Earthquake Preparedness And Being Prepared

There has been a lot of talking going on lately about earthquake preparedness and the need for everyone to pay more attention to it, but what does being prepared actually mean for your business?

Earthquake Preparedness should be uppermost on your mind right about now, particularly if you are based in California because of the Great California ShakeOut.

At 10:21am on 10/21 around 7 million people will Drop, Cover and Hold On as part of the biggest earthquake drill in US history. Even people in Yuma, Arizona will be getting involved.

And next year, there will be a Great Central US ShakeOut in April. Why? Because according to the earthquake experts, there will be a big one in the order of a magnitude 8.0 somewhere in California sooner rather than later and if we’re not prepared life will become very dicey.

Secure Your Business

What being prepared really means as far as a business goes is making sure that all the potential hazards around the workplace are secured, having emergency kits or emergency supplies on hand for your employees and ensuring that they are working in a safer environment.

That means seismic mitigation is something that you, as a business owner, should look into now if you haven’t already done so.

It’s all too easy to dismiss it as something that you’ll eventually get around to later, but the problem with that approach is that the longer you leave it the greater the chances are of an earthquake wreaking havoc on your business.

It is absolutely critical for a business to undertake non-structural seismic mitigation.

What is that? It’s making sure that everything that is heavy enough to hurt people if it falls on them is fastened down. Tall items, top-heavy equipment or office file cabinets all come under this category.

An earthquake preparedness expert can take all the worry and effort out of the process for you. There are few well renowned organizations with more than 50 years’ combined experience in seismic bracing that can provide you solution for all your needs. You can also avail customized fasteners to fit your particular application.

You can also look for full range of seismic protection products and services, which are developed specifically for commercial application. If you run a business in a seismically active zone, you need to become pro-active about earthquake preparedness and we suggest that you should start today.

Earthquake Preparedness Secure Your Space

As part of promotional efforts in the lead up to the Great California ShakeOut, the biggest earthquake preparedness drill in US history on October 21st, we took part in a media event in San Diego.

The purpose of the exercise was to promote awareness of earthquake preparedness and more precisely to show the public what to do beforehand.

Businesses across California, along with schools, federal and state agencies and the general public will all stop what they’re doing at 10:21am on 10/21 to ‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’.

Also part of this year’s ShakeOut theme is the crucial ‘Secure Your Space’ message.

Secure Your Space

QuakeHOLD! Industrial partnered with the San Diego Office of Emergency Services, the County and the San Diego Police Department to get the earthquake preparedness message out via the media.

A local Middle School hosted the event where the Big Shaker, the world’s largest mobile earthquake simulator, was front and center. QuakeHOLD! Industrial simulated quakes of magnitude 6.8-7.5 in order to demonstrate to students and the media alike the benefits of taking the time to secure potential hazards around the home and office.

From a business standpoint, securing items in data centers, server rooms, clean rooms and labs is probably one of the smartest things you can do if your operations are located in an earthquake zone.

And by the way, it’s not just the West Coast of the US that is susceptible to quakes. Check out the New Madrid Fault and how many states would be affected if that fault was to rupture.

Many businesses have done little to get prepared and they may well regret their inaction.

The most recent study conducted by researchers at UCLA found that the vast majority of Californians haven’t done very much at all to get prepared for an earthquake and when the big one comes, and the experts tell us it will, they could wind up out of business because they weren’t prepared.

Seismic Protection Products

In an earthquake top-heavy things that are unsecured will crash to the floor, as will unsecured desktop appliances and equipment. That’s why it’s vitally important for a business to undertake non-structural seismic mitigation.

To start with, you could consider utilizing seismic protection products and services such as those offered at QuakeHOLD! Industrial.

The expertise of Quake Hold Industrial encompasses floor fastening systems, lab equipment fastening and countertop fasteners. We also specialize in emergency supplies such as evacuation kits for employees.

There is much more information on the various products and services offered by Quake Hold Industrial on their website www.quakeholdindustrial.com

Risk Assessment

To help figure out your needs you can contact QuakeHOLD! Industrial to schedule a risk assessment of your premises.

QuakeHOLD! Industrial has been reminding you repeatedly during the past few months, if you run a business in a seismically active zone, you need to become pro-active about earthquake preparedness and suggesting you to start today.

Earthquake Preparedness And Shakeout

The biggest earthquake preparedness drill in US history is set for October 21, 2010 with the staging of the Great California ShakeOut and it is expected to involve the participation of upwards of 10 million people.

The purpose of the exercise, which is now in its third year, is to raise awareness of earthquake preparedness.

Businesses across the Golden State, along with schools, government agencies and the community in general will all stop what they’re doing at 10:21am on 10/21 to ‘Drop, Cover and Hold On’.

Also part of this year’s ShakeOut theme is the important ‘Secure Your Space’ message.

You can get more information about what’s planned, as well as sign up your own business to participate, at http://www.shakeout.org

Secure Your Space

From a business standpoint, securing items in data centers, server rooms, warehouses and offices is probably one of the most crucial programs you can undertake if your operations are in an earthquake zone.

Many businesses have done little, if anything, about getting prepared and that lack of action could come back to haunt them.

We say that because the most recent studies have shown that the vast majority of businesses in California have done precious little in the way of getting themselves prepared for an earthquake and when the big one comes, which it will, they could be left ruing their inaction.

You see, here’s what happens during earthquakes. The tall, top-heavy things that aren’t secured topple over and crash to the floor. The same can happen to unsecured desktop appliances and equipment.

So you can imagine what might happen to a business if, for example, its servers are rendered useless, or expensive equipment in the clean room gets smashed, or its CPUs end up in pieces on the floor.

Just one of those incidents on its own could knock a business offline at least temporarily, but when combined a business would be crippled, which is precisely why it is so critical for a business to undertake non-structural seismic mitigation.

And it’s not just California where businesses have been lackadaisical about preparedness. Similar data suggests the Pacific Northwest and the central US fall into a similar category.

Recognizing that, authorities in Washington State conducted their own ‘Big Rumble 2010’ disaster preparedness exercise in Kitsap County and their counterparts in the central part of the country are planning the first ‘Great Central US ShakeOut’ for April 28, 2011.

Equipment Fastening

While ShakeOut is expected to draw widespread attention to earthquake preparedness and hopefully encourage more businesses in California to take it more seriously, you might be one of those owners wondering just what you should be doing to get your business prepared for an earthquake.

To start with, you could consider utilizing seismic protection products and services such as those offered by QuakeHOLD! Industrial.

Our expertise encompasses floor fastening systems, lab equipment fastening and countertop fasteners.

Depending on the size and type of items to be secured, we use a variety of fastening methods.

Some examples - for free standing items we might use a four-corner system of industrial strength straps and floor anchors, flexible straps and quick release buckles for countertop items, and netting to secure loose items on a rack.

There is much more information on the various fastening systems that we have developed on our website www.quakeholdindustrial.com

Risk Assessment

To help figure out our solutions for your needs you can contact us to schedule a risk assessment of your premises.

As we’ve been reminding you repeatedly during the past few months, if you run a business in a seismically active zone, you need to become pro-active about earthquake preparedness and we suggest that you should start today.

Earthquake Preparedness And Emergency Lighting

Whenever an earthquake strikes one of the first services to be knocked offline is the power supply potentially leaving you in darkness, therefore your earthquake preparedness planning should include emergency lighting and plenty of it.

Because the power can sometimes be out for days at a time, it is just as important to have a reliable source of light as it is to have enough food, water and other essentials to get through the initial critical period.

Since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf coast, federal and state agencies have constantly been telling us, and rightly so, that we need to be prepared to fend for ourselves for at least the first three days after an emergency.

If you don’t have a source of light it can make life awfully difficult, especially when working in confined or dimly lit spaces.

Lightsticks

From a business standpoint, if your operations are suddenly thrown into darkness you and your employees are going to have a tough time finding your way around to check on things.

Many businesses have their own generators to provide a backup power source, but if yours doesn’t we recommend having a good supply of emergency lightsticks on hand at every work station. That way when the lights go out, which they inevitably will, you won’t be left in the dark.

To us at QuakeHOLD! Industrial there is no such thing as having too many lightsticks. It just makes sense to have a bunch ready to go when you need them.
They’re something that should automatically be included in every disaster kit that you have for your employees, which is why we put them in our emergency kits.

Emergency Power Station

Another option to consider is our Emergency Power Station (EPS). It’s a multi-function unit that includes a flashlight, AM/FM radio, cell phone charger, along with adaptors for the most popular brands of phones, and a personal alarm.

The EPS is conveniently sized so that it can be easily stored just about anywhere.
And here’s a tip, keep it handy in places where you spend most of your time i.e. the home, office and car.

Earthquake Preparedness Tips

Being prepared means a lot of things. Emergency kits ought to be high on the list and they should contain some form of emergency lighting for reasons outlined in this blog.

In the context of your business, being prepared also means securing equipment, desktop appliances and electronics, as well as making the workplace safer for your employees.
Our vast array of seismic protection products and services include equipment fastening, furniture straps and disaster kits to name just a few.

Get in touch with us to schedule a risk assessment of your premises.

As we’ve been reminding you over and over during the past few months, if you run a business in a seismically active zone, you need to become pro-active about earthquake preparedness and we suggest that you should start today.

Earthquake Preparedness Highlighted In New Zealand

The recent 7.0 earthquake in New Zealand should have taught us another lesson about the importance of earthquake preparedness. Many businesses were not prepared and as a result, equipment and office furniture that was unsecured was either damaged or lost for good.

Like a lot of people here in the USA, folks in Christchurch were rather blasé about the chances of a big earthquake disrupting their livelihoods, but they now know differently.

The damages bill from the temblor is around US$3 billion, so if there is one main lesson to be learned from the Christchurch quake, which was the biggest to hit New Zealand in almost 80 years, it is that securing equipment and office furniture should be a priority.

The technical term for it is non-structural seismic mitigation.

Seismic Protection Products & Services

An earthquake preparedness company that focuses on earthquake preparedness for businesses is just right to protect the business and employees from the earthquake disasters.

A company experienced in seismic bracing and has developed seismic protection systems that are recommended by federal and state agencies including the USGS, FEMA, the California Earthquake Authority and others will be give you exactly what you need in order to get your business going.

If earthquake safety isn’t already high on your list of priorities, it should be. The first place to start is to make a list of all the potential hazards in your business such as tall, top-heavy items of equipment, contents of your office, data centers, labs and so on.

If that seems a bit daunting, we can do it for you by conducting a risk assessment.

The idea is to secure items so that they won’t topple over. Imagine what would happen to your business if you lost your valuable equipment and data.
Our highly acclaimed seismic fastening programs include everything from warehouse seismic mitigation and lab equipment fastening to data center seismic mitigation and countertop fasteners.

Employee safety is another important thing you should be thinking about because securing those potential hazards will make for a safer environment for your workers. It will minimize the risk of injuries to them from falling objects.

As we’ve repeatedly reminded you during the past few months, if your business is based in an earthquake zone you shouldn’t procrastinate a moment longer about earthquake preparedness.

Emergency Kits

Be prepared with disaster supplies and emergency kits for businesses.

Different situations require different solutions and we’ve got you covered. The 10-person Site Safety Kit is specifically for the workplace. It contains enough emergency items to sustain up to 10 people for 72 hours.

There is also an Evacuation Kit for individuals. It’s designed for employees to keep at their work stations so they can quickly grab it if they need to evacuate their building. Each kit has enough food, water and other essentials in it for one person for 24 hours.

And there is the Pandemic Response Kit. It has been developed in response to the high level of concern over the spread of things like the Pandemic H1N1 Flu. This item provides protection for up to four people against the spread of germs, both on touchable surfaces and airborne.

Each one of the options we’ve been reviewing in this blog is an important part of earthquake preparedness

You may find more information about earthquake preparedness at http://www.quakeholdindustrial.com/

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH - EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS

September is National Preparedness Month. It’s a time when we’re encouraged to not just think about being prepared for an emergency, but to actually do something about it and earthquake preparedness is one of the focal points.

In proclaiming National Preparedness Month, President Obama spoke of the need to strengthen the USA’s security and readiness for the full range of hazards that we face, including natural disasters, cyber attacks, pandemics and terrorist attacks.

The President said that by empowering people with information about the risks we face, we can take action to protect ourselves, our families and the country.

Among the many things that he said we can do is to prepare a family emergency plan, have emergency kits on hand and get involved in community preparedness efforts.

This advice is also very much applicable to the workplace.

Non-Structural Seismic Mitigation

Our focus this month, as always, is on earthquake preparedness as it relates to businesses. There are seven steps to earthquake safety. The first step is what’s technically known as non-structural seismic mitigation. What that means in layman’s terms is securing the contents of your office, data centers, labs and so on.

Tall, top-heavy pieces of equipment should be secured, along with other things around the office such as computers, TVs and file cabinets, so that they won’t topple over.

An earthquake can set you back big time or maybe even ruin your business altogether if you lose valuable equipment and data that isn’t secured.

Safety for your employees is another huge benefit from bracing equipment and office contents. Securing potential hazards results in a safer environment for your work force because it minimizes the risk of injuries to employees from falling objects.

If your business is located in an earthquake zone, you can’t afford to put off earthquake preparedness for one more day. If an earthquake were to strike tomorrow how would your business fare?

Disaster Supplies

Apart from securing all of your equipment, you should also be thinking about disaster supplies and emergency kits for your employees.

You can avail a variety of kits to meet different situations. There is a 10-person Site Safety Kit for the office and workplace. It contains emergency items to sustain up to 10 people for 72 hours.

Toy can also avail Evacuation Kits that are designed for individuals to take with them when they’re evacuated from office buildings. Each kit has enough food, water and other essential items in it for one person for 24 hours.

And there is the Survive-All Vest, a post disaster survival kit that’s a wearable vest. It contains a three-day supply of food and water for one person, plus a host of other emergency items. It is particularly useful for safety and facility managers. It is essential for earthquake preparedness.

Emergency Disaster Kits For Earthquake Preparedness

We had the privilege recently of being included in a National Preparedness Task Force town hall meeting in San Diego to talk about emergency preparedness and naturally earthquake preparedness was a big part of the discussion. In this article we will primarily discuss about the importance of emergency disaster kits

In a previous article we mentioned that federal and state agencies now encourage all of us to be self-sufficient for at least three days in the event of an emergency, natural or manmade, and a key aspect of that is having emergency disaster kits on hand.

The idea is to have three-day emergency disaster kits readily accessible in your home, office and car because you just never know where you will be when something happens such as an earthquake.

Being prepared is your best defense against earthquakes and making sure that you, your loved ones and your employees have survival kits and or disaster kits is part of the process of being prepared.

Emergency Disaster Kits

In our previous article we talked about the need to have a kit, so in this blog we’ll look at what should go into them.

When discussing emergency kits, the conversation can sometimes get bogged down in a debate about the contents of kits. What are the best items to have in them, should you put them together yourself, if so, where do you start, and if not, where do you get ones that are already assembled?

We’ve taken all the worry and stress out of the decision-making. We’ve done the research, sought advice from emergency preparedness experts and sourced the necessary items to develop a wide range of three-day kits to suit any situation.

While we had earthquakes in mind when we developed our kits, they’re also applicable to just about any other emergency situation including hurricanes, wildfires and floods. The one thing all of these natural disasters have in common is that they can be extremely disruptive to your normal everyday life.

In a very short space of time you can suddenly find yourself without electricity, food and water, and shelter and that’s where our emergency kits come into play.

Disaster Supplies Or Emergency Disaster Kits

The Grab ‘n Go kits contain the three basic essentials as recommended by the American Red Cross - food, water and a blanket.

The food and water is approved by the US Coast Guard and both have a five-year shelf life.

Other contents include First Aid kits, emergency lightsticks, ponchos, dust masks, nitrile gloves, eye goggles, leather work gloves, a multi-function Emergency Power Station (flashlight, AM/FM radio, cell phone charger and personal alarm), multi-function tool, tissues, duct tape and more.

You can easily find a variety of kits for different needs. There are one-person, two-person and four-person kits for the home and family. There are 10 and 20 person versions for the office and workplace situations along with pet evacuation kits.

How To Get An Emergency Disaster Kit

For individuals, the easiest way to get one of our kits is to go to a home improvement center. The big box stores up and down the West Coast carry them in the Hardware Department.

The two-person and four-person kits are available nationally in the online stores of Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Amazon and Overstock.

You can also get them from online stores, like we have one at www.readyamerica.com. Businesses can purchase disaster kits directly, which can be ordered as per the business requirement.