When developing an initial response plan, businesses should consider anticipated needs (e.g., employee stabilization programs), potential internal or external communications, and distribution channels.
Many organizations are developing employee or residential stabilization programs that provide immediate assistance to make homes safe, sanitary, and secure following storm impacts. These programs enable critical employees to respond to the business needs created by the natural disaster.
During the pre-planning process, companies should conduct business risk evaluations. For example, management may ask, “Do we have high-value paper documents that might be affected by water damage?” Or, “Do we have a sufficient supply of product if our supply chain is interrupted?” Potential solutions to these issues will need to be identified ahead of time.
Critical resources (e.g., drying equipment) will be high demand after a natural disaster occurs. When it comes to preparing for facility or asset disaster recovery, business would be well advised to plan for contracts in advance so they can negotiate pricing without urgency.
Does your business need assistance creating a comprehensive response plan for natural disasters? Check out Brendon’s webinar on demand here, or contact the CTEH team at webquestion@cteh.com.
