Hurricanes Mean Business - Be Prepared!

Have you stopped to think about an emergency plan for your business? If you haven't, don't delay - put a plan in place. We promise you that you'll never regret spending the time now to make sure your business survives nature's fury.

Hurricane season officially begins June 1 and runs through November 30. It's been awhile since we have had any significant hurricanes strike in the Tampa Bay area. Don't let that fact keep you from becoming prepared - there is no way to know what surprises hurricane season will have for us. Here are some steps to take now.

First, designate someone on your staff to be the emergency coordinator and to take the lead. Your emergency coordinator should either review the existing emergency plan or if none exists, establish one. Next they should take charge of making preparations and assigning roles for each of your team members. You should have two plans in place - one if you can't evacuate and must stay on the premises and the other for evacuation.

Preparations that need to be done in advance:

• Review your insurance policies to make sure that you have adequate flood and wind coverage
• Have a supply of tarpaulins or plastic sheets on hand to cover furniture and non-movable equipment
• Prepare an emergency kit containing:
  • Flashlights
  • Batteries
  • Battery-powered radio (pre-determine your NOAA radio frequency)
  • First-Aid Emergency Kit
  • Enough drinking water and non-perishable food on hand for your entire staff to last for at least three days

If you do evacuate, use these guidelines:

• Have a current contact list for all employees complete with phone numbers and addresses and distribute to the entire staff
• Establish the chain of command - i.e. who initiates the phone call chain of information
• Determine who takes what data/files with them and where/how they plan on keeping them secure

Bottom line is that the safety of your employees and the security of your business essentials need to be thought out in advance. Have regular meetings and be sure to ask your independent insurance agent or risk management agent for more guidelines to help keep you, your staff and your company safe during hurricane season.

Read Original Article: WassonBayAreaInsurance.com