Plan for the worst and you’ll come out the best
February, 2012
By John Stephenson
An overflowing toilet is undoubtedly a messy situation. Depending on the severity, it can also be a costly one too.
Handling this type of situation doesn’t take a tremendous amount of skill - one can shut off the water to the toilet, clean up the water and check for any possible long term damage. For the most part, an incident like this will only affect a contained area.
But what if that water has been running for half a day or longer, or it’s a large pipe that burst and has caused extensive water leakage. In buildings, industry veterans have seen several floors affected by one bathroom malfunction.
No matter the incident, it’s important to have a plan in place to deal with small and large jobs. As a result, the importance of preparing a comprehensive emergency response plan (ERP) is becoming apparent to most property managers.
Having an ERP in place before disaster strikes is critical to property management because ultimately time is money. The longer an issue is not resolved – such as an overflowed toilet – the bigger a problem can get. Water damage to drywall can cause mould to form in 24 hours, so having the area dried quickly can lessen the damage.
Written emergency response plans are especially important because in the event of a disaster, the steps are clearly laid out for all parties. Each member of the team should know the plan and know how to put it in motion when disaster strikes.
In condominiums, property managers must obtain permission from the condo’s board members to create a plan and must work with the board to create and establish a plan. Condo buildings are unlike apartment buildings in the sense that should an emergency occur in an apartment, the landlord usually has access to it. Since condo units are owned by individuals, property managers don’t have access to the living space unless they have written permission.
Before a plan can be created, it’s important to conduct a risk-assessment of the condo building in order to create relevant procedures based on those identified risks. The plan must include relevant information about the condo units within the building and areas such as laundry rooms, stairwells, activity rooms and elevators.
An emergency response plan should be treated as a living document that’s reviewed and tested on a regular basis. Regular testing of the plan is critical to the safety and well-being of residents. If a plan is left untested and disaster occurs, you don’t want to find out during the crisis that you’re missing steps or information.
By creating a comprehensive ERP that’s risk-based, property managers can gain a better understanding of possible dangers and identify where there is potential for future issues.
Having a risk-based plan in place also not only saves time and money for the property owner and insurer, but it also enables resources to be allocated more effectively and improves response and recovery times, helping to prevent and minimize further losses.
Each plan should include a list of partners so that the right professionals are only a phone call away. Researching and hiring a professional disaster restoration services company and including them in the plan will greatly help with risk mitigation and restoration efforts. These professionals can aid in discussions and planning sessions when preparing a plan and if a disaster strikes, they have intimate knowledge of the building’s requirements when they deploy to the site when a crisis occurs.
FirstOnSite Restoration has more than 30 years of experience mitigating losses and advising property managers on the best course of action for their buildings. It’s developed its own version of an emergency response plan - their Priority Response Emergency Plan (PREP) program - that focuses on the disaster mitigation phase of a response to help property managers. The PREP program includes a discussion and planning session between FirstOnSite and the property manager before any disaster takes place. The goal is to pre-determine what needs to happen on site should a disaster occur so that FirstOnSite has the right level of knowledge to begin restoration and mitigation efforts immediately following an incident, preventing further damage, saving time and money.
FirstOnSite is a national company, with more than 1,100 employees, and can mobilize and scale quickly for any disaster. Its roster of professionals includes those with property management experience that can provide strategic guidance on crafting broader ERPs, but specifically how to incorporate a disaster mitigation company into the plan from the beginning. It’s not just about dealing with catastrophic damage, it can be something as simple as sourcing a generator or even project management assistance. A company like FirstOnSite acts like a true partner in the viability of a site.
Building an ERP doesn’t have to be daunting, there is a tremendous amount of information on creating ERPs online. Provincial governments across Canada have created processes for identifying and dealing with health and safety risks. For instance, the Ontario government, through Emergency Management Ontario, has created the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) process, which serves as the foundation for emergency management program decision-making and prioritization.
Property and building managers can use HIRA as a resource to create a plan that best suits their requirements by measuring risks that are based on priorities, probability and consequence. An emergency response plan is a good way for property managers to identify which hazards have the greatest potential to affect their properties and critical infrastructures and detail how emergencies and disasters are to be dealt with.
Below are some emergency management best practices to consider when building an emergency management plan:
- Determine the scope of the project by conducting a risk assessment of the property. Identify the problem areas and their associated potential hazards
- Prioritize these risks so primary concern areas are addressed first and establish procedures based on those risks
- Get written permission from condo owners to access their living space should a disaster occur to help mitigate damage
- Decide what your evacuation strategy is and what the best route to exit is
- Establish an emergency management team and document all contact numbers including alternate phone numbers and numbers of your disaster restoration partner
- Include complete and up-to-date drawings of your building in the plan. Note where things like shut off valves are for sprinklers so responders know where to go and how to turn them off
- Frequently monitor, test and review your plan and identify any new or emerging potential hazards
While the above guidelines are good first steps to consider when creating an emergency response plan, working with professionals on laying out a plan will ensure that all areas have been accounted for and that the right professionals are in place to spring into action at a moment’s notice.
Written by John Stephenson, National Director, Property Management with FirstOnSite Restoration, www.firstonsite.ca. Prior to his role at FirstOnSite, John held leadership roles as a senior emergency management & security consultant at Bell Canada, and security & life safety director with Cadillac Fairview. Among his career accomplishments, John started the first Emergency Response Team within the property management industry and also conducted the first full high-rise office evacuation drill in Toronto in 1995. John is also a member of the American Society for Industrial Security, Building Owners Management Association, Canadian Fire Safety Association and the National Fire Protection Association (International).
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