Recent disasters have demonstrated gaps in employers’ preparedness to protect employees and promote their well-being in the face of disruptive events. Our objective was to develop a useful strategy for advancing comprehensive employer preparedness and to assess employer preparedness in a sample of employers.

A Total Worker Health Employer Preparedness Model was developed to include seven domains: planning, human resources policies, hazard reduction, training, staffing, communications, and resources for resilience. A Survey and scoring Index based upon the Model were administered to human resources professionals in the northeast United States.

Seventy-six responded, representing diverse employment sectors. The mean Index score was 8.8 (out of 23), which is a moderate level of preparedness. Nine scored over 15, indicating greater preparedness. Thirteen scored 0. Employers were most prepared for severe weather events and least prepared for acts of violence. There were no significant differences by sector, size, or reach, although the health-care sector reported higher scores.

This unique attempt to assess TWH Employer Preparedness can serve as the basis of important further study that strengthens the empirical basis of the construct. Additionally, the Model, Survey, and Index can assist employers in advancing their preparedness for all hazards.

To describe and relate the main environmental risk factors in the emergency process after a large urban fire in Valparaiso, Chile, in April 2014.

An observational, cross-sectional descriptive study was performed. All 243 reports from an ad hoc web/mobile website created on the Ushahidi/Crowdmap platform were reviewed. Reports were recorded in a new database with dichotomist variables based on either the presence or absence of the relevant category in each report.

Almost one-third of the reports presented data about garbage (30%) and chemical toilets (29%). Reports related to water, infrastructural damage, and garbage had significant associations with 4 categories by chi-square test. In the logistic regression model for chemical toilets, only the variable of water was significant (P value=0.00; model P value: 0.00; R2: 11.7%). The “garbage” category confirmed infrastructural damage (P value: 0.00), water (P value: 0.028), and vectors (P value: 0.00) as predictors (model P value: 0.00; R2: 23.09%).

Statistically significant evidence was found for the statistical dependence of 7 out of 10 studied variables. The most frequent environmental risk factors in the reports were garbage, chemical toilets, and donation centers. The highest correlation found was for damaged infrastructure, vectors, and garbage. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:239–243)