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Emergency and Disaster Planning
Being prepared is no accident. Every jeweler no matter how big or small should have a written plan of what they should do if an emergency or disaster strikes.
The three most important considerations in order of importance are:
-- Protection of personnel
-- Protection of property
-- Continued operation of essential business functions
These suggestions would be helpful for any emergency, from earthquakes, floods and fires, to terrorism and hurricanes. Being prepared could be the difference between life and death not just of the business but also of you.
* Managers and other store supervisory personnel on site should have the authority to close and send employees home if local conditions warrant.
* Keep informed through television, radio and online sources, and information provided by local police authorities.
* Keep a list of emergency phone numbers on your person and at home. This list should include the home phone numbers of all your employees, the home phone of your building owner or manager, and a list of emergency vendors, such as glass companies, alarm company, power/electric company, local police, car service, other jewelers in the area, and other repair services.
* All employees need the names of supervisors and co-workers to call in an emergency.
* Keep copies of books and records, including computer disks, and copies of important documents off-site, preferably in a location at some distance from your normal site. This could include customer lists, vendor lists, inventories, accounts receivable, insurance policies, and other irreplaceable documents. What information would you need to conduct business from a remote location if all records were destroyed due to a disaster?
* Have a plan and capability to re-route telephone calls should an emergency situation prevent access to your business location. Can your cell phone number become your regular business number in an emergency?
* Conduct regular fire drills and evacuations plans. Plan evacuation routes and means of travel out of your premises, neighborhood and area, if necessary.
* In certain disasters, it will be impossible even to put your merchandise away - you may be fleeing for your life. In other situations you may have time to put some or all of your merchandise in your safe and close normally or just quickly "spin the dial." Jewelers should consider from a time, safety and insurance standpoint whether they wish to attempt to sweep their jewelry merchandise into a bag and remove those goods from the premises. For diamond dealers and certain other types of firms, this may permit them to continue in business.
* To discourage looting, have the capacity to lock all your goods away in an emergency. Also have grilles or gates that can be used to protect your shop windows and doors. Looting, sadly, can follow disasters.
* Obtain necessary information and have plans and arrangements ready to safeguard your jewelry goods in appropriate emergency situations, particularly if there is notice of an approaching danger, like a flood or hurricane. Can Brinks or another armored carrier pick it up? Can it be stored in a bank vault or other secure facility? Will a cooperating jeweler not at risk store your goods for the duration of an emergency?
* Review your insurance coverage periodically. Do you have or need business interruption insurance, or other types of coverage? Are you covered for acts of terrorism or war?
* If the regular location of a jeweler is closed during a disaster, certain operations can and must continue during prolonged emergency conditions. Advance planning is needed to guarantee an alternative work site, which could be out of the jeweler's home, if practical, for telephoning, paperwork and other activities.
* Maintain emergency equipment including flashlights, batteries, fully charged cell phone, portable radio, bottled water and first aid kit at your premises.
While many of these steps may seem small or trivial in the face of enormous tragedy, they may help save your business or your life.
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