Disaster planning guidelines for gulf coast businesses

Capital One Financial Corporation has developed a useful disaster-planning checklist for gulf coast businesses. It aims to help companies:

- Develop a business continuity plan that addresses post-disaster recovery procedures;
- Consider alternative operational locations;
- Equip backup operations sites with critical equipment, data files and supplies;
- Safeguard property;
- Gather current contact information for employees, vendors and customers;
- Develop multiple and reliable communication methods to reach employees;
- Communicate details of the plan to employees;
- Let customers and vendors know the business' plan and what to expect from the business;
- Develop a detailed action plan in the event of a mandatory evacuation; and
- Prepare for emergency cash management to handle cash flow.

"Until last year, many people believed that preparing for a disaster meant discussing what could happen, in a hypothetical case," said David Frady, Capital One's executive vice president of commercial products and services in Louisiana and Texas. "Now, we have an immediate past experience to help guide business preparations. The first thing to do in planning for 2006 is to ask 'What did we learn?'"

BUSINESS DISASTER PLANNING CHECKLIST
(published verbatim)

Planning before a hurricane or other disaster arrives is key to business survival. These guidelines help businesses develop a strategy to minimize damage and lost time.

Develop a business continuity / disaster recovery plan.

-- Establish a disaster-recovery team of employees who know your business best, and assign responsibilities for specific tasks.

-- Identify your risks (kinds of disasters you're most likely to experience).

-- Prioritize critical business functions and how quickly these must be recovered.

-- Establish a disaster-recovery location where employees may work off-site and access critical back-up systems, records and supplies.

-- Obtain temporary housing for key employees, their families and pets.

-- Update and test your plan at least annually.

Alternative operational locations.
Determine which alternatives are available:

-- A satellite or branch office of your business.

-- The office of a business partner or even an employee.

-- Home or hotel.

Backup site.
Equip your backup operations site with critical equipment, data files and supplies:

-- Power generators.

-- Computers and software.

-- Critical computer data files (payroll, accounts payable and receivable, customer orders, inventory).

-- Phones/radios/TVs.

-- Equipment and spare parts.

-- Vehicles, boats and spare parts.

-- Digital cameras.

-- Common supplies.

-- Supplies unique to your business (order forms, contracts, etc.).

-- Basic first aid/sanitary supplies, potable water and food.

Safeguard your property.
Is your property prepared to survive a hurricane or other disaster:

-- Your building?

-- Your equipment?

-- Your computer systems?

-- Your company vehicles?

-- Your company records?

-- Other company assets?

Contact information.
Do you have current and multiple contact information (e.g., home and cell phone numbers, personal email addresses) for:

-- Employees?

-- Key customers?

-- Important vendors, suppliers, business partners?

-- Insurance companies?

-- Is contact information accessible electronically for fast access
by all employees?

Communications.
Do you have access to multiple and reliable methods of communicating with your employees:

-- Emergency toll-free hotline?

-- Web site?

-- Cell phones?

-- Satellite phones?

-- Pagers?

-- BlackBerry(TM)?

-- Two-way radios?

-- Internet?

-- Email?

Employee preparation.
Make sure your employees know:

-- Company emergency plan.

-- Where they should relocate to work.

-- How to use and have access to reliable methods of communication, such as satellite/cell phones, email, voice mail, Internet, text messages, BlackBerry(TM), PDAs.

-- How they will be notified to return to work.

-- Benefits of direct deposit of payroll and subscribe to direct deposit.

-- Emergency company housing options available for them and their family.

Customer preparation.
Make sure your key customers know:

-- Your emergency contact information for sales and service support (publish on your Web site).

-- Your backup business or store locations (publish on your Web site).

-- What to expect from your company in the event of a prolonged disaster displacement.

-- Alternate methods for placing orders.

-- Alternate methods for sending invoice payments in the event of mail disruption.

Evacuation order.
When a mandatory evacuation is issued, be prepared to grab and leave with critical office records and equipment:

-- Company disaster-recovery plan and checklist.

-- Insurance policies and company contracts.

-- Company checks, plus a list of all bank accounts, credit cards, ATM cards.

-- Employee payroll and contact information.

-- Desktop/laptop computers.

-- Customer records, including orders in progress.

-- Photographs/digital images of your business property.

-- Post disaster contact info inside your business to alert emergency workers how to reach you.

-- Secure your building and property.

Cash management.
Be prepared to meet emergency cash-flow needs:

-- Take your checkbook and credit cards in the event of an evacuation.

-- Keep enough cash on hand to handle immediate needs.

-- Use Internet banking services to monitor account activity, manage cash flow, initiate wires, pay bills.

-- Issue corporate cards to essential personnel to cover emergency business expenses.

-- Reduce dependency on paper checks and postal service to send and receive payments (consider using electronic payment and remote deposit banking services).

Post-disaster recovery procedures.

-- Consider how your post-disaster business may differ from today.

-- Plan whom you will want to contact and when.

-- Assign specific tasks to responsible employees.

-- Track progress and effectiveness.

-- Document lessons learned and best practices.

•Date: 5th June 2006 • Region: US • Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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