Planning for Mayhem – Decluttering, Inventories, Insurance, and Safety Walk-throughs

I was reminded earlier this year of the value of a good safety walkthrough to keep things running smoothly.  A fellow executive director had experienced a flooding incident at their Association, and it was all hands on deck to rescue valuable supplies and materials.  Yikes! That’s all too near a threat for my association with our proximity to a large river. What tools and techniques can help prepare an association to manage emergencies and help prevent mayhem? 

Declutter Your Space

How many of us hold on to old stuff we no longer want or need?  When working with a team, getting rid of stuff can be even more challenging because no person ‘owns’ the materials. Unused items can marinate in a back room for decades.

Too much clutter adds to the challenges of safe emergency access and the ability to identify necessary repairs.  Decluttering is a process, and adding many people into the mix can make it easier (more hands!) and more challenging (more opinions!). Jackie Spencer’s upcoming webinar on Decluttering in January will be a great time to learn more about decluttering and renew your enthusiasm to finally tackle your program’s scary old boxes!

Inventory and Insure

An up-to-date inventory of your Association’s assets can be beneficial in an emergency. If your buildings or materials are damaged, you’ll want to know what has been impacted. You’ll also need to understand what is most critical to rescue/replace to get things up and running again. Relying on memory when you and your team are stressed can add more worry to your woes.

An up-to-date inventory of your association’s assets is helpful. In my association, we recently updated ours. We had a big decluttering day and removed all unwanted furniture and materials, donating and recycling whenever possible. Then, we used a spreadsheet to identify items and collections of materials and assigned estimated value and importance to maintaining operations. We are also updating our key cupboard to ensure everything is labeled accurately.  Both of these tools will help ensure that in an emergency, emergency personnel can access all areas quickly, and we will know what’s been impacted.

During a safety walk-through, I took 360-degree photos of each room, labeled pictures with the room and date, and backed them up on our server. If we file an insurance claim, this gives us helpful information about the area’s prior condition.  Finally, I reviewed our Association’s coverage with our risk management insurer to ensure everything was current and we had sufficient coverage. We can now easily maintain this inventory with an annual review, and it’s a great relief to know that we’re better prepared for an emergency.

Safety Walk-through

I use a regular annual safety walk-through to help manage risks at our Association. I schedule these in advance using my Outlook calendar and include our Association office manager as a second set of eyes. Using a locally modified version of the Stanford standardized safety walk-through form, we methodically go through each room for which we are responsible.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned to help you make the most of your safety walk-through.

• At staff meetings, regularly share expectations for safety and office appearance. Let your team members know the WHY behind any changes in expectations. Don’t let problems fester—if something is out of compliance, address it quickly.
• Prepare your teammates for the safety walk-through.  Let them know the dates and times it will happen, and share a copy of any forms you will be using.
• On the day of the walkthrough, print out any forms you will be using and use a clipboard to take notes. Take measuring tape to ensure walkways and ceiling clearances conform to safety guidelines, and bring pens and Post-its to leave reminders if needed. Two sets of eyes are helpful to ensure you’re really seeing all the issues.
• Be methodical – go one room at a time.  Take notes about what you see and any to-do items.
• Open closets and sheds, and crawl under desks to check extension cords. Problems like to linger in dark corners! If replacement items are needed, these are added to the program wishlist.
• When you find a simple problem that can be easily fixed (like extension cords not being plugged into extension cords or a reminder to close file cabinet doors), fix it immediately. There’s no time like the present to improve office safety.
• Identify clutter that needs to be addressed,  any necessary repairs, and longer-term hazards. Note any ongoing issues and who is responsible for fixing them.
• Take photos (part of inventory)
• Once your walk-through is complete, follow up on any notes and to-do items, file your forms, and schedule your next walk-through. Review last year’s form before doing the next safety walk-through to see if you forgot to address anything.
• Share findings with your team.  It’s helpful to let folks know what’s going well and where your group struggles.  Maybe someone has a suggestion for an improvement!

I hope sharing what I’ve learned about helping my Association prepare for mayhem is helpful to you.  May your basements be dry and your tripping hazards few!