Is Our Level of Workplace Preparedness Dropping?

A new study from the American Red Cross shows that the level of workplace preparedness is dropping as time passes since the September 11 terrorist attacks. The study says 48 percent of employees have received specific information from their employers about disaster or emergency plans, down from 55 percent in August 2003.

"Each year, the urgency is just a little bit less," says Devorah Goldburg, a spokesperson for the American Red Cross. "People get the attitude that disaster is going to happen to someone else."

But a new article in Forbes suggests that companies better get preparedness back on the agenda. Ted Price, director of global security for New York-based Lehman Brothers told the article's author, Mark Hazlin, that the business imperative for having a good action plan is that: "The most important thing we have is our people. Good continuity is just good business."

Price told Hazlin that Lehman Brothers affixes emergency kits to the underside of every desk as well as extras in the stairwells of the company's headquarters. The company also has public address communications systems, conducts regular training drills and posts instructional videos on its intranet site.

The article also cites Morgan Stanley, which occupied 20 floors of Tower 2, as a company who proves preparedness is important. After the Trade Center bombing in 1993, the firm provided its staff with extensive evacuation training. On September 11, the vast majority of the company's 2500 employees made it to safety.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2004/07/29/cx_mha_0729disaster.html.