Improving Disaster Preparedness: What California Employers Can Learn from Other Catastrophes

1. Improving Disaster Preparedness: What California Employers Can Learn from Other Catastrophes Frances L. Edwards, PhD, CEM Associate Professor, San Jose State University; Associate Director, Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation

2. Hurdles to Disaster Preparedness • 1. Inadequate threat evaluation • Expecting “the cavalry” • Government is broke – not stockpiling goods for own first responder employees • 72 hours for federal response • Inadequate number of emergency responders to meet all needs – so focus on most critical that require professional training • Don’t understand how rapid onset will be • E.g., earthquake, terrorism • No time to wait for outside direction to save lives

3. Hurdles to Disaster Preparedness • 2. Lack of resources for response within the workplace • “Won’t happen during my tenure” as CEO/CFO/other, so protect the bottom line profitability • Can’t afford lost productivity time for employee training • Can’t justify investment of scarce resources in training and equipment that may never be needed • Stockpiles of food, water, medical supplies, sanitation supplies • PPE and detector for CBRNE • Relying on government, but response will be hours to days

4. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Form a partnership with CEO/CFO to view Business Continuity plan as an insurance policy • Not just IT • Vital records • Employees are key to response and recovery! • NO Bus drivers refused to come to work, no busses for evacuation of special needs populations

5. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Employees are the Key to your Success • 50% of NOPD did not show up for work at some point due to family/personal losses • Have an employee and family contact plan when phones don’t work • Buy ad time on a specific radio or TV station both in the normal work/living area and regional coverage, so employees know what station to monitor • Organize a HAM network • Have an out of area 800# for detailed information on alternate work sites, report to work arrangements

6. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Family preparedness • Home preparedness, reunification • 50 NOPD left their posts to care for family • 80% of NOPD homeless • Memo re: Employee Assistance Programs • Website information for employees on anxiety, children’s fears Note TV for Information

7. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Educate employees about safety in the workplace: duck and cover, use of safety systems - e.g. lab cupboard locks, securing furnishings, equipment • Educate employees about 72 hours of self-preparedness: “Car or Desk Kit”

8. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Form a partnership with the employee organizations/unions • Keep them informed of the focus of the effort: employee safety • Reassure them about any changes in working conditions, e.g. having to wear a badge, some positions requiring backgrounding in the future • Have a pre-made labor agreement for staff to default to vacation if there is no work rather than going to disaster unemployment

9. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Use cost/benefit as guide in developing projects • Focus on immediately beneficial actions, like creation of an ERT – day to day medical emergencies as well as disasters • Consider low cost options like extra bottled water to rotate through an existing system, extra food in the cafeteria that rotates through – one time cost

10. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Practical site considerations • Hold evacuation drills-saved lives on 9/11 • Enhance internal security • Badges/visitor ID • Hazardous materials security • Biological agent security • Loading dock confirmation/monitoring • Remove signs from HVAC intake • UPS, generator with rotated fuel storage

11. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Work place violence awareness/disgruntled employee • “Dirty Donut” • Mail handling • Suspicious package training • Mail delivery/acceptance procedures • Employee absenteeism surveillance and reporting to County Health Department

12. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do • Evaluate all safety systems • Update or repair fire alarms, including ADA compliance • Lock all external doors except for main public entrances, including all stairway exits at the ground floor level and “backdoors” • Install a PA or CAN for building notifications to employees

13. Businesses with a BCP Weathered Katrina • Hibernian Bank • Had office space and apartments rented with company funds, based on its emergency plan at a location 7 hours from New Orleans • Housing was for employees, their families and their pets • 107 branches effected, 47 re-opened within a week, 39 more within a month; 21 severely damaged, long-term • Wal-Mart • Had 123 damaged stores, reopened 18 within 1 week • Shipped recovery supplies to its stores: mops, buckets, bleach and diapers • Northrup-Grumman • Sent out 3,000 paychecks from their Texas location to their shipyard workers, used Western Union for workers who could not get to their work site

14. Speaker Contact Information • Frances L. Edwards, M.U.P., Ph.D., CEM • Associate Professor, San Jose State University • Associate Director, Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation • One Washington Square, San Jose, 95124-0119 • 408-924-5559 • kc6thm@yahoo.com • www.sjsu.edu/cdm

15. Overcoming the Hurdles:What Employers Can Do