Workplace Emergency Supplies Cache

It is not unlikely that a major disaster, strong enough to interrupt infrastructure – including our roadways -- could strike during the workday, requiring that you and your employees, shelter-in-place for a period of time. 

What can you do now to prepare for that eventuality?  Approach your planning from the viewpoint that all utilities will be 100% unavailable. 

• NO Working toilets
• NO Safe drinking water from tap
• NO Electricity,
• NO Natural gas,  
• NO Garbage collection; or 
• NO Gasoline

Communications in and out would be unreliable at best and non-existent at worst. 

In the Winter season - no heat; in the hot Summer months, no A/C. The building housing your business could be damaged and unsafe to occupy, creating a need for sheltering outside or elsewhere.

Things to consider in preparing for a disaster occurring during the workday:

1. Have you and your employees been briefed on the Salt Lake County S.A.F.E. Neighborhoods catastrophic disaster strategy?  (S.A.F.E. Neighborhoods).
2. Trust this:  In a major disaster FAMILIES COME FIRST – especially if families are un-informed and unprepared. (FAMILIES FIRST).  
3. Have you incentivized your employees to prepare their families?  Getting back to business is a call for all-hands.  
4. Do your employees have their own emergency kit at their desk, work-space or in their vehicle? 
5. Are you prepared to augment their personal supplies with an on-site emergency cache for 12-24 hours?  Longer if they are there to help with recovery?   

Suggestions for Workplace Emergency Supply Cache

• Safe Toileting, (portable toilet or 5, 6-gallon plastic buckets, thick black bags and bathroom supplies.  Important: Include means to safely collect and store used solid waste bags – Galvanized garbage can & tight-fitting lid, or hazmat drum/lid.
• Water and Gravity Filters, 
• Food (Snacks), 
• Generic Medications – (pain, Imodium, antiseptics, antibiotic creams)
• First Aid Supplies,
• Blankets, 
• Flashlights
• Solar Panels for Charging 
• Portable Radio(s) – Hand crank, battery operated, solar
• Comfort Items – Decks of cards, Cross word puzzles, reading material
• Hand Tools, including gas shut-off (if a leak is detected) 
• Shovels, pick axe, leverage bars and cribbing wood -- if rescue from debris is needed 
• Paper, pens