A Bad Day at Work – Preparing for Disaster in NYC
As my regular readers are aware, I have been focusing of late on the upcoming America’s PrepareAthon and national preparedness month.
As a professional organizer in NYC, I consider it part of my job description to assist my readers and clients to prepare for disasters, including those that take place during the workday.
Remember: Fail to plan, and you plan to fail. Adequate planning for a disaster that strikes during the work day can make a difference!
So, let’s plan!
There are a lot of ways that our workplaces resemble our homes. In fact, most of us spend more waking hours, certainly Monday through Friday, in the workplace than we do at home. So, in a certain sense, work is where we live!
That means that in order to be prepared for a disaster of any kind – whether it’s a fire, a sudden storm, an earthquake, or a terrorist attack – you really should take the same precautions at work that you would at home. As a professional organizer in NYC, that is one of my prime disaster preparedness tips.
Depending on the situation, it can and does happen that the public is told to “shelter in place.” Because of that and because of other eventualities, it is only prudent to plan as though we won’t be able to depart our work premises in a disaster at the exact moment that we might like.
Thus, one of our most important office organizing ideas is to ensure that your company has disaster preparedness supplies accessible in the workplace. Whether provided in part by your employer and supplemented individually, the office kit should include the following items:
- A supply of water
- A supply of non-perishable food
- A first aid kit
- Dust masks
- Battery-powered radio, flashlights and extra batteries
- Cash
- A list of staff cell phone numbers
- A list of emergency contact information; the style and serial number of medical devices such as pacemakers
If you have not recently gone through an evacuation plan where you work, you should work with your employer to create one. That’s another of my office organizing tips for disaster recovery: Don’t be shy to talk about getting ready for a disaster; talking is an important part of the process. You need to know which emergency exits are available to you and what to do in case of a fire, loss of power, or any other disaster.
Additionally, if you are an employer yourself, you want to establish emergency contingency procedures. That can be a daunting prospect, but there are services available, including through the Red Cross, to assist you. As a professional organizer in NYC, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this blog and for taking the time to be as well prepared for whatever disasters may come to our great city as you can possibly be.
Finally, if anyone would like a consultation specifically for disaster preparedness in the workplace, I would gladly set up a system designed specifically for you and your company.