Organizations that plan, train, communicate, and assess their emergency response are likely to have the best outcomes in terms of damage to people and property.
People mistakenly assume that community emergency responders will be available in an emergency, says Lisa Marino, a certified business continuity professional who works in the Business Continuity Management Department of Mercury Insurance.
That’s why Mercury encourages its employees become CERT-trained. CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) is a local government program supported by FEMA that educates people about disaster preparedness and trains them in fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.
A number of Mercury employees became interested in CERT training after participating in one of Mercury’s full-scale disaster simulations. These are life-like drills that simulate a real disaster.
"People feel very empowered when they know what to do," says Marino. "I’m very proud of our company for supporting this training."
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Action Planning in Action
The Mercury Insurance emergency action plan is a relatively trim (20-page) document that addresses:
- Assembly
- Emergency notification
- Medical procedures
- Utility failure
- Elevator failure
- Civil disturbance
- Emergency preparedness
- Supplies
- Drills
The plan is written in plain language and is reviewed at least annually.
Beyond the paper plan, emergency planning is a vital (and sometime viral) process. An internal website offers extensive information and relevant links.
The company also provides employees with an emergency wallet card with emergency numbers, whom to contact in case of an emergency, the name of the building commander, and space to fill in the employee’s ID number.
Employees can also call into an emergency message center for timely updates and information about when and if to return to work.
All of Mercury’s emergency plans are stored on an externally hosted database. If internal systems break down, leaders have easy access to this redundant system.
Mercury Insurance writes auto, home, and property insurance in 13 states and employs some 5,000 people. Marino says every company worksite has its own emergency action plan with specifics that reflect differences in risk and location.
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Ready-Made Checklists
BLR’s Safety Audit Checklists provides safety and health checklists on more than 50 essential workplace topics, including emergency response, to help you ensure OSHA compliance as well as make certain you take all possible steps to protect people and property from the risks of workplace emergencies.
Each Safety Audit Checklists section contains:
- A review of applicable OSHA standards
- Safety management tips
- Training requirements
- At least one comprehensive safety checklist
Many sections also contain a compliance checklist, which highlights key provisions of OSHA standard. All checklists can be copied and circulated to supervisors and posted for employees.
All told, this best-selling program provides you with more than 300 separate safety checklists keyed to three main criteria:
- OSHA compliance checklists, built right from the government standards in such key areas as HazCom, lockout/tagout, electrical safety, and many more.
- "Plaintiff attorney" checklists, built around those non-OSHA issues that often attract lawsuits.
- Safety management checklists that monitor the administrative procedures you need to have for topics such as OSHA 300 Log maintenance, training program scheduling and recording, and OSHA-required employee notifications.
Make as many copies as you need for all your supervisors and managers, and distribute. What’s more, the entire program is updated annually. And the cost averages only about $1 per checklist.
If this method of ensuring a safer, more OSHA-compliant workplace interests you, we’ll be happy to make Safety Audit Checklists available for a no-cost, no-obligation, 30-day evaluation in your office. Just let us know, and we’ll be pleased to arrange it.
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