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6 Disaster Preparedness Tips

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Alt Text: Sign leading to emergency exit.

Disasters can come when you least expect them. While there are technologies that can detect early signs of earthquakes, storms, and other natural calamities, it’s still vital to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios.

Let’s look at things from the perspective of a person inside the workplace. Are you confident enough to say that you are prepared for disasters when you’re far from home? If not, then here are a few preparedness tips that you might want to keep in mind.

  1. Give Your Employees Proper Training

If you’re the head of a business or a company, your leadership doesn’t stop with work-related matters. Your employees will rely on you on a lot of things – including your capacity to guide them to safety during an emergency.

The best way to make sure they are prepared is by giving them constant training. Keep in mind that every workplace needs to have an evacuation plan. Aside from that, the people within the workplace should be well aware of the plans as well. Good evacuation plans are worthless if your employees aren’t oriented about what they are.

Workplace Emergency Management provides various services related to disaster preparedness. If you don’t have an evacuation plan yet, we can provide that for you. On top of that, we can also conduct emergency training so their capabilities go beyond what they are trained for at work. When planning your workplace for evacuation, you must remember to include all employees and make sure everyone is accounted for.

2. Make Sure That Your Phone Is Always Charged

A smartphone or any cell phone for that matter is one of the most underrated emergency devices you can have. It won’t be capable of sustaining your health but what it’s good at is keeping you in touch with your friends, family, and most importantly, emergency services.

In case you get stranded in a certain spot during an emergency, you can use your smartphone in many ways. Aside from providing you with a means to contact others, it can also help give you a source of light. Make sure that you always have a phone with a battery with you at all times.

3. Be Aware Of Your Surroundings

How familiar are you with the layout of your workplace and the area around it?

You might be in these places regularly but is it enough to get you acquainted with the area fully? Make sure to devote some time to familiarise yourself with your surroundings. Look for the best emergency exits and even the areas which can be hazardous depending on the type of emergency.

A majority of people panic and get lost when disaster strikes. Your best weapon against situations like this is your knowledge of your surroundings. With it, you can guide yourself and others around you to safety very easily.

4. Prepare Your Emergency Kit

Having your emergency kit at work can save your life. You can keep it in your locker or your office desk. Emergency kits are available in workplaces but having one that you can carry with you during an emergency wouldn’t hurt.

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When making your emergency kit, make sure that it’s compact so that it doesn’t hinder your movement. Some of the essentials to place inside your kit should be a mini flashlight, a bottle of water, a whistle, and some first aid essentials like a disinfectant and some gauze. If you are taking any form of medication, make sure to put those inside your kit as well.

5. Create A Communications Plan For Your Family

Nothing is worse than not being able to contact your family after you’ve heard about a disaster in the area they are in. Don’t give your family that trouble.  Make sure to create a communications plan with your family ahead of a disaster.

This plan should include a means to contact them as soon as possible. If the disaster affected them as well, you should set some guidelines on where they can meet up with you during an evacuation.  You must keep them in the loop about the disaster so that they’ll know when it’s time to seek help on your end.

6. Always Stay Calm

Last but not the least, make sure that you stay calm. Panicking is one of the hardest things to avoid during an emergency but as long as you know what to do, you’ll have a sound mind.

By staying calm, you can easily stick with your emergency plans and contingencies. When at work or in any area, it’s very important that you keep your mind calm and collected when disaster strikes.

Emergencies can happen at any given time. The harsh reality is that there’s not a lot you can do to avoid most types of disasters. What you can avoid though are the risks and injuries that can come alongside these events. With these simple and easy tips, you can be a lot safer when the unexpected happens.

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