CSO

Your company has a robust security policy that encompasses physical security, information security and disaster recovery. It complies with regulatory requirements, undergoes assessments, documents, disseminates and hopefully demystifies.

But will anyone show up when there is an emergency?

Recently, I attended a meeting of law enforcement, emergency responders and critical infrastructure protection professionals.  One of the speakers was retired Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré who is likely best known for being the commander of Joint Task Force Katrina. He is also notorious (in a good way) for his no-nonsense approach and, um, unvarnished quotability which I will appropriate here.

Honoré’s talk was aimed mainly at public officials, but I noticed that only a slight shift in context can bring value to private organizations as well.

He began with a simple statement: “We need to build preparedness into our culture.”

For the more metaphorically inclined, Honoré also expressed the above quote as:
“Getting better at responding is like learning how to close the gate after the hogs got out.”

In years since 9-11, huge resources have been thrown at securing infrastructure – but it seems to me we are working the “gates, guns, guards” route much more often than we provide education for our employees.

“You don’t make communities more resilient by giving Responders more equipment. You make communities more resilient by helping people make their homes more resilient.”

Building generators, push to talk radios, and cots: excellent things to have on hand as part of your disaster recovery plan.

But even a fully packed larder of MREs that include tasty freeze-dried ice cream will not guarantee all the personnel you need on site will be there when you need them.

For that, you need a Preparedness Plan. A subtle shift, I know, but an important one.

Do your plans take into account the basic necessities of your employees? Does it provide preparedness awareness so they'll be available when necessary? Is there some form of reasonable assurance that they and their families will be taken care of if they report to work during a disaster?

“For every $1 dollar you spend on preparedness you save $9 dollars on response.”

Honestly, I don’t know the source of the numbers in that quote, but the concept certainly  makes sense. Help your people help themselves now and keep your company running later.

FEMA’s Ready Business site offers terrific resources to get you started on your Preparedness Plan. There are downloadable brochures, checklists, posters and even advertisements. If you call them they’ll even send you hard copies.

Heck, many can even be customized with your company logo. How’s that for fostering positive employee relations?

New York City’s Office of Emergency Management offers excellent resources via their Ready New York program. If you search sites in your area, I’m sure you’ll find even more.

Go. Do it now. You may not have time tomorrow.

“Dealing with Disaster is about dealing with what’s next, NOT what happened yesterday. Dealing with yesterday is like getting good at target practice by shooting your own foot.”

Well that about says it.

For extra credit, you may view this video: You’re Stuck on STUPID!”