While no enterprise is immune to disaster, emergency or catastrophe, laundering has its own combination of higher risks—fire, hazardous chemicals, defective boilers and other perils of a highly mechanized environment. Every laundry needs a comprehensive plan to deal with the aftermath of such disasters to salvage resources and honor commitments to customers.

This best practice was largely adapted from a TRSA publication, Recommended Professional Practices for Disaster Planning, authored by consultant Lucien Canton, previously emergency director for San Francisco city and county and regional hazard mitigation officer for the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Consult Recommended Professional Practices, available in the TRSA Store, for more detailed advice on the steps described here.

Read a Textile Services Magazine article about disaster planning.