When it comes to organizing an office, you need to be prepared for every eventuality. This is especially true if your company works in a booming and competitive market, like the one in Australia. If something disrupts your business, even for a short while, your competitors might take advantage of your situation.

Most office emergencies can be prevented or solved if you take a look around the office and create a list of things that might go wrong. That way you’ll have the tools and the capabilities needed to handle the situation when the time comes.

An escape plan

The worst-case scenario for any company is having to leave the office due to an emergency. In cities as big as Sydney evacuation could be messy and disorganized due to traffic and problems related to working in a busy and crowded area in general. That’s why preparations like making an evacuation diagram, going over drills with employees, and having set points where people gather at is key.

You need to have an evacuation plan that clearly shows how to evacuate the building in the safest and the most orderly way. Often the plan itself isn’t enough and you need to organize appropriate training for your employees.

Medical aid

Medical aid needs to be taken seriously regardless of what line of work you are in, but if you work in an industry where there is a higher chance of someone getting hurt, you need to prepare for it extensively. There should be at least one emergency medical kit and at least two people in a room who know how to use it.

Luckily, Sydney has some of the best medical professionals in the world; the only thing to worry about is having a system in place that will make sure that someone calls 000 in case of emergency. This often gets forgotten when things get hectic.

Blackouts

Since most of the work these days is done online, a blackout is something that could seriously disturb your work routine and create a fertile ground for the accidents to happen. When it comes to data, you need to make sure that you keep copies of everything that’s important and that backing up is a regular part of your work routine.

It’s also a good idea to have a 24 hour electrician from Sydney on call in order to resume your work as fast as possible. A few emergency lights placed around the office could be a huge help as well.

Weather problems

Weather emergencies are probably the most devastating ones, but they are also the easiest to predict and prepare for. Most of the time you’ll know days in advance if there’s a hurricane or a storm coming your way, and it’s best to notify your customers and clients that you won’t work during this time.

It’s also important to have an emergency kit hidden away somewhere in the office. It should contain food and water to last you a week and it should be something that’s easy to store and lasts for a long time.

Know who to call

Emergency situations are usually times of great confusion and a little bit of preparation and training can go a long way towards making them more manageable. One of the things that no one thinks about is who to call when there’s a problem; it’s usually handled on the spot, and that’s the wrong way to go about it.

In order to avoid this sort of confusion, it’s best to have a clearly visible list of numbers and the emergencies they correspond to. That way anyone can make a call at a glance.

Review

Once you’ve experienced a workplace emergency, you should go through a review process in order to update your emergency systems. A review will show what the weakest link was in your plan and what you have to do better next time.

This is valuable data because an actual emergency showcases how your employees react much better than any drill or training. The review should be passed around by the management team so everyone can contribute to the possible changes.

Emergency situations can really disturb your business and even put your employees in harm’s way. It’s best to be prepared and to practice for these emergencies before they arise.