Planning

Preparedness Planning for Commercial Office Buildings

Commercial office buildings in Chicago face many potential hazards. Natural threats such as, floods, severe weather, tornadoes, or even a pandemic not only potentially affect an individual building, but can have a widespread effect on the Central Business District. Man-made hazards including accidents, acts of violence by people and acts of terrorism present but even the failure or malfunction of operational systems, equipment or software can present an emergency that could seriously affect the occupants, contents, or physical structure of a building.

To mitigate these threats, and to provide a safe environment for their tenants, employees and visitors, building owners and managers must have a comprehensive “all hazards” emergency preparedness plan for each building.  Planning is based on reasonable threat analyses to prepare for emergencies.

Preparedness is essential for effective incident and emergency management and involves engaging in a continuous cycle of planning, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating and taking corrective action to achieve and maintain readiness to respond to emergencies.