When it comes to running a club, many operators feel confident in their equipment, group fitness offerings, and the day-to-day experience they provide members. But if the COVID-19 pandemic has taught the industry anything, it’s that operators also need to be confident in navigating unexpected challenges like disaster preparedness.
One club who is prepared for whatever comes its way is the Cincinnati Sports Club.
The club maintains a comprehensive Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plan, reviewed every five years to ensure it remains relevant and effective. The plan is designed to prepare the club for extended service outages caused by factors beyond our control — such as natural disasters, severe weather, vandalism or acts of terrorism — and to restore services as quickly as possible.
“The goal is to minimize downtime, protect our membership base and employees — both of whom rely on the club for their livelihood and quality of life — and safeguard the overall continuity of operations,” said Jordan Croop, the operations manager for Cincinnati Sports Club. “The plan identifies potential vulnerabilities and outlines proactive measures to reduce the likelihood of extended outages, with a focus on restoring services to the widest extent possible in the shortest timeframe.”
Cincinnati Sports Club defines a disaster as any loss of essential utilities — power, water, etc. — connectivity disruptions affecting system sites or catastrophic events that interrupt operations. To ensure readiness, Business Continuity Binders are issued to key team members with one copy kept at their desk and another at their personal residence for immediate accessibility.
Key components of the plan include a Crisis Communication Plan and a Preparedness Plan, ensuring the team can act quickly, coordinate effectively and maintain service continuity for our members. All key staff have a copy, as well as insurance adjusters and the club’s outsourced public relations team.
“Our Emergency Response Plan is continually reviewed and updated to reflect the latest best practices, regulatory requirements and industry trends,” said Croop. “We consistently monitor trusted sources such as OSHA and Fisher Phillips, an international labor and employment law firm, to ensure our protocols meet or exceed compliance standards.”
Cincinnati Sports Club’s risk management team — which is comprised of the CEO, CFO, facility and operations manager, along with their insurance broker and underwriter — meets three times each year to review and evaluate the following:
- Open or pending litigation cases involving the club.
- Incident report analyses to determine necessary follow-up and identify future risks.
- Current and future capital improvement/master plan projects to assess potential risks.
- Operational changes impacting safety or compliance.
- Government regulation or enforcement updates.
- OSHA guideline changes.
- Emerging risk trends.
“In addition, we maintain a 12-month drill calendar overseen by our facility and operations team,” explained Croop. “This schedule includes routine fire drills, Code Blue and Code Adam alerts, active threat training and mock health department inspections, ensuring our staff is prepared to respond effectively in any scenario.”
While the club has a very thorough process now, it doesn’t mean they’ve handled every situation the way they wanted to in the past. For instance, Croop wishes they had implemented certain proactive measures earlier — particularly their comprehensive record retention policy.
“Years ago, we faced a situation that underscored the importance of maintaining all injury reports involving minors until two years after their 18th birthday — the statute of limitations period for such cases,” he explained. “While that policy is now firmly in place, it was adopted in response to a crisis rather than beforehand. Working closely with legal counsel, we developed a robust record retention policy that now ensures we are compliant, prepared and better protected moving forward.”
Similarly, the club has since expanded its list of trusted vendors and partners who are available on holidays, after hours or on very short notice. This ensures that critical repairs, safety measures or operational needs can be addressed immediately — minimizing downtime and maintaining member confidence even in the most unexpected situations.
While your facility may have a safety plan in place, Croop emphasized it’s vital that it’s a part of the club’s culture. “Preparedness starts with a proactive, layered approach to safety and security — and it must be driven from the top down,” he said.
At the Cincinnati Sports Club, the CEO and executive leadership team are directly involved in emphasizing the importance of emergency and disaster preparedness, ensuring it’s not just a policy but a cultural priority.
“Our 16-acre campus is monitored by more than 40 cameras covering both indoor and outdoor spaces,” said Croop. “In addition, our local fire and police departments serve as our designated off-site crisis center and have direct access to our camera system in the event of an emergency. This partnership ensures that first responders have real-time visibility into the facility, enabling them to act quickly and effectively if a situation arises.”
For other club operators, Croop’s disaster preparedness advice is simple: establish strong relationships with local emergency agencies, invest in robust security infrastructure and ensure both leadership involvement and infrastructure are fully integrated into your overall crisis management strategy.
