With natural disasters, epidemics, severe weather and other emergencies becoming more common and costly, the importance of emergency preparedness for businesses has never been greater. And that’s where national health security comes into play. National health security creates healthy and safe conditions to live, work, and play in before, during, and after emergencies.

By considering national health security as a way of life for small business owners, businesses can become more resilient to disasters, protect workers’ health and safety, decrease the time it takes to recover, and support community infrastructure to provide resources such as food and clean water to those in need.

Nearly 40 to 60 percent of small businesses  never reopen their doors following a disaster. Being prepared for a disaster can protect not only the business itself but also the health and wellbeing of its employees, their families, and its community.

National Small Business Week, May 4-8, is a great reminder for small business owners and their employees to make sure they have an emergency plan. This plan can help ensure that employers and employees know where to go and how to protect themselves from hazards that can result in occupational injury and illness – ranging from basic safety training to the use of personal protective equipment.

Small businesses can help maintain the personal health of workers with emergency plans that include establishing employee assistance programs to deal with behavioral and social health impacts of a disaster. As a whole, health protection and promotion are essential to a resilient workforce and workplace that can withstand, adapt to, and recover quickly from a disaster.

Here are some suggestions on what your emergency plan could address:

• Resource management- Resources essential to emergency response should be identified
• Emergency response- Plans to protect people and property should be developed
• Crisis communication- A plan should be created to establish communication with employees and customers
• Business continuity- A continuity plan that includes recovery strategies to overcome the disruption of business
• Information technology- A plan to recover computer hardware and electronic data
• Employee assistance- Encourage employees and their families to have personal preparedness plans and provide opportunities for medical, behavioral, and social support
• Incident management- A system is needed to define responsibilities and coordinate activities before, during and following an incident
• Training- People with defined roles in an emergency situation should be trained before a disaster strikes

With disasters on the rise, the time for small business owners to ensure their business is prepared and adequately protected is now. To learn more about building an emergency plan for businesses, visit www.sba.gov/disaster or www.ready.gov/business.