I AM NOT DOING THIS FOR AN ADVERTISEMENT, I AM ACTUALLY SICK OF OUR INDUSTRY KEEPING YOU ALL IN THE DARK AS TO KNOW THERE IS A DIFFERENCE WHICH COULD SAVE YOU.
I have learned so much from those of you who are in Facility Management, and see how it is that you run little cities. I have been involved in BOMA, IFMA, IREM, as well as other associations where I have had the privilege to meet so many professionals in your industry.
The frustrating fact that I have faced is the misunderstanding of what a true Disaster Response Company is and therefore, the great amount of money, time and effort lost to you who is responsible for the facility. Look I am on the other side (I am a Life Safety Disaster Plan and Response Specialist) and must tell you that you need to know if your company is in line with Response Specialists or just a "call and they come", reactionary company to your problem.
Look I would like to ask you to look and ask these questions, they will benefit you in saving money and time.
Ask yourself:
Do we have a company (disaster clean up service) who will actually train our people to know what to expect in case there is a disaster at our facility?
Does the company we look to call train our people in the process which they will follow to get our building back up and running?
Do we just receive a bill from the company, or do we receive from them proposed solutions to keep the situation from occurring again?
Does the company we are seeking to depend on know our facility (examples; where the loading docks are, where the staging area is for the fire department, the type of tenants in our facility, how many elevators and freight elevators in our location, where the water turn offs are, know where to get copies of our floor plans quickly) ?
Does the company we are seeking to lean on in time of disaster charge us a retainer fee? Guys and Gals, this should never be done in our industry. If a company promises to come to your facility first, they are ball face lying to you. Example; Everyone knows of the Chicago Fire, how about the Chicago flood? 30% of the companies who were located in the buildings which were effected by it went under. By the way, it was not that their buildings were flooded, it was that they could not get to them due to the tunnels being flooded. My point is, if a company is charging you a retainer fee so they can promise they would come to you first or close to it, they must be God. No one maybe able to get to your location immediately!
Does the company we are depending on in case of disaster understand our disaster plan, and where they fit into that plan?
I have been in this industry for 20 years. Does this type of information and challenge help you all? Look if you do not plan and have all your vendors in line knowing their place in case something happens, you will be hurting. Being in the Disaster Response Industry, I want to open the lines of communication with you in the facility management area. I think it is a shame that most of you all do not even understand the equipment which some companies bring into your facility in cases of water loss. Do you know that the number one Dehumidifier used by our industry recently has been pointed out as not working? This means that there were these units in some of your facilities, not doing a bit of good. Yet, you were paying for them to be there. I think you all need to know there is a science of drying and dehumidification.
How about Mold? I mean there are so many "Mold is Gold" companies out there ready to scare you! I am actually tired of it all and know that there are truths and myths to mold. By the way, just because it is black does not mean it is "killer mold". Color does not tell you a thing!
Anyway, I just wanted to give back to you guys and gals on the front line in the facilities and small cities you oversee. You need to know the truth and plan for the unexpected.
Facility managers would benefit from educating themselves on any safety and/or environmental issue prior to making decisions. I am a safety and environmental consultant and find that most of my clients rely upon "professionals" too much when they have a vested interest in recommendations. The topics of OSHA compliance, mold, asbestos, lead paint, emergency/disaster preparedness and response, and indoor air quality are easy to learn about. I teach OSHA and EPA training programs on all of these topics and know first hand how easy it is to get the basics on most safety and environmental topics.
Mold is probably one of the biggest scams going on in the industry right now. There can be some issues with fungus/molds. However, most situations can be resolved with common sense programs. The key is understanding and educating yourself on the common sense management techniques.
OSHA, EPA, FEMA, CDC, NIOSH are all government agencies that have a ton of free information to get you the basics and beyond on some of these topics. Just add .org after each of the agencies and perform a search on the topic of interest. This website is also a great resource to learn and exchange information. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Jeff C. - Safety_Pro
FEMA has great, free resources on the topic.
http://www.fema.gov/government/coop/index.shtm
http://www.fema.gov/plan/mitplanning/index.shtm
Local Emergency management Agencies (EMA) have training available.
It bears repeating, the time to look into your continuity of operations plan / disaster recovery plan is not when the disaster hits.
Another resource to take a look at is the Edwards Disaster Recovery Directory. There are over 6,000 listings in over 250 categories, including a large section on Facilities-related products and services as well as Information Technology, Safety & Health, Services, Communications, Equipment & Supplies, etc. Many corporations, government agencies, hospitals, museums, libraries, law firms, banks, etc. use the directory to help them build their plan, and to be aware of the various resources that are available. As well there are checklists by industry and by disaster types which serve as a way to determine if your disaster recovery plan includes all the categories it should.
You can get more info at www.edwardsinformation.com