"... 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:

The New Jersey Police Chief, April 2006

Building Owners & Managers Association of NJ,
   Progress Magazine, Volume XX, No. 1, First Quarter 2006

 
Leadership: The Essence of Facility and Community Emergency Preparedness
 
By Vincent J. Bove, CPP

On February 23, 2006, the White House released its review of the Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina identifying deficiencies which underscore that the hurricane was a deadly reminder that America can and must do better in responding to emergencies. The White House states that a culture of preparedness, leadership and partnership must be cultivated by the nation. The document stresses:

  • Significant flaws in our national preparedness for catastrophic events and our capacity to respond to them. Emergency plans at all levels of government-including America's National Response Plan to coordinate all government departments and their integration with state, local and private sector partners were put to the test and came up short.

Based on the imperative to have a unified system, the report identifies three immediate priorities:

  • First, we must implement a comprehensive National Preparedness System to make certain that we have a fully national system that ensures unity of effort in preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters.
  • Second, we must create a "Culture of Preparedness" that emphasizes that the entire Nation-all levels of government, the private sector, communities and individual citizens-share common goals and responsibilities for homeland security.
  • Third, we must implement corrective actions to ensure we do not repeat the problems encountered during Hurricane Katrina.

The White House report continues with a call to a more comprehensive national preparedness system which must:

  • Be improved to minimize the impact of disasters on lives, property and the economy.
  • Articulate national goals and objectives as well as a unity of effort to increase familiarity with incident management, planning, discipline and field level leadership.

A culture of preparedness, inseparable from a call to leadership, must be created that emphasizes that the entire nation shares common goals and responsibilities for homeland security, that is, many individuals, communities, the private sector, faith based communities and federal, state and local governments. The lessons learned portion of the report highlights four principles to guide the "culture of preparedness" development.

  1. A prepared nation will be a long-term continuing challenge;
  2. Initiative and innovation must be recognized and rewarded at all levels;
  3. Individuals must play a central role in preparing themselves and their families for emergencies; and
  4. Federal, state and local governments must work in partnership with each other and the private sector.

In light of this call to cultivate a "culture of preparedness" through leadership and unity of effort are these insights which serve as a preliminary foundation for protecting facilities and communities.

Individuals responsible with facility management and community emergency preparedness; either as administrators, security directors, law enforcement officials, emergency managers 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, natural disaster or fire. Natural emergencies can arise due to a hurricane, earthquake or storm and may be further compounded by criminal activity as occurred in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A professionally designed emergency plan can save an enterprise and a community 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 private enterprise and partnerships with local law enforcement and government emergency preparedness managers is essential.

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, particularly as related to facility preparedness, to initiate an emergency planning process:

  1. Review existing plans and procedures for their validity.
  2. Gain upper management involvement and support.
  3. Identify 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. Partnership with an accomplished, certified government emergency manager and law enforcement official is highly recommended.
  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 (www.asisonline.org) 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. CD ROMs with photographs of facilities and key aspects of a community are also highly recommended.

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. Obviously, clearly established procedures for a community are also critical. Relative to facilities, 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 (so critical for the preservation of life and prevention of human suffering as tragically learned from Hurricane Katrina) 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, planned 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 must also be prepared for.

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 (see evacuation tools at www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation) 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 that elements of the plan include, but are not limited to:

  • 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

The NYPD, in a continual need to enhance partnership with New York City's private security and building managers, has a unique new flagship program for partnership and training relative to counterterrorism and emergency planning. After September 11, the NYPD's relationship with private security professionals took on a vast new significance for New York. Since New York represents the nation's financial and commercial strength, it is critically that the world class companies have a dynamic partnership with law enforcement which includes on going training. This is now expressed through NYPD Shield which brings the many private security/law enforcement partnerships together under one umbrella and assists with threat information, briefings and emergency planning training.

On January 30, 2006, NYPD Shield partnered with the Real Estate Board of New York and provided training for over 400 New York property managers. The training included best practices for evacuation planning that emphasized the importance of alarm procedures, evacuation policy and procedure, the importance of an evacuation coordinator and wardens thoroughly familiar with the facility, understanding of the importance of designating primary and secondary routes and exits, evacuation assembly points and awareness of the possibilities of secondary explosive devices particularly related to terrorism; medical considerations and employee training.

The employee training should include individual roles and responsibilities, types of threats, notification/warning procedures, emergency response procedures, evacuation/shelter and accountability procedures and the knowledge of location and proper use of emergency equipment. Training, according to NYPD Shield, should take place after development of a plan, at least annually if not more, as a component of orientation for new employees, when new equipment, technologies or protocols are introduced and in all instances where there are changes to the layout or design of the facility.

This partnership of the NYPD with private facilities and the training that takes place because of it is a model of leadership, unity of effort and emergency preparedness for law enforcement, communities and facilities throughout the United States.

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 and communities 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 and communities.

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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