Increasingly powerful hurricanes fueled by climate change aren’t going away anytime soon. We’ve seen that already this year with Milton and Helene, the latter of which was considered one of the deadliest hurricanes to make landfall in the mainland U.S. since Katrina. And many places that are vulnerable to natural disasters are not only filled with people, but are growing in population.
Regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) require that employers protect workers from known hazards, including natural disasters. That said, companies are mostly left to their own devices when it comes to figuring out how to do that.
Patrick Joyce, a labor and employment attorney at Seyfarth who assists clients with environmental counseling and litigation, tells Fortune that natural disaster response should be a major area of focus for business leaders. “Things that are as simple as determining whether you’re in a disaster-prone area and what types of disasters you could be subject to at your facility is one of the first steps you should take,” he says.
Limbach, a company that builds hospitals and manufacturing facilities, prepared extensively this year for Hurricanes Helene and Milton—around 300 employees out of a workforce of 1,300 are based in Florida, including some in the Tampa area. They sent out evacuation routes and safe shelter options to employees and encouraged everyone to keep basic emergency supplies at home like first aid kits, water, non-perishable food, and secured hotel rooms for employees in need after the storm hit.
“If we have to enact a real hurricane plan because one is coming, we’re not starting from scratch,” says Melissa DiMuro chief people officer at Limbach. “We’ve already prepped everyone, so when they do hear from us, it’s just a reminder.”
Here’s what experts say employers should do to prepare their workforce for the next storm.
Have a communications system in place
First and foremost, companies need to have a way to contact workers that allows them to check in, share the latest information about the storm from local authorities, and provide guidance.
While some companies may be able to call every individual employee, that can be difficult to manage and scale. Instead, they should consider using tools like a mass notification system set up through text and email, says Ginnie Carlier, Americas vice chair of talent at Ernst and Young (EY). It’s also important to remember that once disaster strikes, employees may lose internet or phone service for a period of time. That’s why having multiple channels to contact them throughout a disaster is crucial.
EY used an emergency response system when Helene hit last month. The company’s crisis management portal sent notifications to employees’ phones with real-time updates on weather patterns and guidance on what to do. Employees are also asked to regularly review and update their emergency contact information in the system to ensure leaders can reach them quickly.
“Within 24 hours, we were able to locate the majority of our people in the impacted areas, and we followed up with those who did not initially respond to ensure their safety.”
Have support services for the aftermath
After a catastrophic event, companies should have immediate support programs in place.
These can include a wide variety of services, from Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) that can connect employees with things like trauma counseling to grant programs for employees to immediately access money.
Consulting firm PwC has a program through the company’s charitable foundation called the People Who Care Fund, in which employees can request a one-time grant from the company in the form of cash payment. In response to the last two hurricanes, the fund gave out 140 grants totaling $280,000 to employees, says Yolanda Seals-Coffield, chief people and inclusion officer at PwC. Employees are able to access $2,500 right away and in some cases more if necessary.
“We make immediate grants available because the first thing that people need to do is find a place to stay, and so we want to offer them that before they can even determine what their insurance covers, what their losses are, or deal with FEMA forms,” she says.
Think about creating (or hiring) an emergency response team
Companies should also think about creating an internal or external emergency assistance team. These are people fully trained to provide physical safety, emotional support, and critical resources to employees and their families as soon as a disaster strikes.
EY has an internal team with members from across the organization who have clearly defined voluntary roles and responsibilities. Carlier adds that each year, these individuals conduct drills to ensure they are well-prepared and confident in handling emergencies, and they have a plan to ensure employees know who to contact.
Another example is Bank of America’s Life Event Services (LES) team. After several employees were onboard the “Miracle on the Hudson” plane that crash-landed in the Manhattan River a few years ago, the company hired 50 full-time staffers with training in emergency preparedness training to be on call to respond to workers going through life-altering experiences.
“Our job is really to support our employees in the moments that matter,” Ava Mehta, head of the Life Event Services team for Bank of America, previously told Fortune. “It could be at a mass scale with unfortunate acts like shootings or hurricanes. Or it could be smaller events that are very impactful, like house fires.”
Think outside the box
Once everyone is safe and accounted for, the next step is getting folks back to work.
While some employees may face mass flooding and damage, road closures, and electricity outages, others may be totally fine and ready to return. Workers at Limbach were able to get their office back up and running three days after Hurricane Milton, but the company says that mass gas shortages meant few people were actually able to commute to work.
“It’s always going to be a local matter because you can go 20 miles, and things look drastically different,” says DiMuro. “Every storm is different.”
That’s when companies can get creative. Limbach booked rooms at a hotel in Tampa where employees could go to take showers if their own homes didn’t have water. And a few largely unaffected employees opened their homes to their coworkers as a workspace.
When Hurricanes Milton and Helen hit earlier this year, EY set up their Greenville, South Carolina office as a safe haven for employees in the region who were affected, says Carlier. The team there even played movies in a conference room for the employees’ children.
But more than anything, experts say employers need to offer employees the chance to take off work, or create more personalized work hours during difficult times. “A company that‘s looking out for its people will give them flexibility, whether it’s work from home or PTO, to care for the family and figure out the next steps,” says Dan Kaplan, senior partner at KornFerry’s HR officers practice.
And remember that a strong company culture is a powerful tool
Finally, creating a culture in which employees want to look after each other in times of need can be a powerful tool when it comes to disaster response.
That doesn’t mean that everyone needs to get along, says Kaplan. Employees just need a dozen or so colleagues they genuinely enjoy being around because those people will naturally check in with each other out of concern.
In short, HR leadership should ensure their employees have real people to reach out to when things go south, not just a 1-800 line.
“Fostering a supportive, nurturing environment, that’s long-term,” says Kaplan. “And probably the biggest win.”
Nov. 11, 2024: This story has been updated to clarify PwC’s People Who Care fund.
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