2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 David M. Shapiro Disaster Planning & Recovery Consultants

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 DISASTER PLANNING OFFICE OF RISK MANAGEMENT 2007 CONFERENCE

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 What is a Disaster ? Three defining elements: 1.Suddenness, 2.Unexpectedness, 3.Significant destruction and/or adverse human or economic consequences.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007  As the basic purpose of government is to protect the health & safety of its citizens; state agencies must be ready to provide services both before and after an event.  The services may be the same or similar to the agencies normal operations, or may vary significantly depending on the agencies available resources & the direction from the governor’s office.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Agencies conduct disaster planning to accomplish three major goals: 1. To protect lives and minimize property losses; 2. To provide for the rapid resumption of operations and services; 3. To ensure that adequate records and documentation is maintained to aid in post-disaster cost recovery activities.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 For both natural disasters, such as hurricanes and man-made disasters, agencies typically use four loss control strategies in their overall planning and response: 1. Mitigation 2. Preparation 3. Response 4. Recovery

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007  The first two strategies, Mitigation and Planning, occur before the disaster occurs.  The second two strategies, Response and Recovery, occur after the disaster has occurred.  A comprehensive disaster plan will incorporate all of these strategies.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Mitigation: Hazard mitigation concentrates on long- term methods to reduce the effects of a hazard by improving the agency’s ability to withstand future hazards. In order to mitigate hazards effectively, an agency should address mitigation measures through planning, policy making, and implementation.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Preparedness: Preparedness concerns the activities an agency takes prior to the disaster’s occurrence to minimize the potential losses the agency may incur, and to minimize the time required to resume the agency’s core operations or services.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Some Important Examples of Preparedness Actions Are: 1. Copies of plan widely distributed in both hard copy & electronically. 2. Current contact information for all staff (should be revised continuously). 3. Establishment of disaster specific accounting codes.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Important Examples of Preparedness Actions Are (continued): 1. Adopted overtime policy that addresses employee compensation during an emergency. 2. Documentation requirements for disaster related expenses.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Some Important Examples of Preparedness Actions Are (continued): 1. Pre-positioned contracts (where applicable). 2. Clear procurement procedures for emergency contracting. 3. Documentation requirements for force account expenses & contractor costs.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Important Examples of Preparedness Actions Are (continued): 1. Have current inventories of agency assets. 2. Pictures, plans & other supporting documentation to validate losses.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Response: Emergency response includes all actions taken immediately after an emergency is detected and that are intended to minimize damage and speed the recovery from the emergency.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 Recovery: Recovery activities are generally divided into short-term and long-term categories. Recovery typically begins immediately after a reasonable level of order and safety is attained.

2007 Office of Risk Management Annual Conference 2007 FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY PLAN FOR A DISASTER CAN POTENTIALLY CAUSE BOTH UNTOLD HUMAN AND FINANCIAL LOSSES.