How do I establish an effective Hurricane and Flood Plan for my company?

Question

I'm an intern for GKN Aerospace New England Inc, working in one of their smallest branches in Manchester, CT. I know there's little risk of a DEADLY hurricane or flood in this part of Connecticut, but because of the implementation of new safety standards (and because my boss ran out of jobs to give me) I've been asked to make Hurricane and Flood "Emergency Action Plans"

Where's a good place to start?

Any advice from a professional would be GREAT.

I'm fully capable of researching on my own, and this is part of that research, but I want to know what guidelines to follow.

For example, should I make a chart of courses of action for each increasing hurricane category?

Answer 1

You start by holding drill's, until you get it right.

Get information,from others, who've been in this plight. <}:-})

Answer 2

When dealing with employees (other lives) you have to check with your cities OEM (office of emergency management) they have a plan laid out for your city and can recommend or even come train you and or your employees on disaster prepardness. I included a link to your cities OEM website.

Response to additonal details:

Your OEM will have kind of a template plan or an outline, everyone should be involved in this, it's really important. Also, the National Weather Serivice has alot of pointers too. Here is their website: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/education.php, stick to the government institutions and you can't go wrong. If your company does not want to deal with this and you have little experience in this area, you or they should think about contracting a environmental health and safety firm, they will write the plan for you and provide training to the employees, and then maintain it for you. This is what i do for a living, and believe me your situation is common.

Answer 3

Disaster recovery and Business continuity are very important in today's business age. The most important steps in designing a plan are to do a risk analysis, determine mission critical business functions, implement backup procedures, and continually revisit and revise the plan.

There are many companies today that specialize in recovery and continuity. If possible, I recommend attending a workshop on disaster planning, as this has helped my company a great deal.