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September is National Preparedness Month 2019

September marks the peak of hurricane and wildfire season, but disasters can strike at any time.

The Institute for Business and Home Safety estimates that 25% of businesses don’t open again after a major disaster. In order to avoid becoming a statistic, employers and workers alike must be prepared to deal with an emergency.

National Preparedness Month, which is observed every year in September, provides us with an opportunity to identify risks and prepare for the unexpected.

In this post, we’ll share 10 ways to participate in National Preparedness Month 2019.

Download the free 2023 Safety Calendar to easily plan your toolbox talks &  training

 

  1. Identify the risks relevant to your business, both natural and human-caused.
  2. Update your emergency plan. Consider any new risks you’ve identified, along with any new equipment, materials, processes, or changes to your facility design and layout that require special actions in an emergency.
  3. Be sure to plan for any special hazards such as flammable materials, toxic chemicals, radioactive sources, or hazardous energy. Download our free tip sheet to prepare your community for a chemical emergency.
  4. Encourage employees to prepare an emergency preparedness plan for their families. Ready.gov offers resources to help make a household emergency plan.
  5. Sign up for emergency alerts and warnings in your area at https://www.ready.gov/alerts.
  6. Test your employee emergency alert system. If you don’t have an alert system in place — such as text alerts, calls, and push notifications — now is the time to integrate one into your preparedness plan.
  7. Conduct a drill to practice your organization's response to an emergency such as a fire, earthquake, or tornado.
  8. Post your evacuation procedures, including exits and routes, where they are readily visible to all employees.
  9. Invite emergency responders to tour your facility to learn about your processes, hazards, protective features and systems, and proper actions to take (or not take) during an emergency.
  10. Safeguard your business records by going paperless. Consider using a cloud-based solution so that you can quickly retrieve your records from anywhere in the event of a disaster.

Download the 2020 Workplace Safety Calendar

Participating in National Preparedness Month is one way to prepare for disasters and reduce risks to health and the environment. For more ideas, download our free 2020 workplace safety calendar.

Download the free 2023 workplace safety calendar