Hurricane Preparedness

Hurricane Preparedness

This time, we are going to talk about hurricane preparedness. However, there are people are going to say that we live in California and we normally do not receive hurricanes.  However, if a person who decides to go to work in an area that is known to be susceptible in receiving hurricanes, like lets say, Florida, or the Southern States of the United States, this is for you. Because since this year has been an active year, it might be a good idea to look at this blog. 

Hurricane Irma in Florida

Mother Nature, our dear beloved mother nature, our creator of natural forces, has power on her sleeves to create good and bad situations naturally. She creates natural disasters as well. Yes, we are talking about Heat Waves, Tornado's, Snowstorms, Earthquakes, and of course, today's subject, Hurricanes. This year alone has been a very active year with Hurricane's. There were 2 very destructive hurricanes that made landfall in the Continental U.S, which indeed were, Harvey that hit the Texan coast for several days and Irma that destroyed not only Florida and several other states however, the Caribbean islands,including some of Puerto Rico, which in turn was hit by Hurricane Maria a week later. 

Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico

So, for this blog, we will cover on the topic on hurricanes and how employers can prepare for Hurricanes that may impact not only their business infrastructure but its own employees as well. 

Hurricane Harvey Near the Texas Coast

• In the OSHA website, there is the Preparedness section, where it shows how to prepare fora hurricane. (https://www.osha.gov/dts/weather/hurricane/preparedness.html) In this section, it covers several areas that you find in any website relating to hurricane preparedness. For example, it tells you to have a plan if a hurricane is imminent in the area, that's including in 
• Conditions that will activate the plan
• Chain of command
• Emergency functions and who will perform them
• Specific evacuation procedures, including routes and exits
• Procedures for accounting for personnel, customers and visitors                                                                                                                                               Equipment for personnel  

Under the law code, 29 CFR 1910.38, some business particularly in the areas were it is susceptible to hurricanes, Emergency Action Plan. 

There is a scale that is used to determine the damage based on wind speed and also the size/category of the hurricane being that is on a scale from tropical storm to Category 5.

It later shows what it can be done to protect oneself before and during a hurricane. It says that one can get an emergency kit where it has the necessities to survive for a few days. You can also get help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. 

Other Tips provided by OSHA are:

• Ensure that all workers know what to do in case of an emergency.
• Practice evacuation plans on a regular basis.
• Update plans and procedures based on lessons learned from exercises.

 There is a video for Visual Learners as well. 

So, hurricanes are very unpredictable. They are not easy to deal with after the event occurs. But it is easier to prepare for a hurricane rather than waiting for a hurricane to occur. As mentioned in other blogs, safety is the #1 priority in a workplace.