Workplace Tornado Preparedness

7/26/2021 (Permalink)

If you have any damage from a storm or hail, reach out to SERVPRO of Troup-Coweta Counties. We are your local restoration team.

It’s one of the most fearsome and least predictable natural disasters, and anyone who has lived through one can tell you why. The tornado has a unique gift for wrecking communities, carving a path of rampant, unfeeling destruction through city buildings and country fields alike.

In March 2021, Coweta County residents experienced just this, in a terribly unfortunate recent example of just how destructive and powerful a tornado can be. The tornado was an EF-4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, the second-highest classification we have for these deadly storms.

The mile-wide storm ran through Newnan with winds of up to 170 miles per hour damaging homes, businesses, even the local high school. Seventy homes were totally destroyed, and another 1,700 were damaged.

As a local business owner, this is a scenario you never want to have to consider. But as the March 2021 tornado reminded us, you must be prepared for storm scenarios that could impact your business, your livelihood, and the lives of your employees.

Be Prepared

One of the most important things you can do as a business owner is develop a disaster preparedness plan. This includes a focus on awareness, evacuation routes, important data backups and emergency kits. This kind of plan is required by OSHA, and indeed not having one established could leave you open to lawsuits on top of the heartache of damage done to your business and potential injury to your employees.

Set a Safe Place

You and your teams need to know where to go in the event of a tornadic event. The safest place, of course, is an underground shelter or safe room. But if that’s not available (and for many businesses, it isn’t), a small, windowless room on the lowest floor available will make do. If your building isn’t sturdy, instruct employees to meet at the nearest building that will meet these requirements.

Inform and Reinforce

Make sure your teams know how they can keep up with weather alerts, and that they know the differences between watches and warnings. Provide training on the signs of tornadoes, possible weather situations that could cause them and seasonal awareness. Schedule and practice tornado drills regularly to reinforce the information and give them a chance to put your plan into action in a moment without real-life stress.

We sincerely hope you never have to deal with a tornado as a business owner, but should it occur, we are available ²⁴⁄₇ to help. Click or call SERVPRO today to find out how we can help.