SPE 106920

Natural Disaster Preparedness: Best Practices

J.M. Perdue, SPE, Zeus Development Corp.; and S.M. Power outages, flooding and destruction by winds
Divakaruni, SPE, Larsen & Toubro Infotech and waves wreaked havoc not only on offshore platforms,
pipelines and coastal refineries, but also on offices and
workers’ homes. When the levees broke in New Orleans after
Copyright 2007, Society of Petroleum Engineers Katrina and when Rita was a Category 5 bearing down on
Houston, there ensued mass evacuations of people and mass
confusion. Here are some horror stories shared by members of
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2007 SPE Digital Energy Conference and
Exhibition held in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 11–12 April 2007. the Working Group:
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of  At several companies, the Houston office was the
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
network hub for other offices in other cities and even
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any overseas. When the Houston office had to be shut
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of down in advance of Hurricane Rita, the e-mail and
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is
technical application services to the other offices
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than were down for several days. Communications were
300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. limited to satellite phones and dial-tone e-mail
Box 833836, Richardson, Texas 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. accounts, resulting in delayed decision-making.
 One company noted that the location of the company
Abstract data center (at an outsourced provider) was only
known by a few key IT personnel, and when these
Following the 2006 Digital Energy Conference with its staff members were unreachable after Hurricane
stimulating Lunch & Learn session on “Hurricane Katrina, the back-up personnel from the corporate
Preparedness,” the SPE Gulf Coast Section’s Digital Energy office could not locate the data center.
Study Group formed a Working Group to collect lessons  Cell phone demand exceeded system capacity, and
learned during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which had a service providers were unable to handle the call
disastrous impact on the oil and gas industry along the U.S. volume. Cell towers were also damaged by wind and
Gulf Coast. Composed of crisis team leaders and business waves, making cell phone and text messaging use
continuity professionals from major oil companies, impossible.
independents, oilfield service companies and communications  One key employee with knowledge of how to
providers, the Working Group sought out best practices to connect international networks was stuck in a traffic
share with the global oil and gas industry in the form of a jam on I-45 trying to get from Houston to Dallas, and
White Paper. This SPE paper is a synopsis of the lessons several foreign offices were without e-mail and other
learned during three Working Group meetings, at which systems for 20 hours.
companies shared their Hurricane Katrina and Rita  Employee, contractor and vendor communications
experiences and subsequent improvements made to their were impacted by the overloaded communication
natural disaster programs. This paper also recommends a circuits, which complicated the ability to locate
series of steps to be taken before, during and after a natural people or assets to aid in the recovery of services
disaster in terms of People, Process and Technology. The after the hurricanes.
recommendations and suggested activities are also aligned
 Shutting down the Houston office impacted network
with the professional practices of both the Disaster Recovery
connectivity at 120 global sites, affecting thousands
Institute (www.drii.org) and the Business Continuity Institute
of people in addition to the many families directly
(www.thebci.org).
impacted by the hurricanes.
 Some of the first people back to the workplace after
Introduction
the hurricanes had to use camping gear due to limited
hotel space, and in one case, a manager provided a
In 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita disrupted oil production,
technician with several hundred dollars of his own
transportation and refining, causing fuel prices to skyrocket.
cash because credit cards were not accepted by
businesses in the damaged area.
It is estimated that Hurricane Katrina alone caused $200
billion worth of damage and decreased the Gross Domestic  It took nearly a year to obtain some recovery vessels
Product (GDP) of the United States by 0.4%. to repair offshore platforms and pipelines.
2 SPE 106920
 A generator was available to power IT systems, but it
could not power the air conditioning, so equipment
overheated and had to be shut down.
Scope and Purpose
The purpose of the Disaster Preparedness Working Group was
to meet and share lessons learned during Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita and make recommendations to the global oil and gas
industry on proper steps to take before, during and after
natural disasters to minimize the negative impacts on the
business, the employees and their families.
The Working Group limited the scope of “natural
disasters” to:
 Weather-related events – hurricanes, floods,
tornadoes, lightning, snow, ice and earthquakes;
 Large-scale illnesses – epidemics and pandemics; and
 Terrorism and bio-terrorism.
The best practices discussed at the meetings of the
Working Group – and in this paper – do not include
operational issues such as oil spills or gas leaks, although
many practices may pertain to such disasters as well. The
scope of discussions encompassed the three key aspects of
People, Process and Technology, and the Working Group
formed three subcommittees to address each one, although it
was acknowledged that there was quite a bit of overlap and
interconnection of these three topics.
The Working Group did not seek to establish a set of
official, comprehensive disaster preparedness “recommended
practices” like the American Petroleum Institute (API), nor did
it seek to validate or certify any particular set of existing
corporate best practices. Rather, it sought to identify a set of
good industry-specific practices and lessons learned via
working group discussions, reviews of case studies, and
presentations delivered in public forums. While most of these
“better practices” resulted from disaster preparation lessons
learned from the 2005 hurricane season, others are in response
to general heightened awareness and sensitivity to business
risks.
People
Before a natural disaster, companies can take numerous
steps to ensure their workers and their families have the
information they need to survive and continue critical business
operations. “People want to know what to do,” one oil
company representative said. “They need to know who’s in
charge and where to get information.”
The first step is to have an up-to-date employee
directory, with all contact information, including cell phone,
next of kin address and phone number, and likely places to
which each employee may evacuate.
Upon hiring an employee and at each annual
performance review, each employee should be informed
whether the role is first degree (critical), second degree (key)
or third degree (everyone else), and what is expected in case
of a disaster. First degree means no breaks in continuous
operation. Second degree means important to core business
continuity. Duties and responsibilities should be clearly
detailed and understood.
When business continuity planners identify the
number of work spaces needed for first degree or critical staff,
they should consider adding shared desk space so that
managers can schedule times to touch base, connect with and
update all staff members.
Better Practice: Ensure that employees have been given
guidelines for their own personal preparedness. For foreseen
events like hurricanes, allow employees some time to make
personal preparations, especially those that will need to be
working critical functions. Workspace impacts of longer than
30 days duration (e.g., complete loss of a building) may
require different long-term contingencies (e.g., lease new
office space in the event of a fire). After the disaster,
employees that must travel for the company into the disaster
area must have lodging, food and funds.
Better Practice: A typical mitigation strategy for loss of key
personnel resources was to have each business function /
department identify critical staff members and their alternates
and communicate to them ahead of time that they will be
expected to continue their duties in the event of a disaster.
They should be informed of the company’s policies
considering their immediate family and their home. Alternate
workspace strategies among the participating companies
generally required more people than in the previous year.
When a natural disaster such as a hurricane is
imminent, communicate preparedness recommendations for
food, water and shelter and any evacuation routes or shut-
down processes employees should immediately implement.
Remind them to charge their cell phones and laptop batteries
and fill their vehicles with gasoline and propane tanks for gas
grills for cooking if the power goes out.
Communicate ways for employees to secure their
homes and consider ways to provide time to do so if the
employee is part of a critical business team. If an employee
leaves town five days early to begin failover in another city,
who will board up that person’s house?
Provide employees and their family’s adequate time
to get out of harm’s way. If an employee is part of a critical
business team, offer financial assistance to facilitate travel to
an alternate work site, if necessary. One company paid the
expenses to move the employee, the family and even pets to
another city to work there during the hurricanes of 2005.
“We need to get people to a place they can work, but
we can’t assume the whole staff is willing to move to a second
office,” one oil company representative said. “We need to be
prepared to have other staff in other cities pitch in and help.”
The HR department of this company books hotel rooms in the
city of its inland office when a hurricane threatens Houston.
Meet with employees to update business continuity
plans, discuss their roles, the company’s expectations of them,
and the business activities or projects currently underway.
Ensure that employees know the ways to get information from
the company and ways of providing information about their
status to the company. Provide employees with regular status
updates as the impending crisis nears.
[Paper Number]
During a natural disaster, employees will be facing
considerable stress as they balance concerns for themselves
and their families against the priorities of the company. If the
employee understands in advance what the company expects
and what to expect from the company, they can feel more
assured that a crisis management framework is in place and
that their personal and family needs are being considered, and
thus they will be more likely to give the extra efforts needed to
keep critical business functions going.
The primary concern for the company during any
natural disaster should be the safety and wellbeing of all of the
employees! Meeting their basic survival needs for food, water,
air, shelter and clothing should be paramount, followed by
health and safety and security needs, according to Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs (see Figure 1.)
Better Practice: Companies should consider workshops to
communicate the existence of and primary aspects of the
disaster plans to the staff. Make sure the employees and
contractors know how they will receive communications from
the company via multiple means (e-mail, Internet, radio
station, recorded phone message), as well as what is expected
of them before, during and after the crisis.
If they have had to evacuate, they will be worried
about the condition of their homes and other belongings and
will want to know the condition of the worksite. Provide
regular status updates, along with information about
humanitarian aid available.
Better Practice: Humanitarian aid programs require structure
and planning to meet their objectives. Several companies
formalized their ad hoc assistance programs after the 2005
hurricane season. One company used the incident command
structure to lead their program. Regional distribution centers
were established. Policies, procedures and protocols
established. Call centers were established and volunteers
recruited. Not only is humanitarian aid the right thing for a
company to do to care for its fellow man in distress, but a side
benefit is that as soon as an employee’s personal situation
becomes stable, that person is better able to return to work.
One oil producer has a toll-free phone number and a
website that is updated every 10 minutes in case of
emergencies. The building manager monitors accessibility,
and there is a defined call tree to share information with
workers.
Another producer enrolled in the Department of
Homeland Securities GETS and WPS emergency
communication programs, providing GETS cards and WPS-
enabled cell phones to key employees, incident command
team members and first responders.
Establish a point of contact for employees who may
be having personal, financial or family difficulties due to the
disaster, or perhaps an employee assistance help-line.
Companies should try to maintain an inventory of
equipment or supplies to be distributed to employees in need,
such as canned meat, bottled water, diapers and baby formula,
3
etc. Another example was a family without power but needing
to run life-sustaining equipment, so the company sent over a
generator.
After Hurricane Katrina, one independent producer
implemented a voluntary program whereby employees could
list outside interests and hobbies that could prove useful in
times of disaster, such as owning a boat or ham radio, or being
able to fly a plane or having emergency medical technician
training.
After the crisis has passed, companies must assist in
the transition back to norm by working with the staff to meet
their personal needs, ensuring that employees and families
have food, water and a safe environment upon their return,
providing financial assistance to meet needs if necessary.
Provide employees adequate time to reestablish home base
and communicate with friends and relatives. Provide
counseling and/or support groups for returning employees, as
well as recognition for their personal contributions during the
crisis.
Better Practice: Mitigating the loss of key people also applies
to contingent workers. Because of the petroleum industry’s
dependence on contractors, contingent workers featured
prominently in continuity plans, including availability of
humanitarian assistance and temporary relocation to the
alternate site.
Process
The Working Group uniformly agreed that process referred to
the recovery of processes critical to maintaining operations at
the company during an event and the recovery of other
processes following an event. The Working Group considered
the impacts of disruptions on business processes from many
perspectives including IT, people, facilities, supply chain,
critical vendors and suppliers. Process impact quantification at
the various companies ranged from the use of formal
Enterprise Risk Models to simple forced ranking.
Better Practice: A Business Impact Assessment used to
identify and distill via monetary, reputational and regulatory
criteria, critical business processes that require continuous
operation or recovery in a set time. Assessment would also
encompass processes that may be recovered at a later date. As
an example, disruptions of departments or processes with real-
time facets such as trading or hydrocarbon production was
consistently assessed as having a high impact and were key
drivers for contingency efforts. Also ranking high were Health
and Safety departments because of their ongoing reporting
requirements in support of globally dispersed field offices.
The working group found, in addressing the recovery of
business processes, that for offshore assets, most oil
companies have the business operations management prepare
disaster plans addressing critical process, whereas for onshore
assets, the IT group was generally the key driver. One
Working Group member company has the corporate security
group handle coordination. Additionally, at one Member
Company each business unit has its own responsibility for
4 SPE 106920
business continuity and the identification of the critical
processes within a corporate standard and are required too
coordinated with a regional continuity group.
Better Practice: With most members, the business
continuity plan was completed first or in conjunction with the
IT plan where the IT group recovered critical processes at a
level required by the business.
After considering a number of case studies of
corporate disaster planning and the determination of the
critical processes, the Working Group decided to recommend
the process shown in Figure 1 in developing a suitable disaster
preparedness plan. To some degree, all six of the disaster
preparedness activities were incorporated in Working Group
member companies’ disaster preparedness programs. It was
universally recognized that the Business Impact Assessment
was a key driver to the follow-on activities. The assessment
identified the key processes, the people to support those
processes and the technology required to maintain or recovery
those processes.
At one company, the business owner of each process
application sets the recovery time objectives (RTOs) and
figures out in which order the applications need to be brought
back online. “We started with a list of what IT thought was
critical, but that was just about everything, including real-time
drilling decisions and even huge G&G apps,” said the
representative.
The identification of business processes and those
key processes to recover along with their timelines support
other benefits as communicated by the Working Group. Since
the 2005 hurricanes, one company has contracted with a
consultant to do a full-fledged plan to roll up 11 key business
processes, each with its own leaders and task force, into only
6: Drilling & Production, Marketing, Land, G&G, Reservoir
Engineering, and Financial/SCADA and Measurement
operations. Another major operator linked 22 individual
business unit and function business continuity plans into a
single campus-wide coordinating plan and organization. The
potential benefits of the assessment and roll-up is the potential
reduction in processes via the identification of duplications
and the ability to leverage a standard across business units or
groups.
Technology
One of the best practices that nearly all of the companies have
implemented is to have an alternate data center site, either at
another office owned by the company or at a third-party data
center. Having e-mail redundancy was stressed by several
operators as a way of keeping the business functioning.
The mitigation of risk to IT infrastructure necessitates
various levels of redundancy. Near instant fail-over is required
for real-time processes and core corporate systems such as e-
mail. At the other end of the spectrum were applications with
recovery time requirements of 30 days to 90 days that relied
on repurposing hardware from test environments and use of
tape back-ups.
Two years ago, one oil company set up a hot site
telecommunications hub in another city for business critical
operations. It mirrors the production environment, and data are
sent hourly so that at most only one hour of data would ever
be lost. The system is tested twice a year. Production
application deployment involved sending IT people to the
alternate site to bring the archive back up. “This is a good
exercise to do,” the representative said. “Applications give
you the most problems.”
Better Practice: IT systems that fail over to
hardware at the same physical address or even to hardware in
the same disaster-impacted region have proved not to be very
redundant. After the 2005 hurricane season, companies either
moved primary data centers or established secondary centers
outside the Gulf Coast region or instituted guidelines requiring
such for new systems. However, this can add to the latency of
some high-end petrotechnical applications. Some data centers
were hardened or selected based on their low susceptibility to
flood and wind damage. Having power redundancy with on-
site power plants or selecting outsourced data centers
positioned on the public power grid in areas fed by multiple
plants is recommended.
After the 2005 hurricane season, one independent
producer implemented a Web-based resource database that
includes company locations, employees, contractors, assets
and vendors, with complete contact information. During a
crisis, the area of impact is defined on a map. The tool then
lists all impacted entities and can be used to send multiple
communications utilizing automated calling systems and e-
mail. This helps the company locate employees, contractors
and vendors that have been displaced and might be in need of
assistance.
This producer also transformed key systems such as
e-mail, instant messaging and SQL databases into highly
available clustered configurations so that if one data center is
impacted, then systems can be failed over (manually) to the
alternate site. A side benefit of these post-Katrina
improvements has been that the company can continue
providing key services and applications to internal customers
during times of scheduled data center outages for
maintenance.
One pitfall identified regarding infrastructure was
consistency of the architecture. An operator tried to use a
testing and development hardware setup in another city for
failover, but the equipment was not the same as the production
system and resulted in a delayed recovery.
One company has made a commitment to implement
Voice-over-IP (VOIP) technology, which enables users to
plug in a VOIP physical phone or use a VOIP soft phone
(software application) and make use of the local business
telephone number anywhere the user can get a connection to
the Internet. That way, employees can work from home or an
alternate location with the same phone number.
There was general consensus that Payroll systems
should be backed up, because in times of disaster, employees
are going to really need their money to solve immediate
[Paper Number]
problems during the crisis and repairing their homes and
belongings afterward.
Understanding and documenting the applications
portfolio as well as the infrastructure portfolio was a key
concern. It was generally agreed that substantial consideration
needed to be given to restarting applications after a disaster.
Applications need to be brought back up in a certain order,
especially if they have been integrated with middleware or
plug-ins. One operator commented: “You’re not just restoring
a database but a whole environment. You can’t bring it up
linearly – it’s too integrated.”
Better Practice: The impact of a disruption of
network connectivity requires rigorous review not only from a
local perspective but also from all dependent sites. The
concentration of IT infrastructure at or near corporate or
regional headquarters meant that many field and remote sites
were linked via those hubs. As those hubs were shut down for
Katrina and Rita evacuations, network connectivity was lost.
Some companies moved to “managed IP” solutions that
resulted in a network cloud rather than a hub-and-spoke
model, while others added inter-site connectivity, eliminating
the single points of failure.
Additional Best Practices
Threat Evaluation – Working Group participants considered
the full spectrum of threats. Given the global nature of many
petroleum companies, there were few threats that were not
relevant to operations in some part of the globe. In addition to
natural disasters, human malfeasance such as bombs,
terrorism, bio-terrorism, utility outage and computer viruses
also need to be considered in disaster preparedness plans.
Further threat categorization may include “foreseen” versus
“unforeseen” events, as well as those with global, regional and
site impacts.
Better Practice: Over the course of 2005 and 2006
most companies added the threat of an Influenza Pandemic to
their risk matrix and launched programs to prepare for such a
threat through their disaster preparedness efforts. Bird Flu is
now present in 55 countries, with 39 of those added in 2006,
and the majority of known human cases have been fatal.
International companies with operations in Indonesia and East
Asia have an immediate threat. Because petroleum companies
have a large and important role in the worldwide economic
engine, a global threat like a pandemic would be particularly
disruptive. Some companies have plans to make antiviral
medicines available, to support social distancing via working
at home, and to suspend operations safely if the worst is
realized.
Maintain and Exercise Plans – A table-top drill will ensure
that critical staff members are aware of their role in a disaster
or crisis, and it will give them a chance to think through the
process and submit changes or suggestions. In fact, they
should participate in the development of the plans.
Better Practice: Scenario-based, functional exercises
are the most effective way to identify gaps in any plan. There
was a general feeling among the Working Group members that
5
additional drills would both raise awareness and comfort that
plans were adequate. The number of lessons learned and
resulting mitigation projects generated from the 2005
hurricane season was proof that companies hadn’t adequately
drilled for such a scenario. Since then, companies that had
previously had only crisis management programs have
developed formal business continuity or disaster preparedness
programs.
Miscellaneous Tips and Suggestions
According to several large oil companies, an all-encompassing
crisis plan is difficult to attempt. About 80% of it can be the
same from location to location, but the disaster plan must be
customized for each locality. A crisis plan must be flexible
enough to be used as a whole or in part depending on the
nature of the crisis and extent of damage to community and
technology infrastructures. Ensure that all types of crises
including bio-terrorism, pandemic, and weather are included
in the planning process.
A good disaster preparedness plan contains all of the
following elements:
 Chain of Command – Local chain of command
hierarchy as well as corporate level, with roles and
responsibilities spelled out in advance;
 Communications – Flow of communications into and
out of the company to employees, management,
vendors, customers, government agencies and the
press.
 Access to Facilities – Who can come in and go out,
including vendors, customers, government agencies
and the press.
 Resources – Lists of providers of outsourced
services, vendors and humanitarian aid.
One oil company has prepared a crisis management plan in a
booklet that fits in a briefcase. This producer picked five crises
and put them all on a grid on one page, with various phases
outlining steps to be taken (Phase 0 means there is some
warming given with time to prepare).
The effort put forth in developing a good plan will be
invaluable in setting the pace for dealing with the disaster. It
should ease everyone’s stress by reducing the number of
decisions that have to be made. It is imperative that companies
keep the crisis plan alive by constant review and testing to
ensure that it will have the best results when it is needed. But
the most important part of the crisis plan is having employees
actually read it prior to a crisis!
There were a variety of interesting tidbits shared by the
Working Group and can be shared with others:
 One producer raised some of its offshore platforms
by 14 ft (4.3 m) at a cost of $15 million to minimize
wave damage to the facilities.
 Text messaging became a defacto communication
tool that seemed to function consistently during the
hurricanes.
 Stock up on satellite phones and electricity
generators.
6 SPE 106920

 Alternate area code cell phones improve call routing
capabilities in an impacted area.
 Laptops of key employees can be configured with
wireless data Internet cards to enable remote
computing during an incident.
 Make plans to backfill critical roles in disaster-prone
locations with other employees in other areas in case
you cannot contact your local subject matter experts.
 Make sure your vendors and suppliers and
contractors have disaster preparedness plans that will
keep them in business so your company can stay in
business. Help them with their plan and update it
regularly, as your supply chain is only as good as the
weakest link.
 Protect critical hardcopy records from physical
damage by creating electronic copies.
 Fire up your electricity generator at least twice per
year. Backup power generation equipment can be
made more weather-resilient and fitted with remote
automated monitoring and shut-down capabilities.
 Update system documentation at least annually and
after every merger.
 Make sure your network can handle employees
working from home, particularly for a pandemic
when people may be quarantined. Can they access
Linux and UNIX systems from home?
practices were shared, and those who provided company case
studies and helped write up portions of this paper: Nicole
Aguillard, CyrusOne; Cliff Dowden, Jim Rowan and Peter
Kaleda, Devon; Cynthia Johnson, Emilio Perez and Yanni
Charalambous, Occidental Petroleum; Charles Russell and
Bob Waring, BP; Ajay Savant, Larsen & Toubro Infotech; Al
Rivero, Telvent; Jonathan Rhoads, National Oilwell Varco;
Mark Groeshel, Total; Micheal Wilson, El Paso; Philippe
Flichy, GlobaLogix; Anulika E. Ezekwe, ExxonMobil; Terry
Read, Cimarex; J. Chilton and M. Hemstad, AGA Engineers;
Edward L. Haran, KPMG; James Johnson and Gary Crouse,
Siterra; Jeana Nguyen, NetIQ; Richard Crounse, Invensys;
John Wengler, Entergy; Anuarbek Imanbaev, Kerr-McGee;
Eddy Krumholz, Booz Allen & Hamilton; Lance Stafford,
SAIC; Brandon Kniceley, Caprock Communications; Lars
Eliassen, RigNet; Neil Campbell, Schlumberger; and Paul
Miller and John McCormick, Halliburton.

Conclusions

Some of the common “best practices” from the company case

studies included:
1. Enterprise Risk Management – Some form of business
impact assessment is conducted to determine critical
processes, people and technology;
2. Crisis Management – A team, plan and process for crisis
management is detailed and communicated to all employees;
3. Data Center – Dedicated data centers, either outsourced
or in-sourced, are fit for purpose with dedicated backup
capabilities;
4. Testing and drills – Tests are conducted to assess speed
and effectiveness of implementing disaster plans;
5. Alternative Workspace and Living Quarters –
Requirements are identified and allocated in advance;
6. Humanitarian Aid – Various considerations are given to
employees and their families after the disaster; and
7. Third-party Providers – Are considered for the above
tasks in many companies.

Acknowledgments

The SPE Gulf Coast Section’s Digital Energy Study Group

wishes to thank all those who hosted and participated in the
Disaster Preparedness Working Group meetings, where best
[Paper Number] 7

Develop Mitigation Design, Develop & Generate

Business Impact Maintain &
Threat Evaluation & Contingency Implement Awareness &
Assessment Exercise Plans
Strategies Continuity Plans Provide Training

Determine events Identify and Scan options and Develop the Communicate the Update the plans
that can adversely quantify the select alternative business operations, plan to stake and assure
affect the impacts of business operating IT, communications, holders and train effectiveness
organization disruptions strategies and office space plan responders through drills
components
Figure 1. Disaster Preparedness Activities

Figure 2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs

Figure 3. Impact of a Disaster on Operational Decision-Making

8 SPE 106920

Table 1. Employee Needs Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Before Disaster Disaster on the Horizon During Disaster After Disaster
Basic Survival  Communicate  Communicate ways to  Ensure employees and  Ensure employees and
Needs preparedness secure homes families have food, water families have food, water
recommendations  Provide financial help to and a safe environment to and a safe environment to
for food, water and facilitate company travel work and live which to return
shelter to alternate site if  Provide financial
necessary assistance if necessary
Safety/Security  Typical workplace  Provide employees and  Provide employees with  Provide employees with
Needs safety practices their families adequate security at their new job security as they return to
time to get out of harm’s site and assurance that their primary job site and
way their homes are secure homes
Social Needs
 Publish plans and  Publish plans and meet  Provide employees a  Provide employees
meet with with employees to mechanism to maintain mechanism/ time to
employees to provide them a forum to communications with reestablish
discuss their role, discuss their role, the friends and relatives communications with
the company’s company’s expectations friends and relatives
expectations of of them, and their  Provide employees with
them, and their expectations of the counseling to maintain a  Provide employees with
expectations of the company feeling of belonging counseling to maintain a
company feeling of belonging
 Ensure employees know  Provide support groups
 Ensure employees the ways of getting for expatriated employees  Provide support groups for
know how to get information from the to enhance acceptance of returning employees
information from company and ways of the group
the company and getting personal status
how to get status information to the
information to the company
company
Esteem Needs
 Recognize  Reinforce the worth  Reinforce the worth  Reinforce the worth
competence by placed on an employee’s placed on an employee’s placed on an employees
involving them in contribution contribution contribution
plan creation
 Express appreciation for  Recognize employees’  Recognize employees
 Communicate the employees’ commitment sacrifices and sacrifices and commitment
crisis plan to and support commitment
employees and  Express appreciation for
also where to get  Provide the employees  Express appreciation for employees commitment
additional with regular status employees commitment and support
information and support
 Recognize employees
 Include all types  Recognize employees competence by
of crises, including competence by highlighting their
bio-terrorism, highlighting their individual contributions
pandemic, and individual contributions
natural disasters.  Provide the employees
 Provide the employees with regular status
 Test the plan with regular status

Self-
When the company has assisted in every way possible to meet needs of the employee, the employee will feel
Actualization
empowered to make a lasting and significant contribution to the company in time of crisis.
Needs