Disaster Preparedness for Your Business

Have you ever thought about what would happen to your business in the event of a fire? 20-40% of businesses don't reopen after they experience a loss. 

Just imagine...

Who will contact customers? Are your contacts and files backed up off site and where?

Are you a tenant? What does your insurance cover? Do you have Business Interruption Coverage?

If you could not access your office for days or even months, would you close temporarily? Move business elsewhere? How would you continue your operations?

Do you have an evacuation plan? Are your employees aware of it?

These questions may scare you. But knowing the answers could be the difference between going out of business or saving your business after a disaster. 

Don't worry! Buffalo has a simple, easy to use, disaster planning worksheet available for free for businesses in our community. 

• The worksheet compiles important contact information for the business including preferred plumber, landlord, insurance provider, electrician, IT support etc. Having this "important contacts" information in one place is incredibly helpful in streamlining the response to a disaster.

• The worksheet also encourages businesses to include a sketch of their facility. The sketch can identify water shut off valves, hazardous materials such as propane, electrical boxes, critical areas, exits etc. This sketch is good to have so that you can help emergency and restoration personnel navigate the building.

• And lastly, the worksheet has businesses answer a number of questions about their operations, insurance coverage, communications chain, evacuation process and more so that the business has a plan in place.

Tip: Buffalo suggests keeping a copy of this worksheet in a central location in the business. Tell employees where it is kept and encourage them to read through it so they know where to access important emergency information if they are the one needing to make the calls. We also suggest businesses keep a copy of this worksheet off site, or even at Buffalo Restoration, so that it is accessible if the internal copy has been compromised. Buffalo can use this information to respond to the emergency quickly.

For your copy of the Buffalo Restoration Disaster Preparedness Worksheet, email eporth@buffalorestoration.com or call 406-586-8109.