Whether you live in a disaster-prone area like Tornado Alley or are cautious about an incoming storm, it’s always a good idea to disaster-proof your property. Putting up storm windows and making sure bookshelves are properly attached to the wall are a few ways you can go about this, but if you’re a small business owner, you need to make sure that work documents and your employees are safe during this time. Here are some tips to help prepare your business for a natural disaster:
Assess your business’ risk
You should first go through your place of business and assess its disaster preparedness. The American Red Cross has a helpful test to assist you in checking your company’s current level of readiness. Some of the things involved are inspecting to see that the structure of your building can withstand the storm and that you have supplies in case someone is injured.
Create your own policy
After you perform a pre-assessment of your business, you should create your own policy. This means you should designate roles and responsibilities in case a tornado or massive storm comes your way. Figure out who will be in charge of the keys, who will contact the insurance company and who will call other employees and tell them not to go into work that day.
Check your insurance coverage
Having small business insurance can financially and legally cover you if your business is damaged or someone is injured on the premises during a disaster, but that will all be for nothing if you haven’t updated your policy in a while. Call your insurance provider and make sure that your policy is up to date and covers things like equipment damage, merchandise losses and any personal injuries.
Start a line of communication
If disaster strikes in your area, you may have to close up shop. But employees, customers and clients may not be aware of this if you don’t have a sound communication plan. Figure out how you’re going to alert all the necessary parties if your business is affected and designate this task to someone. One employee can contact clients and the other can call other employees.
