Natural disasters can take a toll on your construction business with the exposure and severity levels varying largely based on your physical location.
According to researchers, the US experiences nearly seven hurricanes every four years. But there has been a significant increase over the past few years. High-impact earthquakes happen less often, but they could also affect your business negatively.
US-based businesses must also be prepared for Inland flooding, which is turning into a more common catastrophe. And while most of the above are flood forms of disaster, drought in some parts, more so the West leads to costly wildfires.
With all these in mind, savvy construction contractors must create a contingency plan. They don’t wait for calamities to strike to start running up and down.
And while the thought of designing an emergency plan may leave you with questions like where do I start? What calamities do I prepare for? You can’t wait to figure it out when a hurricane starts.
So if you want to be safe (and not sorry) here are the four steps to get ready for the worst.
Organize a disaster response team
Create a team of reps from every department in your construction firm. They should include the management, administrative staff, and the on-site team. Choose people who can spot possible areas of problem during emergencies and offer brilliant ideas to contribute to a workable and effective disaster plan.
Be Ready For The Unexpected
Because we are too mundane to predict what and when natural disasters await, we should be proactive. Avoid counting on weather and disaster forecasts.
Preparing for the worst-case scenario helps your project managers spot possible weak points and come up with a reasonable plan that ensures all projects go on while reducing potential damage.
Construction sites increase the risk levels posed by natural disasters, and materials used on a site could become dangerous debris.
Increase safety levels by ensuring you have a storage place for materials and equipment. Preparing this way before a natural disaster can save you thousands of dollars in potential losses and damages.
What’s more, it makes you aware of the regulations you must follow if you have to proceed with your plan.
Understand Emergency Response Procedures
If you’re going to implement a disaster plan successfully, then everyone must be aware of their role beforehand.
All staff, construction workers, and the response team members must know what to do throughout the disaster. So you must spend time breaking down the emergency procedure at every level of your organizational structure.
Remember to consider on-site setbacks and communicate to the relevant parties who need to be informed and warned about the situation, i.e., subcontractors, clients, suppliers, builders, etc. Review your order of operation with suppliers.
and Rework Your Response plan After the disaster
You can only tell if your recovery plan was a flaw or a masterpiece based on how it minimizes damage and encourages recovery during and after storms.
Look at how every stage or process in the emergency plan to see how effective they were and the changes that need to be made. Be as honest and as thorough as possible when analyzing the effectiveness of each process.
Use Construction tech to Help You Manage Disasters
Because disaster planning can be overwhelming, wise contractors use a centralized cloud-based platform to store all their critical docs from natural disasters and get immediate access if the tragedy leads to an evacuation.
Such technology can help you to quickly determine what equipment you need to move, which materials you need to store, as well as other safety tips to reduce job site damage.
Wrapping Up
Designing a response and recovery plan is cheaper than getting caught unaware. Take the above steps to reduce damage, expenses, and disaster-related risks as a construction contractor.