US business owners urged to evaluate access after a disaster

‘Second responder’ access is critical to recovery after a disaster and business executives and owners are being urged to assess their company’s business continuity plans to ensure that sufficient preparation has been given to this issue.

“Many businesses leaders have heeded the warnings about disaster and business continuity planning,” said Dr. Robert Leviton, president and chairman of the board of the Corporate Emergency Access System (CEAS), “but it is not enough to simply invoke an off-site disaster and business continuity plan. The big question is: How do critical employees - second responders - access their facilities after the threats to life and property have subsided?”

Police, fire and other emergency services typically move people away from the site of a disaster, and then seal the area with no provision for limited, controlled access, Leviton said.

“How quickly a company gets back to business after a fire or flood, terrorist attack, tornado, or man-made crisis often depends on emergency planning done now,” Leviton said.

CEAS is the only private-sector access control system recognized by US municipalities that gives as second responders access to businesses within restricted areas following a disaster or serious emergency.

“We learned important lessons from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina,” Leviton said. “Both disasters illustrated that the aftermath of an initial catastrophic event can paralyze business operations because access to the physical bricks and mortar businesses were restricted after threats to life and property were stabilized.”

“Eighty-five percent of our nation’s critical infrastructure – transportation systems, banking and finance, and energy, for example -- is owned by the private sector,” Leviton said, “and without access after a disaster, getting ‘back to normal’ is impossible.”

www.ceas.com

•Date: 13th August 2008• Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: DR general
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