"... one of the foremost national experts on school and workplace violence, facility protection, evacuations, terrorism prevention and leadership training"   US Senate

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Vincent Bove Article

Published in:

New York Real Estate Journal, February 14, 2006

The Practitioner, 1st Quarter 2006

 
Emergency Planning: The Essence of Facility Protection
 
By Vincent J. Bove, CPP

Individuals responsible with facility management, either as administrators, security directors, or property managers, must have a grasp of the importance of emergency planning since it is critical to protection of life and the survival of an enterprise. Essentially, an emergency is any situation that can divert a facility from normal operations or production. Emergencies can be caused by man-made or natural circumstances. Man-made emergencies can be due to a crime as in an act of workplace violence, terrorism, civil disturbance or fire. Natural emergencies can arise due to a hurricane, earthquake or storm. A professionally designed emergency plan can save an enterprise from loss of life and property, financial chaos, marketplace loss and reputation.

Emergency planning is the description of actions necessary by an organization to protect employees, the public and assets from threats initiating from natural or man-made incidents. Since 85% of America's vital infrastructure such as oil refineries, chemical plants, banks, and port facilities are privately owned, emergency planning must be the order of the day for any enterprise.

According to the "Emergency Planning Handbook" of ASIS International, an association dedicated to leadership and education in security and safety issues, the following activities are essential to initiate an emergency planning process:

  1. Review existing plans and procedures for their validity.
  2. Gain upper management involvement and support.
  3. Identification of facilities to be included and thoroughly understand all distinctive elements of each of them
  4. Conduct a vulnerability assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the facility. Parenthetically, this aspect of emergency planning must be conducted by a certified individual with a reputable and licensed company that has solid references.
  5. Identification of the facilities resources and their priority such as people, equipment and existing plans.
  6. Study the organization�s demographics which include knowledge of employees (especially emergency planning managers and key personnel) homes and response ability.
  7. Identification of members of the emergency planning team and agreement on the appointment of a coordinator and committee representing various organization disciplines such as operations, information technology, finance, customer service, auditing, risk management and labor relations if applicable.
ASIS International encourages major considerations to the emergency planning as a centralized emergency management structure, effective communication with numerous levels of back up, timely forecasts, facility shutdown procedures with clear assignments of responsibilities, evacuation plans, mutual aid agreement for sheltering when area evacuations are not feasible, trained emergency assistance employees, a media spokesperson and supporting materials such as maps and call up lists.

Although each of the aforementioned has checklists necessary for effective emergency planning, it is critical that clearly established procedures for evacuations from company buildings exist and that they are tested periodically through table top, partial scale and full scale exercises. ASIS International strongly recommends that maps be posted in the workplace identifying evacuation routes and shelter areas and that safety monitors are assigned to assist with evacuations. Employees should be assembled in specific locations and accounted for. The evacuation plans should also have alternative plans in case routes are blocked, as well as procedures to assist handicapped and visually or hearing impaired individuals. Evacuation plans should also have coordinators who confirm the area/building has been effectively evacuated, appropriate distance assembly areas from the disaster scene, predetermined muster points for emergency response personnel, clearly marked routes and exits with appropriate back up lighting, shutdown and restart procedures and vital record storage plans.

Emergency planning, as ASIS International specifically relates to the evacuation procedures, must have a checklist with provisions including the condition under which an evacuation is ordered and the individual responsible for authorizing it with established lines of succession, appropriate options for various hazards such as live wires that could fall, fire damage or disrupted fuel lines, indications of when facility shutdown authorizing would be safe before ordering of a general evacuation, procedures for search and rescue teams, exit options and understanding of fire escape locations, backup lighting in stairwells and corridors, continual updated education of personnel, attention to non-English speaking employees and visitors, organized head counts, a missing person system and evacuation of critical equipment.

Aside from practical recommendations and guidelines from ASIS International, it must be noted that an emergency action plan (EAP) is a written document required by particular Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards of the U.S. Department of Labor. According to OSHA, the purpose of an EAP is to facilitate and organize employer and employee actions during workplace emergencies. OSHA mandates:

  • Evacuation procedures and emergency escape route assignments
  • Procedures to be followed by employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate
  • Procedures to account for all employees after an emergency evacuation has been completed
  • Rescue and medical duties for those employees who are to perform them
  • Means of reporting fires and other emergencies
  • Names or job titles of persons who can be contacted for further information or explanation of duties under the plan
Properly and effectively securing a facility is a demanding responsibility in an age of uncertainties where a disaster can strike any time and any place. Individuals responsible for facilities must be keenly aware of the criticality of having updated tested effective emergency plans to protect the lives of individuals entrusted to their care and to safeguard the very survival of their organizations.

Vincent J. Bove, CPP is a Board Certified Protection Professional, Board Certified Crime Prevention Specialist, Certified Law Enforcement Instructor and U.S. Department of Justice Certified Community Anti-Terrorism Awareness Trainer.

He is the 2007 New Jersey recipient of the prestigious FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and was hand-selected to serve as a facilitator and mentor for the 2007 National Conference on Ethics in America and speaker for the 2008 conference at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

"Vincent J. Bove is considered one of the foremost national experts on school and workplace violence prevention, specializing in facility protection, evacuations, terrorism prevention and leadership training." -- U.S. Senate

You can visit Mr. Bove's website at www.vincentbove.com or email him at vincent@vincentbove.com

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