Be Prepared: It Can Happen Here

Imagine watching a bad storm on your television screen that is tracking directly toward your workplace or home. That's how I spent Thursday until the storm turned to the right and missed our home.

We lost power for several days at the end of last week due to a tornado that touched down near my home. Fortunately, we were fairly prepared with oil lamps, heater, battery-controlled radio, and the other items necessary to ride out the storm. We were also fortunate that the worst of the storm missed our property.

Others were not as fortunate; several people died, and the area today looks like a demolition zone with tree limbs lining the streets. It is odd to be without power in 2007, however. No email, no Internet access, no television, none of the tools we take for granted in our work. I'm just finally wading through the hundreds of emails that were waiting in my system today, so if you are waiting for a response from me, this was the story.

Every Workplace Needs an Emergency Plan

It seems as if I have tornadoes on my mind this week. They are prevalent in our region. Every region has its own dangers and every workplace needs a plan that tells employees how to deal with every possible emergency and your particular dangers. I've written several emergency plans and trained whole organizations in their content.

As much as training is important, running periodic drills is more important. That is when people apply the emergency training they have received in an actual, simulated danger such as a tornado drill, or what to do if someone brings a loaded gun into your workplace.

You also need to purchase some basic emergency equipment such as a battery-powered weather radio; make sure you have secondary lighting in case the power goes out. Finally, you need a plan to make sure you have accounted for every employee and know that they are safe. It can happen here.

More About Employee Safety and Well-being

• Workplace Violence: Violence Can Happen Here.
• Profit from Life's Losses: Find Significance.
• When Tragedy Strikes: Eleven Tips for Your Workplace Response.

_{Visions of America/Joe Sohm / Getty Images}