Unlike a similar fire where many lives were lost in a similar company, there was no panic, no hysteria. Tyson Foods had a checklist for disaster; their employees knew what to do, where to go, and where their fire fighting resources were.

    "When you are in the midst of an emergency situation, it is too late to begin making decisions," explains Mike McAlister, plant manager.

"Safety is an integral part of every Tyson Foods operation. Everything we did we already had intact as a written crisis management program for this particular site."

    This program was in a loose-leaf binder which held
* scaled drawings of the facility
* locations of shut off valves and other safety devices
* evacuation plans for each area
* home, work, and beeper numbers of key personnel
* phone numbers of company departments that could offer help in different situations.

This checklist was the first thing Mike McAlister grabbed when the fire started.

Because it was ready --

HE was.

    In an emergency, checklists can save your life, and save you money. They are essential. Even before an emergency, they are a valuable organizing and time-saving tool for your business. You can't possibly remember all you are supposed to do and the order and time they are to be accomplished even in real time, much less in an emergency. Checklists can keep you right on track.
    Even if you are a one man company, you need things like a maintenance checklist, a personnel checklist, a disaster checklist, a customer service checklist, a checklist for opening the store.
    A checklist for opening the store? Yes. If you work alone a checklist will keep you from getting sloppy. Later, when you hire help that will open the store for you, that list will supplement your memory of what must be done and in what order. Having that list ready will save you time, eliminate worry, and reduce your anxiety. Just go over it with your employee and make sure every step is clear.

A checklist will make sure you get them, and keep them in order for easy retrieval.

    To make the best use of your personnel checklist, staple it right to the manilla file for each employee. Then use it. Hiring lead sheet ? Check it off, YES. Two copies of the job application filled out? Check it off, YES.

    W-4 form completed? Insurance Enrollment Form? I-9 Form completed? Check them off one by one as you slip them into the file.

    Have those Employee Rules and Regulations been read and signed?
Does the new employee understand the price policy?
Do they know how to clock in and out and the penalties for not doing so correctly?
Do they understand the harrassment policy and what happens to anyone who does not abide by it?
What about the Hazard Communication Standard?
the Drug Policy?

Do them, check them off,
Now you are prepared.

  CheckLists work on your side of the desk too.

Do YOU understand when the employee will and will not be available for work?
What kind, and how much training must be scheduled for this employee?

    With a checklist right on the inside cover of their manila folder you can check off each item, and see at a glance which ones are still lacking. Add a few more lines at the bottom for your follow up...

Verify their work history.
Check.

Date of employ.
Check.

What position did they hold?
Check.

Would employers hire that person again?
Check.

How do you MAKE a Checklist?

    Every checklist you create should be results-driven.

Its purpose is to help you do your work more effectively.
Keep them as short as possible,
but as complete as necessary.

1.     First, make up a list of the checklists you need to make.

2.     Then take each list individually.

3.     Make a dump of all the things you know need to be on the list. Don't worry about the order of any of them until you have all of them down that you can think of.

4.     Next, put the list into order as best you can, according to the trigger.
   (A Disaster checklist is triggered by disaster,
   a personnel checklist is triggered by a new hire, etc.)

5. Doing this should prompt you to remember other steps which come between many items on your list.

6. Just pretend the trigger has been pulled and begin planning.

7. Walk through your list, and add to it as you spot things which should be on the list.
       Fourth, wait a week and walk through the list again, playing WHAT IF?

For example, on your maintenance list which is triggered by the seasons...

What If it was November already?
    What happens in November?

Cold air moving in.
Pipes need to be protected,
heaters need to be checked,
air conditioning needs to be wrapped,
lawn mower needs to be put up, or converted to a snow plow, etc.

Put these things on your checklist to do in October of next year.

    This is a never-ending process. Throughout the year, as you walk around your home or premises, there will be things happen or you will see things which remind you to put something else down.

Even then, when November comes you will still find things which should have been on your checklist, and were not.

Add them.

The next time October has the nerve to creep in unannounced, your list will prompt you to get busy preparing for November.