Vulnerability Checklist
How vulnerable is your business to an emergency or disaster?
- Have you thought about all the ways your business could be impacted directly or indirectly by some catastrophic event?
- Have you prepared?
- How would you respond?
- Do you have a plan for recovery, for staying in business?
A vulnerability or risk assessment is one of the first steps in preparing for and responding to a disaster. Even those organizations that have plans in place should periodically go through a new risk assessment because conditions change and new risks may arise.
In one emergency, a plastics company did an excellent job of evacuating their building. People left the building quickly and without panic and assembled in the parking lot as the evacuation plan intended. However, it was below freezing outside, and the emergency vehicles had arrived on the scene blocking the only exit from the parking lot. In addition, the emergency included a potential explosion and fire ball which might have swept right across the parking lot. Fortunately, no explosion occurred, and people were eventually evacuated from the area entirely, but not after some scary and very cold minutes of exposure.
Risk Assessment is generally a three-step process:
- All risks or hazards are identified
- The probability of the occurrence of each risk or hazard is estimated
- The severity of the consequences of each risk or hazard is also estimated
From the risk assessment it is then possible to rank-order the likely risks or hazards faced by a business that reflects both the probability of occurrence and the severity of the consequences. This prioritization enables a business to match resources and planning with those higher priority risks.