Author: Nancy Germond

The most important aspect of disaster planning is in that word – “planning." If your agency doesn't have a plan and an emergency strikes, your agency and your clients may be at risk. Caught flat-footed without a solid disaster plan to organize your actions, you can lose valuable data, clients and property.

This article will touch on a few basics of disaster planning, but the Big I houses excellent content on disaster planning here.

The Eight Steps in Disaster Planning

For basic disaster planning, let's identify some steps to get you started.

1. Form a team to identify most likely hazards and the likelihood of that hazard occurring.

• Identify key employees and begin to write your plan, detailing who will be responsible for what in an emergency.

2. Assess your current resources and abilities
3. Develop your emergency plan and procedures
4. Integrate the plan with the community plan (i.e., emergency responders).
5. Conduct training.
6. Develop a public relations structure.
7. Conduct drills and exercises, tweaking your response plan as drills pinpoint problem areas.
8. Develop plan audit procedures.

Preparing for Disaster is a Part of Continuity Planning

Ensuring your agency is up to the challenge of facing a disaster is important to your agency's survival. To start, determine which employees are best positioned to develop and implement the plan. Remember, too, that the Big I offers resources on disaster planning, and that is a great place to start or refresh your emergency plan

There are also many resources available developed by governmental entities that can help you, as well.

They include the following.

• Federal Emergency Management Agency
• Ready.gov
• Small Business Program guidelines developed with Zurich

Of course, the Big I has a great resource available for disaster planning for Big I members at this link.

Don't let a disaster catch you unprepared. Reach out to these great agencies, and the Big I, for more information.

First published: October 7, 2022

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