This business checklist includes:

Accountability Matters

At any given time, does your business have a method to:
Identify number and names of employees on premises?
Contractors on premises; how many and names?
Visitors/customers on premises by number count?

Do you have a business helping business plan (x3) where employees can report to if evacuated from your facility?

Should your company need to evacuate your premises, is a redundant system in place to assure important documents, computer access, and critical information or articles are secured?

Are employees trained in emergency systems shutdown of equipment, machinery and computers if evacuation is required?

Do you have a reliable system for contacting employees? Is it redundant with several supervisors supporting the contact process?

Does your facility have a redundant signaling system which employees are aware of as an indication to enact emergency evacuation actions?

Are employees aware of your facility emergency evacuation plan?

Are employees instructed where to report once they have evacuated their premises?

Are contingency plans in place to assist challenged employees/customers during evacuation?

Are secondary exits available and known by employees should primary exits be blocked?

Are emergency hand-lights/flashlights available by exit paths for employee evacuation safety?

Have employees been trained in emergency evacuation actions and their roles?

Does your company have a short range portable radio system and are individuals assigned radios at key positions in order to communicate with each other?

All evacuated key business members should have a portable radio and orange vest labeled with their function / role.

Will all facility maintenance staff report to the same location and are they assigned radios?

If your business has an "emergency brigade", are they identifiable and do they have portable radios? Can you account for all of these individuals quickly and on-going?

Does your company have an emergency evacuation plan for your parking lot? Has it been coordinated with public safety first responders?

Is someone assigned to secure a bug-out kit and report to the public safety command post with a company portable radio system?

Have you deployed your company's emergency bug-out kits to neighboring businesses?

Have you trained and exercised your company's evacuation plan under "real" simulated conditions?

Does your company have a plan to address the following after an emergency evacuation event:
Media and public information?
Family members who come to your business looking for relatives?
An expedient way and assigned person to issue information releases?
A process to assist family members whose relative is an employee and has been injured or perished?

Does your business have a work-at-home continuity plan?

Are employees aware of a phone number to call or reporting location if normal business operations are disrupted?

Security

Has your business established a security awareness levels standard for your employees which includes action checklists preserving the integrity & safety of your business?

Does your policy require receptionists to validate by recognized identification individuals seeking business access? Are they trained in procedures when things don't feel right with individuals seeking access?

Are people kept from freely roaming through premises or kept to areas where they have business?

Does your business have a system that screens & tracks any individual who is allowed on premises? Can you rapidly identify at any time, who is on premises & where they are? Can your business access the on-premises roster if the facility is evacuated?

Who in your facility is responsible (redundant layers) to call 9-1-1 & provide information in accordance with training and/or has the authority to signal an evacuation in accordance with emergency situations?

Do key business members have access to key communication systems (phones, portable radios, panic
alarm buttons, evacuation activation devices, cell phones)?

Can you rapidly establish a single entry control point to gain access to your facility?

Can you effectively lock down your entire facility rapidly & monitor through a stand-alone portable radio system all facility access points?

Can your business rapidly establish an outside, secondary perimeter on your property's boundaries, parking lot?

Can your business rapidly contact businesses around your facility to communicate your situation & lock-down status?

Are potentially dangerous facility processes able to be disabled or shut down remotely? Are emergency shut down procedures built into evacuation procedures?

Are new employees backgrounds adequately screened & provided close supervision during early periods of employment?

Do you have adequate control of business keys & access cards regarding employee turnover?

Are products & items screened before they are allowed on premises and does company policy specifically prohibit certain things from being brought on premises?

Is/are on-site hazardous product storage controlled to prevent casual access? Would you know if a substantial quantity were missing?

Is the roof area to your facility protected & inaccessible to casual entry; roof access points secured?

Are air intakes protected from casual access?

Does your firm have a phoned in threat recording & action procedure?

Does your business have a suspicious letter/package procedure? Does it include suspected substance
(anthrax) procedures?

Does your business have a suspicious odor, smell or spill procedure?

Preparedness

Does your business have a professional consultant to assist in guidance in developing emergency plans?

Does your company have an all risk plan (fire, flood, tornado, snowstorms, power outages, inaccessibility to your facility, cyber attacks, bio-attack, chemical attack, explosion, financial tampering & specific areas relevant to your business)?

Has your business established several "bug out" kits, one on-site & others off-site at your partner "business helping business" which include:
A site & building floor plan of your business.
Emergency plan of your business.
Emergency telephone contact list (employee.
insurance companies, relocation contingency).
Locations within your building of; utility shut-offs, sewer drains, elevators, stairwells, vaults, walkways, basement interconnects, sprinkler room, mechanical room(s), computer control rooms, basement access points, roof access points (skylights), vulnerable secure locations, etc.
Employee roster & contact list.
Emergency vest, flashlight, portable radio, cell phone.

Has your business trained all of your employees in emergency actions, procedures, and evacuation actions?

Have you instructed employees of the emergency plans of your business, contingency phone numbers, reporting location(s)?

Have employees been trained to review American Red Cross web site for at home disaster kit & home based emergency plan for their family?

Does your business have a recurring employee training, exercise & maintenance plan for your
contingency/emergency actions initiatives?

Do employees have at-home computer internet ability to support company operations?

Has your business identified a medical director to assist in guidance during a bio-threat?

Business Continuity

Are critical business records duplicated and stored or electronically transferred off-site?

Does your company have an emergency system shutdown checklist and off-site emergency systems start-up checklist?

Should your management information systems be secured or shut down on-site due to a situation, can they be accessed & activated remotely by staff?

Has your business established an off-site contingency operating locations & have employees & staff been instructed where and at what timeframe they are to report in at the contingency location?

Does your business have a work-at-home plan for your staff should your normal facility location not be usable? Can employees & staff access communication & information systems?

Has your business identified a contingency information hot line phone number where employees, customers & suppliers can call to receive information, direction & resolve rumors? The location of the contingency phone number must be off-site from your normal business location.

Do your suppliers have contingency plans & are you aware of information from them needed to maintain your operation?

Does your financial services company have contingency plans and are you aware of how to reach them during contingency actions they might implement?

Have you reviewed your contingency plans with your risk manager insurance carrier & identified other shortfalls or damaging business restrictions?

Has your contingency plan been shared with your legal counsel, public relations firm and other professional service relationships that might play a role during a contingency operation?

Does the leadership of your business have a contingency plan to assist employee relatives in notification & support in the event employees are unaccounted for, injured or loss of life?

Morale, Health, and Welfare

Have you established a business-helping-business contingency plan, with multiple partnerships in multiple geographic locations, where your company's staff & employees can evacuate? Do you have bug-out kits with critical company & business information deployed at the primary evacuation site to assure sustained operations of your business?

If your company has an in-house, on premises medical staff or first responder brigade, have they been trained in basic domestic terrorism awareness and associated knowledge basics regarding biological, chemical & conventional threats?

Has your company established a professional relationship with a health care provider or physician, who is capable & competent in providing guidance, consultation & preventative medical care to your company's staff should a bio event exist or potentially threaten your company's operation?

In the event a bio event potential exists where the threat is contagious in nature and/or quarantine advisements are a possibility, does your company have work-at-home contingency plans for the majority of employees and staff?

Has your company/business thought through what you might be able to do in assisting employees & their families through various contingency challenges to ensure they understand they are valued and their loyalty is needed?

During contingency operations, does your business have a newsletter plan, providing daily updates & information to employees, customers, suppliers, etc.? Do you have a distribution plan?

Source: Village of Northbrook Illinois Emergency Preparedness Guide (Northbrook Fire Department and Northbrook Emergency Services Agency)

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