Disaster Management

The Disaster Management course from the American Institute of Safety Professionals provides comprehensive training on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from natural and man-made disasters that threaten workplaces and communities: earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, industrial explosions, chemical releases, pandemics, cyber attacks, and acts of terrorism. While emergency action planning (covered in other courses) addresses daily emergencies, disaster management addresses events that overwhelm normal response capacity and require coordinated, sustained, multi-agency response and recovery.

The curriculum covers the disaster management cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery), hazard vulnerability assessment for disasters, mitigation strategies (structural, non-structural, policy), preparedness planning (disaster plans, resources, training, exercises), NIMS/ICS for disaster response, business continuity planning (critical function identification, recovery priorities, alternate operations), disaster recovery (damage assessment, restoration, lessons learned), organisational resilience, and the integration of disaster management with daily safety management. All training is delivered 100% online through the American Institute of Safety Professionals LMS.

Upon completing this program, participants will be able to:

• Apply the disaster management cycle: mitigation (reducing disaster impact before it occurs), preparedness (planning and training), response (immediate actions during the event), and recovery (restoring operations and learning).
• Conduct disaster-specific hazard vulnerability assessments: identifying which disasters are most likely and most consequential for the organisation based on location, operations, infrastructure, and external factors.
• Develop disaster response plans: activation criteria, command structure (NIMS/ICS), communication (internal, external, media, regulatory), resource management, mutual aid, and the scalable response that adapts to disaster magnitude.
• Develop business continuity plans: identifying critical functions, establishing recovery time objectives, planning alternate operations (backup sites, remote capability, manual procedures), and the continuity that maintains essential services during and after disasters.
• Manage disaster recovery: damage assessment, prioritised restoration, insurance coordination, regulatory compliance, psychological support, and the after-action review that captures lessons for future preparedness.

Core Topics

• Disaster Management Cycle: mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery
• Hazard Vulnerability Assessment: probability, impact, location, operations, infrastructure
• Mitigation: structural (reinforcement, retrofit), non-structural (insurance, policy, relocation)
• Preparedness: plans, resources, training, exercises, mutual aid agreements
• NIMS/ICS: incident command, unified command, multi-agency coordination
• Response: activation, life safety, incident stabilisation, property conservation
• Business Continuity: critical functions, RTO/RPO, alternate operations, testing
• Recovery: damage assessment, restoration, insurance, regulatory, psychological
• Communication: crisis communication, media, employees, stakeholders, regulatory
• Exercises: tabletop, functional, full-scale, after-action, improvement planning
• Organisational Resilience: adaptive capacity, redundancy, flexibility, culture

• No prior training required
• No academic degree required
• All instruction in English

Upon completion, graduates receive an American Institute of Safety Professionals certificate, wallet card, and transcript. Employer-verifiable at amiosp.com/student-verifications.

• Emergency managers and disaster coordinators
• Safety managers responsible for emergency preparedness
• Business continuity planners
• Facility managers responsible for disaster preparation
• Operations managers and executives with disaster governance responsibilities
• Anyone involved in organisational disaster preparedness

• Planning Workplace Emergencies (daily emergencies)
• Disaster Management — YOU ARE HERE (disasters beyond normal capacity)
• Emergency Action Plans (EAP-specific focus)
• International Diploma in Industrial Safety Management