PLANNING FOR THE UNTHINKABLE

“hello this is the fire brigade, we are attending a fire at your premises involving your finished goods warehouse, we need you to attend the incident in order to help us relocate

stock that is not involved in the fire so

as to prevent further loss or damage”

“the fire has now spread to the manufacturing department and is affecting the structural integrity of the administration building”

“hello this is the police, we have had an anonymous call stating that there is an explosive device located somewhere in your premises. We need to evacuate all members of the public and your staff and to close down the access for both people and vehicles”

The above words are ones you probably never thought and indeed hoped you would ever hear.  Unfortunately many organisations thought that they would never suffer from an “unthinkable disaster”, and sadly when it did they had no plans or systems in place to ensure that the business was able to survive the incident.

Planning for the unthinkable makes a substantial difference to the likelihood of surviving the incident and minimising the disruption to the organisation. particularly when:

• The impact of significant events on the business has been assessed

• The response to these events have been planned

• The effectiveness of the plan (or relevant sections of it) have been tested and revised where needed

• Time, thought and, where necessary, money is invested in managing risk.

In the case of the majority of organisations a disaster could include (but not be restricted to) the following:

• Flooding
• Fire Power Failure
• Plant and Equipment Failure
• Theft of Key Equipment
• Disease Epidemic
• Terrorist Attacks
• Sabotage
• Transport Emergencies

Health and Safety Advisory Service Ltd can assist you and your organisation in the development, testing, implementation and regular review and updating of such a plan.  For further information or to arrange a no cost meeting to discuss your needs please contact us.