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Planning for emergencies
Why do employers give preparedness such
LOW priority when more should be done at every
level?
 On
Sept. 12, 2001 -- the Day After -- I happened to
be in Dallas, TX involved with safety inspections for a
Client with operations inside several downtown high rise
buildings. Driving to Dallas (no one flew into
town THAT day), I would have bet good money that
property management at every building to be visited
would be at heightened levels of awareness if not
security.
It's good that I was driving alone with no one else in
the car to take my bet. I would have lost big
time.
Stopping by the security office at each building for a
reality check of routine emergency procedures in place
(fire evacuation planning, designated gathering areas,
tenant notification, training and drills), I was
surprised by the laid-back, routine attitudes that were
apparent at every stop.
That's not to say additional actions were not "on the
way" in the aftermath of September 11. But
what struck me most about that particular day was how
individuals at low to middle levels of security and
property management did not seem to associate the New
York City and Washington D.C. disasters with their own
potential vulnerabilities.
I
would have thought, for instance, that just maybe some
security chiefs would circulate a reminder about
evacuation procedures, routes and gathering areas to
tenants on that particular morning. In fact -- to
a building -- security management had not communicated
any specific proactive steps or awareness information to
their own line personnel at the time of our visits on
the afternoon of September 12.
Recent assessments of emergency response plans at
several new Client companies brought all of this back to
mind. Like the guards and security chiefs in the
Dallas buildings on Sept. 12 who (in my humble opinion)
were fundamentally secure in the premise that "it can't
happen here," most new Clients come to our initial
evaluations with poor to non-existent emergency response
planning.
But
that was one reason why they brought us in -- to access
and make recommendations. And we will.
Still, what will happen when the work is done,
appropriate bases are touched and everyone moves on to
other priorities?
Terrorism aside, the most likely emergencies that these
organizations are likely to confront are fires, floods,
tornados, chemical spills and medical situations.
No matter. Four out of seven programs audited
had not logged a single drill or challenge activity in
three years. The remaining three programs did not
contain a written emergency response plan.
We
must continually remember and factor in overwhelming
human tendencies toward complacency -- the near-genetic
programming for "it can't happen here or to me."
Our response is to target every level of the workplace
organization with real-life examples and shared
experiences; spot checks and digital photos of strength
and weakness situations; simple scenarios played out
more frequently; plus ongoing challenges by safety
coordinators and supervisors.
Experience gives us reasons to believe that these tools
are effective. But your organization may go with
other methods or techniques. Keep them short.
Keep them simple. Keep them aimed at all levels of
the organization.
But
-- most important -- keep them going.
-- Jim Giles
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