Understanding the connection between workplace and home disaster preparedness: Key employee and organizational factors

In the last decade, critical infrastructure industries have received increased governmental attention for their susceptibility to domestic hazards. Critical infrastructure industries support the United States (U.S.) economy, national security, and public health and safety. In a crisis or disaster, a failure in one critical industry can have cascading effects on the others, hindering emergency response and community recovery. Currently, there are few empirical studies on workplace preparedness, particularly preparedness in the private sector, which employs 76% of the U.S. workforce and operates 85% of all U.S. critical infrastructure industries. The intent of this study was twofold: (1) to understand what organizational and employee factors motivate, facilitate, and hinder workplace adoption of disaster-protective behaviors, and (2) to determine if workplace preparedness behaviors and polices influence employees' adoption of disaster-protective actions at home. Twenty companies were randomly selected across five industries (banking, transportation, retail, manufacturing, health insurance) in Southern California, and within each company, employees and emergency/safety managers were surveyed. Study results are expected to show that workplace preparedness depends upon both individual factors, such as hazard experience and hazard threat assessment, and organizational factors, such as workplace safety climate, employee organizational commitment, and company social networks. To tie these factors together DeJoy's (1996) Workplace Self-Protective Behavior Model is being applied to explain workplace-home preparedness across individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels of behavior change. This study's findings can provide emergency managers, business leaders, and social scientists with recommendations for evidence-based intervention practices and policies to enhance future workplace and home preparedness.