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Hurricane preparedness protects employees and ensures efficient operations recovery

By Anne Straub
Brevard Technical Journal

As Florida enters the busiest part of hurricane season, companies might find it's time to tune up their emergency preparedness plans.

Step one, of course, is to have a plan ready to implement. Hurricane researcher John Williams recommends reviewing readiness in January every year, well before hurricane season begins June 1.

With a plan in place, companies have a framework to implement when a storm threatens. "There's no reason for anyone to be caught unprepared for a hurricane. We know when they're coming off the African coast, and that's about 10 days away," said Williams, an associate faculty member at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne and author of "Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms."

Emergency plans, which should be written to cover more disasters than just hurricanes, need to identify areas of action and name a person responsible for each. "The key thing is that people know what they need to do," said Mary Bolin, Brevard Prepares coordinator for Brevard County's Office of Emergency Management.

Some areas experts say a plan should cover:

Communications.

"Employees want to know, 'When can I go home?' Will I get paid?' How do I know when it's OK to come back?'" said Jeff Rosson, vice president of engineering and hurricane and tornado preparedness officer at Symetrics Industries Inc. in Melbourne. Symetrics urges employees to listen to the radio for updates about returning to work. Diaster preparedness guidelines compiled by the Melbourne-Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce recommend compiling a list of emergency numbers of key personnel before a storm.

Preparations for shut-down.

Each department needs to get its area ready, Bolin said, possibly by bagging computers or moving equipment to another office. Chamber guidelines suggest designating personnel, and backups in case of absences, to close doors and windows, tie down loose equipment, move supplies to safe areas and barricade windows and doors.

Employee considerations.

Employees need time off before the storm to ensure their families' safety and prepare their homes. Afterward, they'll need to know when to return to work. That can be tricky if communications systems still are down. "We tell people to use their best judgment. If you don't feel comfortable, just stay home," Rosson said.

Continuity of business.

If the business is the type that can't cease operations during the storm, the plan should allow for work to continue at another location. Synergon Solutions Inc. in Melbourne, for example, operates a 24-hour technical-assistance call center that must be available at all times. "The end user in Des Moines, Iowa, doesn't really care that there's a hurricane going through Florida," said Gary Bradley, CEO.

The company duplicates the operation at another call center in Southern California so that calls always are covered. When one hurricane threatened several years ago, Synergon flew employees to the West Coast location and switched calls over to that call center. "Our end users in the field never had a clue they were being serviced from Southern California rather than Florida," Bradley said.

Restarting after the emergency.

At Symetrics, computer files are copied to tape every two weeks as a regular backup. That's an important practice all companies should adopt, Rosson said. "You could have a tornado come through anytime and rip things up," he said. If a hurricane is nearing, the company will update records before shutting down the plant, and two people are designated to take the tapes. Engineers are encouraged to back up their own files. Classified information goes into a safe at the plant.

Larger companies might consider remote back up for computerized information.

Companies also need to consider how they will gather employees and materials after the storm to re-start production, said Tony Mulqueen, senior manager of corporate security for Harris Corp. in Melbourne. Mulqeen also serves as chairman of the Industrial Crisis Management Working Group, a local network of contractors that meets to share expertise in disaster planning. He recounts the experience of a small South Florida insurance company that evacuated its 30 employees as a group to an off-site facility during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. The company was ready to re-open quickly because it had its workforce intact.

Companies that receive material from just one supplier might consider setting up an account with an alternate source, Bolin suggested. That would help operations continue if a supplier got hit with a mudslide in California or a flood in North Carolina.

"It doesn't have to be a disaster in this area," Bolin said.