Business Continuity: Making Plans
While it is impossible to predict every kind of possible incident that may threaten your organisation, you can develop a basic plan, which can be implemented to cover a wide range of possible actions. For example, part of the plan will cover evacuation procedures, but the principles will be generally applicable for fire, flooding, or bomb threat incidents.
Your plan will provide a framework for you and your organisation to respond to any crisis. In an emergency what we do in the early stages of recovery can determine how well we will survive. In the emergency services this is referred to as the 'golden hour'.
1 Good plans
- are flexible
- work on public holidays and in any weather conditions
- are clearly written and easily understood.
- are tested regularly
2 Integrate into everyday
Any emergency management arrangements should be integrated into your organisation's structure and emergency plans should build on routine arrangements. It is essential for those required to respond to any emergency are involved in the planning process. All involved in the response must clearly understand their role.
3 Internal cooperation
Integrate the activities of different departments within your organisation. The overall response to a crisis will need input from a number of different departments. Effective planning must integrate these contributions in order to achieve an efficient and timely response to an incident
4 Communities
Look over the wall and co-ordinate arrangements with your neighbours and other authorities who might become involved, such as the Police or Fire Brigade. To achieve a truly co-ordinated and effective response, you and your neighbours must know each others capabilities, such as the use of each others emergency equipment, temporary secure storage and so on.
Do not forget the need to co-ordinate plans with other tenants in a multi-occupancy building (e.g. to ensure that different evacuation assembly points have been chosen).
Remember: Plans are for responding to the incident and not the cause of the incident.