HRM-W6_d2_response Needed
Discussion 1:
Question:
What should be included in disaster planning for a large employer in Annapolis, Maryland, that is concerned about natural disasters such as floods and snowstorms that might shut down the company and parts of the city?
In the United States of America you never know when a natural disaster might strike. If it happens during the work day you have to have a plan as an organization. Employees need to know exactly what to do and not have to think about it or ask questions. Sometimes you don’t have much time to get yourself to safety when a natural disaster happens. The last thing an organization wants is one or multiple employees get hurt or possibly killed during a natural disaster. If there is a big flood that might happen it is important to prepare. Understand where the highest ground is at your location. Let employees know the evacuation plans and make sure they are prepared to have to leave work early and get to safety. Rushing water can sweep cars away and prevent people from driving so it is important to pay attention to news outlets and make sure people get to safety before the disaster happens (Prepare for Emergencies, n.d.). If you are afraid the power might go out during a snowstorm or rainstorm you have to make sure you protect your companies data. Losing all of the data your company has could really make it where your business collapses. Businesses should back up all of their files multiple times to ensure they keep their data during a disaster (Swanciger, n.d.). It could be hard for suppliers to make deliveries during the days after a disaster so it is important to communicate with employees, customers, and vendors about possible delays. Natural disasters are a scary time for all humans so it is important to make sure everyone is safe and your business is safe during these times.
Discussion 2:
Question:
What should be included in disaster planning for a large employer in Annapolis, Maryland, that is concerned about natural disasters such as floods and snowstorms that might shut down the company and parts of the city?
Emergency and disaster planning involve a coordinated, co-operative process of preparing to match urgent needs with available resources. The phases are research, writing, dissemination, testing, and updating. Hence, an emergency plan needs to be a living document that is periodically adapted to changing circumstances and that provides a guide to the protocols, procedures, and division of responsibilities in emergency response. Emergency planning is an exploratory process that provides generic procedures for managing unforeseen impacts and should use carefully constructed scenarios to anticipate the needs that will be generated by foreseeable hazards when they strike
Emergency response involves a mixture of plans, procedures, and improvisation. To some extent, the last of these is inevitable, but it needs to be limited by preparedness. It is axiomatic that planning and procedures should not be improvised during an emergency when they should have been thought through and created beforehand. The consequence of unwonted improvisation is inefficiency in emergency response, which may have serious or tragic consequences. A degree of uniqueness present in each new disaster means that improvisation cannot be avoided, but foresight and preparedness can constrain it to a necessary minimum.
Moreover, emergencies are always occasions for learning, and a significant part of the body of experience on which plans are based comes from the mistakes, inefficiencies, and improvisations of the past. Although many publications have the phrase “lessons learned” in their titles, there is no guarantee that a lesson will indeed be learned. If that does indeed happen, measurable positive change will result directly from the lesson. For example, lack of search-and-rescue equipment may be keenly felt in structural collapses that trap people. Hence, probes, props, and personal protection equipment may be acquired and personnel trained in how to use them.
Emergency and disaster planning is a relatively new field, and one that is evolving rapidly, driven by intensifying hazards, burgeoning vulnerabilities, and emerging risks. Hence, there is no established formula according to which a plan should be prepared. Nevertheless, there are canons and practices that must be respected.