Is Your Business Prepared To Shelter In Place?

Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 9:59AM
Keith Erwood in Business Continuity, Emergency Supplies, Risk Management, Safety, Shelter In Place, Shelter in the work place, Work Place Safety, preparedness, shelter

Does your business know how to handle a shelter in place situation? Chances are if you are like most businesses you do not currently have a plan or the supplies needed to shelter in place.

Fairly recently I was consulting with a client and asked if they had made any preparations or had plans to shelter in place. The response I got back was very interesting, "Sheltering in place, thats only for hospitals isn't it?" This told me all I needed to know about how adequate their planning was.

As a side note, here in the CA, Bay Area, Shelter In Place orders are issued fairly frequently due to various incidents from gas leaks to industrial accidents.

Though I wont mention the particular business I am speaking of, I am paying particular attention to them for a reason. They had just relocated to a new building, that is located right next to an electrical sub-station which if it were to catch fire releases a very large amount of toxic fumes and smoke. These types of fires also burn extremely hot, and have the potential to place nearby structures in danger.

Just to provide you with some example of these types of fires, see the videos below.

 

Florida Sub-Station Fire & Explosion

 

March 2009 Ottawa Sub-Station Fire

Warning: The Video below contains Expletives

 

San Leandro Sub-Station Fire

 These are not the only situations for which a shelter in place can be called, but as I stated, the fumes and smoke from these fires are extremely toxic, and generally contain PCB's. However, transformer fires are fairly a common event and as you can see from these videos, people are unfamiliar with the potential dangers, even having their kids outside to watch.

What does this have to do with business? Well, businesses have a duty to act appropriately to safe guard both employees, and guests or visitors at the business site and knowing what to do when a shelter In Place order is given.

There is a lot more to a Shelter In Place program, but here are some basics to get you started:

• Close the business, no one should come in or out.

• Choose an interior room, preferably with no windows, hopefully with a telephone.

• Ensure and provide for the safety of visitors, and clients, someone will need to direct them what to do

• Close and lock ALL outside windows and doors If you can close all blinds and curtains

• Turn off all Fans, heating, and air conditioning systems

• If possible, have people call their emergency contacts to let them know where they are and that they are safe

• Get the names of all the people in the room or onsite

• Seal off the room using the plastic sheeting and duct tape, cover all doors, windows, and vents

• Listen to the radio for instructions, and for when the shelter in place advisory is over

 If you have questions or concerns about Sheltering In Place feel free to Contact me and I will be glade to help you get this done the right way at your business. 

Article originally appeared on Disaster Preparedness Blog - Emergency Preparedness Tips, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Emergency Management (http://disasterpreparednessblog.com/).