Introduction
Unigard Insurance Group won the International Association of Emergency Managers award (IAEM) in 2005 for the measures taken in improving emergency preparedness. The company is based in Bellevue an area highly prone to natural disasters like earthquakes, snowfalls, and hurricanes. A series of natural disasters heightened the managements’ interest to invest in disaster preparedness (Mitzel, 2007, p60).
Main body
This paper evaluates the measures taken by the company to enhance its preparedness in comparison to the propositions put forward by Gustin (2007) in his book “Disaster and Recovery Planning: A Guide for Facility”.
Gustin (2007) proposes that six key elements which are fundamental to any complete safety plan should be addressed before initiating emergency response operations. First are the emergency escape procedures and emergency route assignments. This involves establishing emergency exit routes and ensuring they are adequately manned. In Unigard Insurance Group this recommendation is fully acknowledged. Each floor of the many buildings within the firm’s grounds is subdivided into two to four evacuation areas. Each evacuation area is manned by a floor warden and an alternate. The floor wardens and alternates are qualified as they must undertake the formal evacuation training twice every year. The wardens and alternates maintain records of employees in their areas and are aware of all the rooms and possible exit routes in their areas (p43).
The second recommendation concerns the procedures to be followed by those employees who perform shutting off operations before evacuation. This includes putting off the main electricity switches, natural gas valves, and other operations that enhance the safety of minimizing the effect of a disaster. The firm has developed a detailed customized emergency utility shutdown guide. The guide is comprehensive and breaks down each building and utilities connected. It combines photos and lock-out requirements for clarity. A commendable action is the use of earthquake valves at the company facilities. The valves turn off gas supplies any time an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 or above is sensed
Thirdly, the procedure to account for all employees after emergency evacuation should be in place. The human resource department is charged with this responsibility in the Unigard. This is because the officers there are best informed on who works where and have complete and updated records on the number of staff at work on any day.
Also, the rescue and medical duties should be ready and understood by those who should perform them. Unigard has a medical team comprising of employees who are trained in first aid, CPR, and disaster medical operations training. Training is undertaken annually to keep everyone abreast with their roles. The team has a target to set up a triage area within 15 minutes of an event.
There also needs to be a preferred means of reporting disasters. The employees who are members of the Emergency Response Team (CERT) are trained on how to use portable radios. This is to ensure no breakdown of communication due to disruptions by the disaster.
Finally, the list of names or other identification of people or departments to be contacted for further information should be available. This is the only recommendation that is not fully addressed by Unigard. However, the emergency response structure shows a hierarchy and a possible flow of authority hence it would be okay to contact senior officers for any form of guidance.
Gustin argues that a chain of command should be established to reduce the chances of confusion among employees regarding who makes the decisions. The emergency response structure clearly outlines the interrelationships between the various departments involved in the response process. The senior executives work closely with the risk officer who is in charge of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The response coordinator and alternate operate under him. All the ERT teams and other departments are under the coordinator’s command. Indeed this is a clear chain of command for rescue operations.
The training program done by Unigard compares very favorably with the training recommendations by Gustin. Comprehensive training on evacuation procedures has been adequately addressed by the firm. The company has also trained team members on how to set up satellite phones and computers and use mapping software to help employees find safe routes home in case of road or bridge damages. Shutdown procedures are up to standard with the incorporation of automatic valves. Most importantly, the company’s training program emphasizes on response to earthquakes. This is because the firm is located in an area with a high frequency of earthquakes. The bias towards training for an emergency response to earthquakes is well informed
A possible area of improvement of the Unigard emergency training program is the involvement of outsiders. The training should ensure that external relevant players in emergency response are allowed to contribute as they are better trained and equipped with response skills than the employees even after training.
Conclusion
The IAEM award offered won by Unigard was well deserved. The company has gone to great heights to improve its disaster preparedness and response-ability which has involved a great amount of spending and commitment for the staff and management of the firm.
Reference List
Gustin, J., 2007. Disaster and Recovery Planning: A Guide for Facility Managers (4th ed). Lilburn, GA: Fairmont Press.
Mitzel, B., 2007. Emergency Preparedness & Response: One company’s successful approach. Professional Safety.