Preparing Your Office for a Hurricane

If a Hurricane Warning is issued for the Tampa Bay Area and the USF Operations Plan is activated, the following checklist provides some recommended actions to prepare and preserve your work area.

• Move desks, file cabinets, worktables and bookcases away from windows and open doorways.
• Clear desktops, tables and other exposed horizontal surfaces of materials that may be susceptible to high winds and water.
• Protect books, valuable papers and equipment by covering them with plastic sheeting and storing them inside cabinets, boxes or transferring them to an interior room.
• Back up computer hard drives.
• Unplug computers, printers and all other electrical appliances. Protect equipment from water damage by placing them inside thick plastic and sealing the ends with tape.
• Occupants in areas susceptible to flooding should remove contents from bottom drawers of desks and file cabinets.
• Provide a means of contact with your supervisor incase damage occurs in the work area.
• Clean refrigerators and remove food.
• Close and latch all windows.
• Drop all blinds and close all shades.

During hurricane season it is imperative that each employee and each department have a plan of protective action for their work area. This will minimize the potential damage and loss of work should a hurricane strike the Tampa Bay area. Please contact the Division of Environmental Health, Safety & Risk Management for further information and assistance at 974-4036.