Preparing for the Worst
Local fire departments help property managers plan for disasters
by James Parker
The following is an excerpt from the Mar/Apr 2007 issue (Volume 72, Number 2) of JPM®, Journal of Property Management.
For the first several minutes of any emergency—be it a fire, a medical emergency or an approaching hurricane—people inside an affected building and those responsible for managing it will be the ones who respond. Having a solid emergency plan is critical in case emergency responders cannot get to the property immediately.
“Emergencies are just that,” said Rose Evans, CPM, and vice president of property management for Levin Management Corporation. “You don’t have time to prepare for them when they happen, so you need to have a plan in place. You want to protect your building, tenants and customers.”
While an all-hazards emergency management program can take years to develop, property managers do not have to go it alone when it comes to emergency preparedness. Preparation requires a team effort—from stakeholders and tenants to emergency responders.
ALL ABOARD
To get the wheels in motion and inspire a team to focus on an emergency management plan, property managers must secure involvement from investors, owners and senior management, said Don Schmidt of Preparedness Inc., a risk consulting company in Sharon, Massachusetts.
“If management doesn’t buy into it, it’s going to be much more difficult to get the program developed and implemented,” Schmidt said. “Support from senior management will help to get other people who need to be involved, involved. It tells everyone this is a priority.”
Showing senior management how emergency planning can affect business is essential in gaining support, he said. Senior managers should be educated on the many regulations requiring emergency planning; alerted to industry practices that have become a standard of care; and asked to consider how prepared their building would have been in some of the recent major disasters.
“It is about saving lives and it’s about protecting property,” Schmidt said. “And by protecting property, you are protecting your business operations—as well as avoiding any civil liability or damage to your brand, image or reputation.”
Schmidt said support from owners and investors must come in the form of a written policy—vesting designated individuals with the authority to develop, implement and update an emergency management program. Written statements should also be widely communicated so everyone is aware of the policy and the important role each person plays.
“A written statement establishes the overall program; it authorizes the person or persons to develop, implement and keep that program current; and it should be consistent with the overall mission of the organization,” Schmidt said.
The full article is available as an online exclusive in the Mar/Apr 2007 JPM® issue.
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