Disaster Preparedness at Manufacturing Facilities

Development of robust preparation and response procedures can help chemical plants to weather disaster events and return to normal operations in a safe and efficient manner Having a well-defined and understood approach to disaster preparation and response will ensure that companies and facilities are in a good position to manage a disaster event as it occurs, and drive recovery and restart once the event concludes (Figure 1). Coordination of several wide-ranging departments, including, for example, operations, procurement, emergency response, communications and public affairs and business planning, will allow for rapid deployment of the necessary resources to limit damage and manage business interruption of affected facilities and the supply chain. Planning, training, communication, exercising the prevention and response plan and critique of activities are elements of the overall preparedness plan that should be reviewed and tested frequently to evaluate the proficiency of key participants. This article intends to describe the importance and components of disaster preparedness processes, procedures and training to ensure effective preparation for, and response to, manmade or natural disaster scenarios. FIGURE 1. Disasters — both…