Insurance Company Advises Businesses To Prepare For NATO Summit Safety
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A worldwide insurance company is issuing some last-minute business reminders related to the upcoming NATO summit.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, Zurich Insurance has put out an 11-page white paper with top tips for businesses. They include making sure companies and their employees can contact each other, whether through phone trees or email.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports
Podcast
Mary Gardner, head of Business Resilience for Zurich Insurance, says first and foremost companies need to plan for their employees' and customers' safety.
She says businesses also should have phone numbers of places to call should there be an emergency.
"Who are you going to call; we'd need to get glass repaired if any demonstrations, they try to make access to your location," Gardner said.
Zurich also suggests companies have one person monitor social networks like Twitter and Facebook to be up-to-date on whether trouble's brewing, and where.
Gardner also says companies should check their insurance policies to make sure of their coverage should there be any vandalism of their properties.
And when all the preparation is done, Gardner said, businesses are advised to consider whether they need to have their employees come in at all.
"If they've done all that pre-work, they just now say, 'OK, let's see if we can work from home. Let's see if we can continue to provide the services to our customers from an alternative location,'" Gardner said.
Zurich has dealt before with preparations for other high-level international meetings such as G8 and G20 summits in Seattle, Pittsburgh and Toronto.
