It’s the kind of moment you’ve had nightmares about: A flood, an earthquake, a fire, tornado or any other sort of natural or manmade disaster and the massive loss that follows. Whether they come or not, it’s critical to maximize your disaster preparedness so as to minimize potential loss. Here are five tips to be your best for your workplace and family during a disaster:
1. Have a safety plan
One important means of staying calm is preparing a safety plan, which can serve as a guide and checklist to help you proceed in the right direction during a disaster. SRP Environmental can provide a site safety officer to ensure you both comply with OSHA regulations before a disaster occurs and have an effective safety plan prepared. These safety plans often include measures to contain emergencies, proper evacuation procedures and training that prepares employees for any sort of emergency situation. SRP Environmental can also provide the training required to make sure the entire workplace remains calm during an emergency.
2. Know your chemicals
According to OSHA, there’s no accepted number of how many chemicals are in the American workplace—a source of stress for many in emergencies. But there are ways to easily calm the situation if you think chemicals are involved. First, remember that for emergencies involving hazardous materials, state and local government agencies will coordinate responses. However, it’s easier to stay calm when you know what kind of emergency you’re dealing with. SRP Environmental can provide an assessment of what kind of solid waste, hazardous materials, toxic mold, asbestos and more are present in any work or home environment, giving you the knowledge to tackle the disaster efficiently.
3. Know how to easily mitigate non-hazardous spills
While chemical spills in a disaster are terrifying, they’re far less scary if they’re non-hazardous. Remembering that there are simple ways to dispose of them helps mitigate the situation. Calling SRP Environmental’s Spill Response Team, which is available 24 hours a day, can make the situation much less frightening.
4. Don’t let the situation get moldy
Mold can grow within two days of a disaster and has the potential to be incredibly dangerous for people who come in contact with it. To avoid the possibility—and stress—of finding yourself in a mold-filled situation on top of the disaster or emergency that just struck, it’s important to get the mold removed as quickly and safely as possible. There’s also a danger of bacterial contamination whenever there’s flooding or water damage. SRP Environmental can quickly assess the seriousness of mold and bacterial contamination to keep a bad situation from getting worse. The most important thing to do is move away from the contaminated material and wait for the assessment and effective removal of it. Remember: Until the cleanup is finished, water from a disaster spot isn’t safe to drink. Experts recommend boiling it for a minute before consuming.
5. Know how to use the proper equipment
Respiratory materials can be life-saving but will only produce more anxiety if you do not know how to use them. SRP Environmental can help employees meet OSHA requirements as well as learn the protocol for these materials so that they can breathe without trouble during emergencies.