Capital One releases emergency checklist for businesses

Capital One releases emergency checklist for businesses

As summer approaches, the risk of hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and floods grows. However, businesses should make plans for dealing with those disasters long before they happen.

With that in mind, on May 11, Capital One Small Business released a checklist of steps businesses should take to prepare for emergency situations.

The bank emphasizes that businesses, in the midst of a disaster, should have plans in place for paying bills and employee salaries, restoring technology, and continuing to communicate with its employees and customers. David Frady, an executive vice president with Capital One, said hurricanes Katrina and Rita were a wake-up call for many businesses that hadn't prepared for disaster.

"Until 2005, many people believed that preparing for a disaster meant discussing what could happen, in a hypothetical case," Frady said "Now, we have a past experience to help guide business preparations."

Among the Capital One checklist's major points are that businesses should:

• Consider preparing a backup operational site complete with equipment, data and supplies.
• Gather contact information for employees, vendors, and customers.
• Keep physical records in a place where they can be removed quickly in case of evacuation.
• Let employees know the details of the communication plan.
• Develop a plan for mandatory evacuation.
• Prepare for emergency cash management.

Businesses should always have a comprehensive continuity plan to prepare for the worst and should test that plan before a real disaster occurs, said Todd Kennedy, managing vice president, Capital One Small Business.  A business may also have to determine which of its workings have to be maintained and which could be suspended. They should also list the businesses tools needed to continue the essential operations.

"Just like a family should have a disaster-preparedness plan, so should businesses," Kennedy said. "Each business should tailor its disaster plan to its specific types of operations, and the checklist Capital One has created can help in developing the plan."

Published: May 14,2023