Improving Security and Disaster Response Potential

On any given day, it’s possible to see warnings from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding potential threats to our safety. While there are many legitimate reactions to these warnings, your best course of action is to review your security and disaster readiness plans. No one can predict what, if any, impact terrorism could have on [c_officialname]. What we do know is that criminal activity and natural disasters are a clear danger each and every day. By reviewing this information, you can help prepare [c_officialname] by reducing the potential impact of these events.

Facility Security

Below are some actions you can take to assess and improve your facility security. Successfully implementing these security measures requires you to effectively engage various groups within and outside of your organization, including supervisors, managers, employees, outside contractors, or municipal services.

• Advise management and employees to report any suspicious persons or activity in or around the facility.
• Establish and follow visitor control procedures such as mandatory sign-ins, name badges, escorts, orientation, etc.
• Survey locks, fences, exterior lights, and other physical security devices to ensure that they are in place where needed and in proper operating condition. Establish a monthly inspection of your security perimeter and key protective features of your facility.
• Pay special attention to areas containing stocks of explosive, flammable, or toxic chemicals. These areas should be properly secured and inventoried, with reduced hands-on contact of these materials if possible.
• Evaluate critical locations in your facility for proper security such as the electric, telephone, and gas units, building entrances, transformers, outside storage units, and computer rooms.
• If your facility has a security/fire alarm system, be sure it is operating properly and that key personnel know how to arm/disarm it.
• Make sure that fire suppression systems are inspected and maintained properly. And be sure that a sufficient number of trusted personnel know how to activate, operate, and shut them down.
• Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) can serve as an excellent crime deterrent. When the CCTV system is equipped with a recorder it can help solve crimes.
• Review your procedures for issuing facility keys and access cards. At a minimum, keep lists of who has been issued keys/cards and have a procedure for handling a situation when a troubled employee is terminated without returning them.
• Discuss security with your local police department. Some police departments provide excellent information and support to businesses and industries.
• Have your local fire department conduct a pre-planned visit to [c_officialname]. While there, they can identify target hazards and plan fire suppression priorities.

Always review significant facility or process changes with your representative.

Disaster Response

• Be sure to discuss terrorism coverage with your representative.
• Keep copies of insurance policies and other critical documents in a safe and accessible location (e.g. a fire-proof safe).
• Develop a Disaster Recovery Plan. If you already have one make sure that it is up-to-date.
• Review your policy for off-site back-up of EDP records. Ideally these records should be backed-up and transmitted or sent off-site on a daily basis.
• Have telephone call lists available (include cell phone and pager numbers) for all key personnel so required staff members can be contacted during non-working hours from any location. Review procedures for notifying employees that your facility is closed. Remind employees that they should never attempt to enter areas that are closed by police or other emergency responders.
• Consider establishing an alternate method for your phone service if the switchboard becomes unusable (e.g. switching incoming number to a cell phone or remote number).
• Check available emergency supplies such as flashlights, batteries, emergency generators/fuel, patching materials such as plastic sheeting, wood 2x4s, duct tape, spare fire extinguishers, first aid kits, etc. If you think that some personnel would stay at the facility during/following an emergency, consider stockpiling food and water for their use.
• Be sure your emergency response philosophy reflects that human life is always more valuable than property.

Meyers-Reynolds & Associates, Inc.: Helping you to address today's Property & Casualty Issues

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