In my last installment on emergency planning, I looked at response and the need to plan for evacuating the area, caring for victims and providing access to supplies. This week, I'll talk about recovery.

Convene the EPT

As noted in Part 1, part of pre-planning for emergencies is to create an Emergency Planning Team (EPT). After the impact of the disaster or emergency situation has subsided, the EPT should convene to plan for recovery and minimize downtime.

The EPT should consider the anticipated recovery timelines and assign these to areas needing recovery and restoration. For example, Plan A= immediate recovery - no down time; Plan B= up to four (4) hours to recover, and so on.

If your company has a policy for using an off-site storage area make sure that all department heads conform. This will ensure that your company can remain in operation in the event of fire or other catastrophe. Having an off-site location to store pertinent media will facilitate recovery. If your company does not have a policy for off-site storage, your EPT should develop one during the pre-planning stage.

Debrief Workers

Once you've determined that there's no longer a risk to health and safety, schedule a debriefing with staff members of the affected location. The goal of this meeting is to relieve panic, emotional disequilibrium and stress, as well as institute further recovery and restoration measures.

Expect workers to display or express sadness, anger, anxiety and depression at the meeting. These are normal reactions to a disaster. When talking with affected workers, it's important to:

• Maintain patience and listen to what they have to say;
• Keep in mind that other people may have different priorities from yours;
• Realize that it generally takes time to restore things, physically and emotionally; and
• Assure workers that you will learn from the disaster and institute measures to prevent recurrences.

Results of the debriefing should be shared by the EPT with company executives and the company's Health and Safety Committee.

Conclusion

It is also important for the EPT to evaluate the response and recovery efforts made and begin to generate processes for prevention and/or better preparedness for future emergency situations. Next week, we'll look at what you need to consider when preparing the restoration aspect of your Disaster Preparedness Plan.

GO FIGURE

What does this number represent?

2.2 MILLION

That's the number of poison exposures reported to poison control centers in 2000.

Here are some other poison statistics*:

90% of poison exposures occur in the home
52.7% of poison exposures occur among children younger than age 6
$3 billion medical spending for poisoning treatment in 1992
$7 was saved in medical care payments for every $1 spent on poison control services in 1992

(*Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

10 Spring Cleaning Safety Tips

By Catherine Jones

With National Poison Prevention Week (March 19 to 25) and the first day of Spring coinciding, it's important to note that household cleaning substances are among the most common poison exposures for children. So, here are 10 tips to prevent poison exposures during Spring cleaning:

1. Never mix household and chemical products together; this may create a poisonous gas
2. Read the labels of household and chemical products before you use them.
3. Follow safety recommendations when using household cleaning products or other chemicals, such as wearing gloves, long sleeves and masks.
4. Properly ventilate the area when using household cleaning products or other chemical products. Turn on the fan and open the windows.
5. Don't leave chemical products unattended. If you must leave the room in the middle of a task, either put the product away or take it with you.
6. Properly mark and store under lock and key all household and pool chemicals, paints and poisons. Keep these on a high shelf, out of children's reach.
7. Store household products in original containers and never put cleaning solutions in food containers.
8. Dispose of household and chemical products that are leaking, expired or that look bad.
9. Know how to properly dispose of chemical products. Never put them in the trash or pour them down the drain. If you don't know how to dispose of the products, contact your local waste management authority.
10. Post the poison control center number near every phone. (In the US, it's 1.800.222.1222. In Canada, provincial poison control centers are listed on the Emergency page of the phone book.)

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