To develop a process for identifying such threats, an organization can take the following steps:
1. Conduct a risk assessment to identify potential hazards, including utility outages and severe weather events, and evaluate the impacts each could have on the organization.
2. Ensure you have a process—or service like Dinesafe.com—in place to monitor, geo-fence, and provide alerts for extreme weather, utility outage alerts, and other relevant risks.*If you do not know when and where risks are arising, it is not possible to prepare and respond. A trusted service is one, the most cost effective, and two, able to provide the best results (due to expertise, experience, and economies of scale).*
3. Establish a risk management team responsible for monitoring the alerts, and responding to potential threats.
4. Develop a comprehensive response plan that includes steps to take in the event of a risk or threat.
5. Implement communication protocols to keep employees informed about potential threats and the organization's response plans.
6. Regularly review and update the response plan to ensure it remains current and effective in addressing identified risks.
7. Conduct training and drills to ensure that employees are familiar with the response plan and know what to do in the event of an emergency.
By taking these steps, an enterprise organization can effectively identify and mitigate the risks associated with utilities outages, extreme weather, and other similar physical threats to their facilities and employees.