Think disaster won’t strike you? Think again and be prepared

We all think it won’t happen to us, but the natural disasters of recent years may have many of us reviewing that theory.

At today’s Sunshine Coast Council Disaster Hub launch, Mayor Mark Jamieson welcomed a new Smartphone App which becomes a disaster management headquarters for businesses across the nation.

Ready, Set, Go!  is a simple, interactive, free mobile App that gets tourism businesses ready to go prior, during, and straight after a crisis.

Funded by the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Industry, it has been specifically designed for the Queensland tourism industry, works offline, and allows users to quickly and easily build business resilience to help manage a crisis and get back to business sooner.

App content writer and designer Mark Olsen from EC3 Global said Ready, Set, Go! was a digital business continuity plan which held all the essential information to get a business up and running again after an incident or crisis.

“We ran workshops for Tourism and Events Queensland called Weatherproof Your Business and after a number of events, including the Brisbane floods, I contacted business owners to see how they got on with their crisis plan,” Mr Olsen said.

“Just about every one of them said while the plan was helpful, they didn’t have it on them during or after the crisis. It was either at the office, on the computer or they couldn’t find the USB.

“Everyone was ready, everyone was set, but when it came to go, they didn’t have the information such as insurance numbers or phone numbers of key staff and suppliers on them.

“But most importantly, if they couldn’t get back to work and get the business up and operating sooner they were significantly more unlikely to survive financially.

“It got me thinking. I knew they would have all had their phones on them – on average we touch our phones 150 times a day – so it was logical to put the information on the one device they would always have with them.

“We designed the app using the same content in the National Risk Management Tools ‘Don’t Risk It’ and ‘Weatherproof Your Business’.

“We put the two together and Ready, Set, Go! was formed.

“Investing just one hour in the app could save your business thousands of dollars.”

The app provides a minute by minute reminder of actions such as phoning the insurance company or taking a photo, and at the end of the crisis event, an event log is automatically created and the report emailed through, keeping everything in the one place.

“Often people think it is something that may never happen to them and if it did, they’d be all right,” Mr Olsen said.

“But it’s not until you need this information during a crisis, that you realise you didn’t get it right at all.”

Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson welcomed the initiative.

“Between our Tourism, Sport and Leisure Industry Taskforce and Sunshine Coast Destination Limited, we will be assisting businesses and destination managers get ‘disaster ready’,” Mayor Jamieson said.

“We have resilience plans in place to respond to severe weather events or natural disasters.

“The ‘Ready, Set Go’ mobile application is a great first step in this program.

“Many families across the region are employed in the tourism industry so it is imperative these businesses get up and running as soon as possible.”

The free App is available on Apple and Android devices.

It has been created by the National Centre for Studies in Travel and Tourism Pty Ltd, EC3 Global and the Queensland Tourism Industry Council through funding from the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Industry under its Small Business Advisory Services program Queensland Natural Disaster Assistance round.