Small firms’ quake planning still a worry
But what about businesses? They have a responsibility too. Are they doing enough to ensure they’re prepared?
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce recently asked members about their resilience and preparedness plans.
On the key question of how prepared they felt their business was for any chronic stresses or acute shock, some 57 per cent of the 300 respondents said they were either resilient or very resilient. Just 12 per cent said they were not resilient, while 31 per cent said they were ‘‘neutral’’, or unsure.
This question goes to the heart of how hard livelihoods and the economy could be hit and for how long after a big event. While 57 per cent preparedness is encouraging, there’s clearly a lot more work to do regarding awareness.
Another area of concern is businesses having enough emergency supplies to enable staff members to sustain themselves at work for up to five days. Some 82 per cent of respondents weren’t confident they had enough supplies for this.
There was better news on business continuity plans and the ability of staff to work from home.
Some 64 per cent of respondents said they had a plan, with 56 per cent saying theirs included supporting staff members to work from home (some 20 per cent of those with a plan said working from home wasn’t feasible for their business).
Some 55 per cent said they had a long-term recovery plan in the event they couldn’t enter the workplace for an extended period.
Encouragingly, 64 per cent said they had business interruption insurance, though just
35 per cent said their policy covered closure caused by damage to neighbouring buildings, and 25 per cent had a policy that covered closure due to disruption or loss of regular deliveries from suppliers.
All in all, these figures aren’t too bad, though there’s general acknowledgement that small businesses are a worry. They’re the backbone of our economy but we know they’re not as wellresourced as corporations to invest in resilience.
It is worrying that after everything we’ve been through in the past few years, a third of businesses still don’t have a plan. There’s no excuse for that.
Businesses need to heed the words of Resilience Wellington’s Mike Mendonca, who says that in Wellington ‘‘we need to be world class because of the hazards we face, and because we are the capital city. We know we’re going to have a big earthquake in Wellington – we just don’t know exactly when. We can always do better.’’
Businesses have a responsibility to do their bit, and it would be great to see these statistics improve. There’s help available, but you’ve got to want to do your bit.