| Are You Ready?
Disaster is a Fact of Life
 A fact of life for all inhabitants of the planet is-disasters happen! We have watched as Japan deals with the aftermath of an earthquake and tsunami. Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Montana and Mississippi have dealt with flooding. Oklahoma, Missouri and California have dealt with tornados. All this has happened in the last few months!
Benefits of Planning
The concrete truth is that safety and health managers need to include disaster planning in their general safety plans. It's not a matter of if; it's a matter of when. The benefits to implementing a disaster preparedness plan include reduced loss of life and being able to return to operations more quickly. If no disaster plan is in place, companies risk having to deal with death claims and lost production. Developing a disaster plan may actually help an organization look closely at current processes and identify how worksites can be made more safe and efficient.
Preparedness Resources
There are many resources available about what to include in a disaster recovery kit. The basics safety and health managers need to implement to be more prepared in case of disaster are:
Costs vs Benefits Developing a cost-benefits analysis can help the safety and health manager gain management buy-in to a disaster preparedness program. At minimum, plans should account for three days of complete on site self sufficiency. This is the recommendation from emergency service agencies. In the event of a major disaster, it may take up 72 hours for emergency services to reach your site and for municipal, regional and state emergency agencies to kick in. Plan Ahead Plan while the sun is shining. This is the time for putting a plan into action. Waiting until it is raining and shaking is too late. Don't forget to check out this month's safety talk and resource for more information. For even more help with disaster planning, visit Safety Center's website. | 
