While much of our corporate focus is on catastrophic events that grab headlines, such as active shooters and major storms, not much attention is given to the incidents that affect facilities on a routine basis. Not to minimize the tragedies that result from such events, as we should all remain vigilant in preparation and prevention, the odds of encountering them in your building are rather slim. For example, a FBI study found the U.S. active shooter incident rate occurring at work averaged 9.4 per year between 2000 and 2013. With respect to weather, an average of five hurricanes strike the American shoreline every three years; which equates to 1.7 per year. Conversely, per Inside Energy, the number of power outages has been doubling every five years. From 2010 to 2013, there was an average of 200 grid disruptions. The U.S. Energy Information Administration determined that each utility customer will experience roughly 1.5 outages per year with total durations exceeding three hours, costing companies as much as $150 billion per year. Thus, the question arises, “What constitutes an emergency?”
Click here to read the rest of the article as published in the July/August 2018 edition of IFMA’s FMJ
