Business continuity communications plan
The importance of a business continuity plan
A Business Continuity Plan ensures that your business can return to normality as quickly as possible after a major incident. It is important to remember that statistically, half of all businesses which experience a disaster without a Business Continuity Plan will fail within twelve months.
Advice for Businesses
There are five steps in making a plan for Business Continuity:
1. Analyse your business
The first step is to identify the critical functions in your business. Take into account your staff, your customers, suppliers, IT systems and your premises.
2. Assess your risks
Think about possible hazards and the likelihood of them occurring. Ask whether you have any control measures in place.
3. Develop your strategy
Now that you’ve established what your critical functions are and the risks facing your business you can start to write your plan. It needs to be in clear and understandable language. Items within your plan should be:
- a description including aims and objectives.
- a check list of essentials.
- a description of your premises; a site plan of your premises, locations of muster points and emergency exits. This is particularly important should members of the emergency services need to go into your property.
- a structure of your emergency team detailing roles and responsibilities; this will include all staff both senior and junior. Ensure that roles are undertaken to cover instances such as sickness and annual leave, a rota system would enable this.
- emergency provisions for staff such as food and money; if you had to evacuate, staff may not take items such as wallets, keys or other personal items. Have you taken this into account in case they can’t get home?
4. Review and record
Take any possible future changes into account. New staff, modifications to your premises or a supplier change will all need to be reflected in your plan. It is always good to include a periodic review date as well.
Communication is a key factor of your plan. Liaise with the emergency services and find out if there’s any information they require in relation to your property. They may also be able to offer you advice on security, fire safety and medical advice.
Speak with your insurers and the utility companies and find out what they would need in case of an incident.
Consult with neighbouring businesses and find out how you can help each other. Also consider how your businesses compare. Does your neighbour have any hazards that you were not aware of when writing your plan?
5. Train your staff
Once you have formulated your plan, it needs to be tested to see if they are any problems or shortfalls. Ensure all staff receive a copy. Make sure they all understand their roles and responsibilities. It is important that staff have the opportunity to ask questions and to clarify any points they don’t understand. And finally, update your plan to reflect any lessons learnt from the testing.
To discuss your emergency plan please email Emergency Planning, or visit the London-Prepared site for further information on Business Continuity.
Email this pageLast modified by: Webmaster on 28/09/2011