• Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Subscription
  • The Magazine
  • Podcast
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Circuit Magazine

For Security & Protection Specialists

As the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season approaches, concerns are rising over a possible repeat of the widespread destruction experienced last year. Indeed, 2017 was a record-breaking year for hurricanes in the Atlantic, with the formation of 17 named storms and six major hurricanes classed as Category 3 or higher.

Of these, Harvey, Irma and Maria caused the most damage. Harvey brought unprecedented levels of rains to Texas, while Irma battered the Caribbean before coming ashore in Florida. Maria, meanwhile, was the most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall, causing devastation in Puerto Rico and resulting in scores of fatalities.

The 2017 hurricane season caused more than $200bn in damages, grounded 25,000 flights across the United States, and wreaked havoc on business operations and travel.

Bearing this in mind, it may surprise to learn that more than 96% of organizations have operations exposed to natural catastrophes. Yet, despite this, two-thirds of organizations still don’t think they’re properly prepared to deal with the effects of hurricanes.

 

So how should you go about mitigating these risks?

The responsibility of security, risk and business continuity teams is a complex one. You are your organization’s first line of defense against any and all threats to operational continuity and people safety.

However, hurricanes pose a somewhat unique challenge. While the associated hazards are not unique in and of themselves, they are uniquely compounded to pose threats from multiple angles. High-speed winds can damage infrastructure. Landslides can devastate factories and facilities. Heavy rain and storm surges can result in flooding.

Depending on the location of your operations, this could mean that your facilities, assets and employees face significant threats.

Prior to hurricane season, your key challenges include identifying potential hazards, proactively preparing for the threats you face, helping senior management to understand the business impacts of these threats and establishing employee buy-in for the risk mitigation measures you put in place.

Making the right preparations ahead of time can play a huge role in the speed of your business’s recovery if the worst does occur. Try to see risk as an enabler, rather than as a limiting factor, and your risk mitigation strategies as an investment. After all, studies from the World Resources Institute highlight that for every dollar you invest up front in protective measures, you stand to save four dollars in damages from future floods and storms.

Thankfully, putting an effective hurricane risk management plan in place doesn’t have to be complicated.

To help you get started, our Global Operations team have broken down effective pre-hurricane risk mitigation planning into five easy stages for you to follow below.

 

Step 1: Researching and understanding the potential hazards

Your first step should be to identify the hazards to your organization and people. The key hazards from hurricanes are:

  • Coastal flooding from storm surges
  • Flooding related to heavy rainfall
  • Erosion or landslides if in a valley or near hillsides
  • Hurricane-related damage and destruction
  • Damage from strong winds and debris

Consider where your facilities and people are located – what hazards do they face in their environment and what measures can be put in place to mitigate these risks?

 

Step 2: Planning for the worst

Once you’ve identified the hazards to your operational continuity, consider:

  • Inspecting buildings for potential vulnerabilities to environmental hazards
  • Carrying out essential building maintenance
  • Establishing procedures for securing buildings, doors and windows, etc
  • Reviewing evacuation plans for personnel in affected areas
  • Staying aware of hurricane evacuation plans issued by local government.

 

We recommend planning for the ‘worst-case’ scenario and then working backwards to plan for less extreme scenarios. Make sure you’re clear on the following:

  • Who is in charge of the chain of command
  • How to contact key employees (via phone, email, SMS, etc)
  • How you plan to track or monitor employee safety
  • How to shut down and secure your buildings
  • How to protect and secure important data and documents
  • Where the location of first-aid kits and emergency supplies are
  • What to do if power is lost

 

Step 3: Establishing employee best practice

With an increasing focus on fulfilling your duty of care obligations, we recommend establishing the following procedures to ensure employee safety:

  • Collect and maintain multiple contact details for all employees
  • Establish a check-in procedure to track employee safety
  • Distribute wallet-sized info cards that include emergency contact details and actions
  • Include clear emergency response plans in the employee handbook
  • Communicate the organization’s employee expectations during an emergency
  • Hold staff meetings to introduce emergency response plans to employees
  • Introduce employee training sessions with periodic tests
  • Encourage employees to develop an emergency response plan at home

 

Establishing these best practices will help you to fulfil your duty of care obligations to personnel across the business, wherever they work.

Not only will these steps help you to improve your visibility across the business and establish contact during an incident if required – but you’re equipping the entire organization with information that could save their lives – an excellent way to build buy-in!

 

Step 4: Emergency supplies

Onsite emergency supplies should have an inventory taken every 3-6 months to ensure they are fully stocked and need to be replenished if not. If you have expats or travelers in regions at risk of a hurricane, encourage them to maintain a waterproof grab bag of essentials. Both emergency supplies and grab bags should include the following:

  • Clean water (bottled or via a water purifier)
  • Non-perishable food + can opener
  • Torch with spare batteries and bulbs
  • Candle, matches + magnesium flint
  • Wind-up, battery or solar-powered radio
  • Alcohol gel for hand cleansing
  • Sanitary products, plastic bags and toilet paper
  • First aid kit, medications, and medical supplies
  • Cash in small denominations
  • Copies of important documents (waterproofed)
  • Mobile phone with charger / solar charger (waterproofed)
  • Map of the local area + contact information
  • Whistle
  • Plastic sheeting

While prepping these emergency supplies, you should also test backup systems, such as petrol/diesel generators, to ensure they’re working.

 

Step 5: Wider business considerations and final plans

With plans in place, your preparations should now turn to the wider business impacts. Things to consider include:

  • Reviewing travel and business insurance policies to ensure you have adequate coverage for the risks you face
  • Understanding the threats faced by your supply chain partners and making contingency plans to ensure operational continuity
  • Communicating the impacts a hurricane may have on the business’s ability to deliver to customers
  • Contacting expats, travelers and overseas workers who may be in higher-risk locations and need more advice and support

 

While the above will help you get started, your key takeaway should be the importance of acting early when preparing for the risks you face. Proactive risk management is the most effective way of minimizing the impact on both employees and operational continuity in the face of such intense weather events.

Our new whitepaper can help your business navigate the risks of Hurricane season by explaining:

  • How hurricanes pose a risk at every level of your business
  • How to mitigate and manage risks before, during and after the storm
  • The risk management preparations you need to be making right now
  • What to expect from the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season
  • How Drum Cussac can ensure operational resilience and the safety of your people

 

Download your free copy today.


By Drum Cussac

Drum Cussac is a global business travel risk and security consultancy responsible for ensuring the safety of more than 15 million lives across hundreds of organizations on a daily basis. We combine 24/7 intelligence with cutting-edge technology and a global network of professionals to help organisations understand the risks they face and support them in ensuring the safety of their people and operations.

 

Tweet
Share
Pin
Share95
95 Shares

Buy The Latest Issue

Sign Up For News and Updates

We respect your privacy and will not share your information with anyone.
We will only message you when we have something relevant and of value to share with you.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Latest Issue

Circuit Magazine - Issue 66 - AI Armageddon

Issue 66

Buy Now

Latest Newsletter

Newsletter Sign Up

What you don't know CAN hurt you!

SUBSCRIBE

Latest Industry News

Ugandan Minister Killed by Bodyguard in Apparent Wage Dispute

A Ugandan government minister, Charles Engola, was shot and killed by his bodyguard early Tuesday in an apparent private dispute over wages, according to the army and local media. Engola, a retired army colonel, served as the junior minister in charge of labor in President Yoweri Museveni’s government.

Event

News - Circuit Magazine

Zelenskiy Denies Ukraine’s Involvement in Alleged Kremlin Drone Attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has refuted Russia’s claims that Ukraine was involved in a drone attack on the Kremlin, which was allegedly aimed at killing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskiy stated that Ukraine fights and defends its territory, not attacking Putin or Moscow. The Kremlin reported that two drones were used in the attack but were disabled by Russian defenses.

News taken from Issue 65 of the Circuit Magazine

Bodyguard Saves Japanese PM from Pipe Bomb Attack

A bodyguard has been hailed as a hero for his quick-thinking actions during a suspected pipe-bomb attack on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Video footage captured the bodyguard kicking away a metal object as it landed near Kishida
before positioning himself between the Prime Minister and the device, shielding him with a collapsible, handheld ballistics shield.

News from Issue 65 of the Circuit Magazine

AlertEnterprise Reveals First-Ever Guardian AI Chatbot Powered by OpenAI ChatGPT

AlertEnterprise has unveiled its first-ever Guardian AI Chatbot powered by OpenAI ChatGPT. The chatbot will make its global debut at the ASIS Europe and ISC West trade events. Built on OpenAI’s GPT-3 platform, the Guardian AI Chatbot aims to provide security operators with instant access to critical physical access and security insights through quick questions and prompts.

Executive Protection/Secured Transportation Profession

COVID-19 and the Executive Protection

As practitioners, our responsibilities are many: protection of the client from physical harm, protection of the client from self-embarrassment, etc. Now, that the restrictions in the post COVID-19 era are starting to be lifted in some areas, Clients, and other high-net-worth individuals will be more aware of the area in which they are located, lodging, and traveling to.

James Bore's Cyber Security

Ways to See the Threat Before it Happens

Threat modelling is widely in use, whether knowingly or not, across every walk of life – and has been used since time immemorial to prioritise security defences. The only difference between the well-known risk assessments carried out by everyone and threat modelling in cyber security is the attempt to document and systemise it. I am hoping that this idea of formal threat modelling will be a useful tool for you to use in your future arsenal of available resources as a CP operator.

Close Protection advice

Keeping Your Edge: Building a Solid Foundation

Longevity, consistency and remaining relevant are some primary goals of all protectors. These factors are important when establishing a new contract and providing services for a new client. But what is equally important is the mindset that goes into those first days and weeks on the assignment. As such, I wanted to get the personal perspective of Vantrell Wilson, a close protection agent who I have trained with and worked alongside of for years now.

Global Risk Updates

Global Situation Report - November 2021

Global Situation Report – November 2021

Each issue our global geopolitical partner, Stratfor, provides an in-depth analysis of global incidents via in-house experts, cutting edge technology and through a comprehensive globally sourced network. Here is your summary from the last 30 days.

Popular Tags

armed attack Bodyguard business Celebrity client clients Close Protection Communication cp Crime Elijah Shaw EP Executive Executive Protection firearm firearms government gun Intelligence Law Enforcement Media Medical military News online police Prevention professional protect protection Risk Safety Security SIA Social Media Surveillance Technology terror Terrorism terrorist Threat Training VIP weapon

On The Frontline

Bodyguard Diary

Just under a year ago I graduated from a recognized executive protection training course. After doing some pretty consistent work for the sponsor company, I was then presented with an opportunity to join a team escorting a very prominent VIP. I was absolutely floored. While not my first detail, this was the first with a […]

Protecting Against the New Normal

Vehicles Used As Weapons

Religious extremist whether Al Qaeda or ISIS have long called for the use of Vehicles as Weapons even going back to 2010, when we saw an article in Inspire Magazine titled, “The Ultimate Mowing Machine.”

(Image: Matty Blythe)

Matty Blythe – From Super League Rugby to Bodyguard Training Director, via Iraq.

There are loads of fundamentals and characteristics that close protection shares with rugby league. There’s a lot of planning and preparation with video sessions, and you need to think about X, Y and Z before you think about A, B, and C in both. You’re always planning for the worst-case scenario, and you need to know the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.

Follow us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

From The Archives

Ex-G4S Security Contractor and Double Murderer, Fitzsimons, Secretly Extradited from Iraq

Industry News – November 27, 2019 A former British paratrooper who was imprisoned in Iraq after …

Continue Reading about Ex-G4S Security Contractor and Double Murderer, Fitzsimons, Secretly Extradited from Iraq

Bullet Proof Vests How Protected Are You?

Bullet proof vests are incredibly useful pieces of equipment for Security Personnel. Not only are …

Continue Reading about Bullet Proof Vests How Protected Are You?

Global Incidents: 13 July 2013

Global Incidents: 13 July 2013   Critical Information Egypt: Cairo prepares for rival …

Continue Reading about Global Incidents: 13 July 2013

Global Situation report provided by Stratfor

Stratfor Global Situation Report

Each issue our global geopolitical partner, Stratfor, provides an in-depth analysis of global …

Continue Reading about Stratfor Global Situation Report

Promoted Event

International Security Expo

Latest Podcast Episode

Latest Issue

Circuit Magazine - Issue 66 - AI Armageddon

Issue 66

As AI armageddon comes closer, the global challenge is discerning the line between innovation and oversight, particularly concerning decision-making biases and security implications.

Buy Now

Follow us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Subscription
  • The Magazine
  • Podcast
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

© 2023 Circuit Magazine · Rainmaker Platform

This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
I accept