In an emergency, you can be stuck at work, without transport home. Make a personal workplace emergency plan so you know who to contact at work and have a plan to get home safely.
Emergencies can happen anytime, including during business hours. You can’t predict when they will happen, but you can take actions to make your business more prepared.

Identify the risks to your business and staff
Find out what the risks are and how they can impact on your business. Risks include natural hazards, health emergencies and utility failures. If you have staff, talk to them about the risks they think are most relevant to your business.

Make an emergency plan for your business
Businesses have an obligation to be prepared for an emergency. In most cases we can’t predict when an emergency will happen. But we can make plans to make sure our staff are safe, our financial and personal losses are reduced and we are able to get back to business as soon as possible.

Your plan should include the following.
* Emergency procedures for fire, earthquake, tsunami and other hazards.
* Assembly points, wardens and first aid training.
* How to contact staff, suppliers, clients and insurance providers.
* Alternative arrangements if you are unable to access your premises, files, etc.
Talk to your disabled staff. Find out what support they might need if there's an emergency. Also think about how you might need to help any visitors who have a disability.
 
Look after your staff
As an employer, you have a duty of care to your staff, including caring for them during and after emergencies. Start by involving your staff in identifying risks and making an emergency plan. Talk to them about what they, and their whānau, would need to get through an emergency.
Make sure your staff have personal workplace emergency plans so they know who to contact at work in an emergency and have a plan to get home safely. Provide supplies for your staff
In an emergency, your staff may be stuck at work or unable to take transport home for a day or more. Make sure you have enough supplies for everyone onsite for five days. This should include for visitors too.  

Rural communities, businesses and individuals need to adapt and build resilience to emergencies. Your animals are your responsibility. You need to include them in your emergency planning and preparation. Failing to plan for them puts lives at risk.
 
Preparing animals for emergencies
If an emergency happened today, do you have a plan I place to save yourself, your family, and your animals? Learn how to prepare to ensure the welfare of your animals during a disaster, such as an earthquake or flood.
 
Include animals in your emergency plans
Your animals are your responsibility. You need to include them in your emergency planning and preparation. Prepare an emergency plan that covers the major disasters that could affect animals in your family, farm, or workplace.
Discuss your plan, record it, and practice it with your family and co-workers. Keep your plan somewhere it can be easily seen. In your household, this could be on the fridge or by the front door. In a farm or animal facility, this could be kept in a dairy shed, stable, or shearing shed.
The Ministry for Primary Industries has an extensive library of resources you can use, from checklists to planning guides. 

MPI Library Resources

Make sure your animals can be identified
During an emergency, you could become separated from your pets and farm animals. Make sure your animals can be easily identified so you can be reunited.
Pet identification tips
* Add an ID tag to your pet’s collar. Put as much information on the tag that will fit – your pet's name, your name, phone number, and your address.
* Make sure your pets are microchipped and registered.
* Dogs should be wearing their current registration tag.
* On relevant microchip databases, keep the information about you and the animal up to date. Include next of kin or someone outside your household.

NZ Companion Animal Register

Livestock and horse identification tips
* For livestock, ensure your National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme details are up-to-date.
* For large animals, like horses, add a tag to their halter, lead, or cover.
* Make sure horses are microchipped and registered.

NAIT Register

Extra animal identification tips
* Store a current photograph of your pets and horses in a waterproof container. Include notes on any distinguishing features, name, sex, age, colour, and breed. Also include a photograph of you and your animals together to help prove ownership if you get separated.
* Save information online like microchip details, photographs, medical, veterinary, and contacts. For example, you could store it on Dropbox, a mobile phone, or an email account.
Plan for every type of emergency
* Fire: Plan how you will get your animals away from the fire zone and where you will go.
* Earthquake: Arrange who will check on your animals after an earthquake.
* Extreme weather: Know what to do if there's a storm coming or plan for dry conditions or droughts.
* Volcanic eruption: Consider how far away you need to get and where you will go.
* Floods and tsunamis: Decide how you and your animals will get to higher ground.
Prepare emergency kits for you and your animals
Check the kits regularly and keep them within easy reach. You might use the kits if help is not readily available, or before you can get to a veterinary clinic.
Have copies and backups of necessary documents and records.
You need 3 kits
1. Home emergency kit with enough supplies for 5 days.
2. Getaway emergency kit with supplies for moving yourself and your animals.
3. Animal first aid kit – put first aid supplies for your animals with your own kit.
First Aid Kit for Animals Checklist 

Groups who can help

Federated Farmers may be able to provide advice if you need assistance with evacuating your livestock and finding a safe shelter place to contain them.

Federated Farmers

The Rural Support Trust are also a great source of information.

Rural Support Trust

Schools play a large role in keeping the community safe. Find out about school responsibilities and how to teach students the knowledge and skills they need to be more prepared for an emergency.

Your school or early childhood centre may face an emergency. It’s important to be prepared for emergency events and know how to respond if they happen.
Early learning services and schools should have an emergency management plan for all hazards they may face.
The Ministry of Education has advice and guidelines to help you prepare your school for emergencies.
The Ministry of Education has advice for schools and early childhood education centres on preparing for and responding to emergencies.

Prepare for an emergency

Respond to an emergency

Know your school's responsibilities

Your school or early childhood centre may face an emergency. It is important to be prepared for emergency events and know how to respond if they happen.

Early learning services and schools should have an emergency management plan for all hazards they may face. The Ministry of Education has advice and guidelines to help you prepare your school for emergencies (see links above).

Teach emergency preparedness

Find information and resources for teaching students about emergency preparedness and natural hazards.

Resources for early childhood centres

Talk to children about earthquakes
We encourage teachers to talk to children about earthquakes to help reduce fear and anxiety. Encourage children to ask questions. Give them an opportunity to express their feelings by talking or drawing. Remind them that earthquakes can be frightening but that it will get better and there will be people around to help.
An earthquake is when the ground shakes because rocks deep under the ground are moving. When a big earthquake happens there may be a loud rumbling noise. Things can start falling down around you. It might also be hard to stand up. You have to act quickly and protect yourself from things that might fall on you.
 
Turtle Safe | Kia Haumaru Honu Mai
Use our turtle safe video in your early childhood centres to help teach children the correct action to take an in earthquake. This video is available in English and Te reo Māori. There is a downloadable lyric worksheet that can be used alongside the video.

Turtle Safe - an educational video that teaches young children what to do in an earthquake

Remember how a turtle gets into its shell to keep safe? Here’s what you can do.
* If you are inside, quickly get under a table, and hold on to the table legs (if you can) so the table doesn't move away from you. Stay there until the shaking stops and you are told it is safe to come out by an adult.
* If you are outside or there are no tables around, take no more than three steps away from things that can fall on you. Drop, Cover and Hold.
* Remember there may be more shaking.
Practice your earthquake drill: Drop, Cover and Hold.

Download the lyrics for the Turtle Safe video in English and Te Reo Maori

Turtle Safe lyrics in English

Turtle Safe lyrics in Te Reo Maori

Download and print these fun colouring pages of Stan and the IMPACT kids getting ready for an emergecy.

What's the Plan Stan? Colouring Pages

Marae preparedness planning enhances resilience and safety of marae, taonga and iwi. It helps te hau kāinga and te haupori understand and manage their risks.

Marae Emergency Preparedness Plan

The Marae Emergency Preparedness Plan helps marae be as prepared as possible for a natural disaster or emergency. It encourages whānau, hapū and iwi to:

• think about the possible impacts of natural disasters, and
• recognise who could be called upon in the event of an emergency.

Work through the marae emergency preparedness plan to plan out what your marae will do.

Te Puni Kokiri have put together a marae emergency preparedness plan here TPK Civil Defence marae Emergency Preparedness Plan