When officials are drafting a business continuity plan, there are many important factors to consider. Provisions need to be made to ensure that a business' data is properly backed up in the case of a natural disaster and that employees understand how they can fulfill their responsibilities if disaster conditions prevent standard operations protocols.

However, it may the case that the magnitude of a natural disaster is so extreme that the primary place of business is rendered completely unusable. And if business officials are not prepared to address an extreme situation like this, a business could experience significant fiscal losses and leave their staff out of work.

For example, reports state that a tornado crippled many local businesses in Harrisburg, Illinois, on February 29. This took a significant toll on the local workforce because many of these establishments were not prepared with proper worker recovery initiatives, leaving hundreds of individuals out of a job.

In order to avoid the damages in lost workers wrought by natural disasters, it would be wise for business officials to plan ahead for such events with a certified disaster preparedness consultant. These professionals can assist businesses in securing remotely located hot sites that can be fully equipped with the full scope of a business' data so that staff have an alternate location at which they can immediately resume their duties in the wake of a disaster.

Moreover, by sending business officials to the educational workshops at the Continuity Insights Management Conference 2012 in Scottsdale, Arizona, from April 16 to 18, representatives can learn the best practices for hot site management, affording fast worker recovery and minimal fiscal loss.