Emergency & Disaster Planning
Steps to Preparing the Emergency & Disaster Plan
Overview
As with other business aspects, our planning for an emergency relies on the following:
- An understanding of our business objectives.
- Solid research and understanding of the risks.
- Creative alternatives to unique challenges.
- A reliable decision-making process.
Step 1: Form the Emergency Preparedness Team
The HWH Staff Principal is responsible for the planning process.
Key employees will also be identified, including their roles/responsibilities and contact information - Roles and responsibilities for the Emergency Preparedness Team.
The HWH Staff Principal is responsible for the planning process.
Key employees will also be identified, including their roles/responsibilities and contact information - Roles and responsibilities for the Emergency Preparedness Team.
Step 2: Essential Services & Functions
During an emergency, our business may experience a disruption in our operations due to:
During an emergency, our business may experience a disruption in our operations due to:
- High staff absenteeism
- Unavailability of supplies and materials
- Interruptions to services like power, transportation and communications.
We will determine how we maintain essential services/functions in the case of an emergency. These essential services include:
- A service, when not delivered, impacts individuals' health and safety.
- A service that may lead to the failure of a business unit if activities are not performed in a specified time.
- Services that must be performed to satisfy regulatory requirements.
- A service where if not performed, the impact may be immediate or may occur over a certain time.
We may be forced to modify, reduce, or even eliminate specific services/functions to cope with the impacts of the emergency. These impacts may be felt or localized to specific business units.
Step 3: Required Skill Sets and Staff Reallocation
As part of our business continuity planning process, we need to identify the number of staff and skills required to perform and maintain the essential services/functions.
As part of our business continuity planning process, we need to identify the number of staff and skills required to perform and maintain the essential services/functions.
We may also prepare a list of special tasks and skills required in emergencies and assign them to appropriate employees, e.g. crisis management team, employee support, IT backup, defining security perimeters etc.
Step 4: Identify Potential Issues
Get an understanding if what we have to reduce, modify or eliminate essential services or functions and document:
Get an understanding if what we have to reduce, modify or eliminate essential services or functions and document:
- All the issues that are identified.
- Action plans for each issue.
- The responsibilities of designated people for each essential service or function.
Step 5: Prepare the Essential Service/Function Plan
Our action plan should include:
Our action plan should include:
- A description of the service or function.
- Individuals are responsible for implementing the action plan.
- Backup individuals.
- Business impact issues.
- Action plans: Include key items such as notification communication plan, staff relocation, alternate resources, suppliers, etc.
- Resource requirements.
Prepare a list of clients, suppliers and business partners who need and expect personal notification from us or would be offended or take their business elsewhere if they were not contacted. Proactively contacting important customers can go a long way in mitigating losses.
The list needs to include the following.
- Service provided: A description of our services. Use the comments section to indicate why this customer should be contacted in an emergency.
- Contact person’s name: This will be the primary contact for most of our clients.
- Contact phone numbers: Include all possible ways to reach the client, including mobile and after-hours number if it is different from the normal number..
- Alternate names and numbers: We should list alternatives to the primary contact person where possible.
- 24-hour service: If the client does not have 24-hour service, discuss how to contact them during off-hours. Reassure them that the information will have limited distribution.
- Comments: Include significant information, including why this client should be contacted following an incident, instructions the customer would need, etc.
Step 6: Compare with the “PREPAREDNESS CHECKLIST”
Review the Business Continuity Plan to ensure all issues have been addressed, and identify any areas in which you may need additional documentation.
Review the Business Continuity Plan to ensure all issues have been addressed, and identify any areas in which you may need additional documentation.
Step 7: Review the Plan with the Emergency Preparedness Team
We should present the Business Continuity Plan draft to the emergency preparedness principal for review and/or comment. The review should ensure that our plan:
- Is consistent throughout the business
- Addresses all critical elements.
The committee should also be in charge of monitoring the initiative's progress.
Step 8: Revise the Test and update the Plan
The environment is open to change and as such the plan should be revised, tested and updated as necessary so it remains current. This will help you identify any missing aspects or weaknesses.