As probably have already heard, on March 11 at 2: 46 pm in Tokyo, a huge magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck the coast of Northern Honshu, the main island of Japan, causing extensive damage and trigger a massive tsunami that swept inland, sweeping away even buildings, cars and boats. Early reports indicate that hundreds have died, but expected that number to increase. Several nuclear reactors were damaged in Japan and had to shut down to prevent radiation leaks, evacuations ordered to nearby residents.
This morning we have received warnings of tsunami all the way to the Pacific Ocean here in San Francisco, where the offices of AllBusiness.com and San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that water is already affecting our local beaches, damaging even some boats.
The horror of this event can hardly imagine, and my heart goes to the residents of Japan and no one with friends and family who live there. This disaster is particularly personal for me, Japan is an expensive country to my heart. After graduating from University I spent two years teaching English at the city of Toyota (factory House) in about an hour outside of Nagoya, a large city in Central Honshu. Nagoya is quite far from the areas most affected by this earthquake, and I hope that all my former students and friends are OK.
When an act of violent nature this case serves to remind how fragile we are really - and how important it is to prepare. Here in Northern California, we are aware of the ever-present dangers by earthquakes and forest fires. In other areas, the danger is more likely to come from tornadoes, floods or hurricanes. And, of course, there is always the possibility of disasters caused by man, such as the spring Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion devastated the economy of the coast of the Gulf with a massive oil spill.
In addition to the personal dangers, if you're a small business owner, disaster can also destroy your business. Why it is so important to confront the danger ahead of time:
First and foremost, it must ensure the safety of its employees. What they have done to ensure that their staff is safe? Do you have fire extinguishers in key areas of the Office or shop? There is a fully stocked disaster equipment readily available, and they are emergency exits clearly marked in their place of business? After a disaster, can know how help their employees deal with?
Do you have a disaster plan in place? If it is not, now is the time to form a crisis management team with key employees. Who will be responsible for the planning of emergency exit routes, to communicate with employees after a disaster, and make an inventory of critical business functions should resume it in as soon as possible?
I think that what they are doing to protect not only their physical assets (equipment, inventory, etc.) but also the business data. They are your vital business and legal records stored safely off-site - preferably beyond the reach of any local disaster - which can be recovered later? If it has not done so, now is the time to start to use a data recovery service.
Is your business fully insured? Disaster insurance does not necessarily protect you all (floods and earthquakes are often excluded) so do their homework and make sure that your policy covers events for those who is really in danger. If you live in the country's earthquake, then a so-called policy of risk may be a better option that a more general for all risk policy.
See the section of disaster planning from AllBusiness.com for more tips on how to protect your employees and your small company must be the worst.
A traditional Japanese saying has shikata ga nai ("not can be helped"). This fatalistic aphorism reveals much about the Japanese psyche, and often mutterlo to myself when things go wrong. There is no way no more profound or simply to say that these heartbreaking events were completely out of control of anyone. Here waiting for the worst it has been completed, and as the sun comes out of Japan this morning, the damage would not be as extensive as feared.
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