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Disaster Preparedness Exercises For Your Business

Every business should have a disaster preparedness program and conduct exercises to determine how quickly operations will be restored following a disaster. Conducting program exercises help improve the overall strength of a disaster plan and the ability of employees to perform their roles and responsibilities.

The Ready campaign outlines several types of exercises that can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your disaster preparedness program, including:

• Walkthroughs, workshops, or orientation seminars – Basic training for team members are designed to familiarize employees with emergency response, business continuity and crisis communications plans, and their roles and responsibilities as defined in the plans;
• Tabletop exercises – Discussion-based sessions where employees review their roles during an emergency and their responses to a particular emergency situation;
• Full-scale exercises – Take place on location using the specific equipment and personnel that would be called upon during a real disaster event. These exercises are conducted by public agencies and often include participation from local businesses; and
• Functional exercises – Allow personnel to validate plans and readiness by performing their duties in a simulated operational environment. Activities for a functional exercise are scenario-driven, such as the failure of a critical business function or for a specific hazard.