We can seldom be sure about when an emergency or disaster might strike. The best we can do is to be prepared for whatever comes our way. September is National Preparedness Month, making it a great time for business owners and managers to examine their emergency preparedness.

Businesses face several types of hazards:

Such natural disasters as earthquakes, fires, floods, tornadoes and, in Colorado, snow and ice storms.

Such widespread illnesses as the H1N1 flu virus pandemic.

Such human-caused events as accidents, acts of violence and terrorism.

Such technology related hazards as the malfunction or failure of systems, equipment or software.

Do you have a plan? Are your employees informed? Will they know what to do during a natural disaster or pandemic? How about a power outage?

The Mesa County Health Department, along with other businesses and facilities in the county, recently experienced a technology outage. We were left without telephone or Internet services for the majority of a work day when an optic fiber line was cut.

Many of us could have functioned without phones or the Internet if we absolutely had to, but we didn’t have access to any of our network files, either. We were essentially locked out of every system we needed to do any sort of work.

Most of the staff was sent home when we were forced to close our doors for the day. Essential personnel were able to work with iPads using LTE data and virtual desktop infrastructure. Executive Director Jeff Kuhr gave a presentation to state health department representatives the old-fashioned way with paper copies printed earlier in the week.

Although this was just a mild example of a work-related emergency, our team pulled together and handled the essentials because we had plans in place to handle an emergency.

So how much does having an emergency preparedness plan matter? Does closing for a short amount of time really hurt a business? Up to 40 percent of businesses affected by natural or human-caused disasters never reopen, yet nearly 70 percent of businesses that responded to an Ad Council survey didn’t have emergency plans in place.

According to www.ready.gov, here are five steps to develop a preparedness program:

Program management. Organize, develop and administer your preparedness program. Identify regulations that establish minimum requirements for your program. Creating plans and programs protects your employees, visitors and contractors as well as your facilities, physical assets and electronic information. Having a plan will protect your organization’s brand, image and reputation.

Planning. Gather information about hazards and assess risks. Conduct a business impact analysis. Examine ways to prevent hazards and reduce risks. Take an “all hazards” approach to planning. Threats that are probable or could cause injury, property damage, business disruption or environmental effects should be addressed.

Implementation. Write a plan addressing resource management, emergency response, crisis communications, business continuity, information technology, employee assistance, incident management and training. In discussing and addressing each of these target areas, your business will cover all of the bases. Visit the Web site at www.ready.gov/business/implementation for details on how to write plans for each section.

Testing and exercises. Test and evaluate your plan. Define different types of exercises and learn how to conduct exercises. Evaluate the effectiveness of the plan. Exercising your preparedness program will improve its strength over time, along with the ability and the level of comfort employees have to complete their tasks during an emergency situation.

Program improvement. Identify when to review the preparedness program. Discover methods to evaluate the program. Use the review to make necessary changes and plan improvements. Be sure to record and address the gaps and deficiencies your team identifies during exercises.

Make a plan now. Be emergency ready.