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BCP Program
Assessment





















  



The Issue | What You Should Know | How Can EMSS Help?

The Issue

A Business Continuity Plan is a management-approved document and process that defines resources and tasks required to recover functions critical to the survival of an organization within an acceptable timeframe following a business interruption. In other words, it’s what a company needs to do, and in what timeframe, to “get back on its feet” following a disruption to its business. BCPs focus on the business aspects of the company.

The BCP document, and the process used to create the document, are intended to help organizations prepare to respond to a variety of incidents in an organized and professional way. Many companies believe that once they have a written plan, they are covered should an emergency hit. Short of invoking the plan in an actual emergency, you don’t know for certain if your plan will work. But there are two things you can do before a disaster strikes to determine the soundness of your BCP plan and program: Test the plan in a controlled situation, and get an objective assessment of the program.

What You Should Know

An emergency is any unplanned event that could cause death or injury to employees, customers or the public, shut down the business, disrupt operations, cause physical or environmental damage, or threaten an organization’s financial standing or public image. Emergencies could be relatively minor incidents such as loss of electrical power or short-term loss of access to the office, or it could be something that partially or completely destroys the company’s premises, such as a fire, bombing, or earthquake. An emergency could also be an event that doesn’t affect the company’s physical presence, per se, but which impacts it nonetheless, such as the public health risks associated with epidemics or pandemics. Every year, emergencies take their toll on businesses worldwide. Fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, violence in the workplace, loss of computer files, or something as small as a broken sprinkler head can create havoc, downtime, and cost millions. How your enterprise reacts to an emergency can make a difference to the continued success of the company. Businesses that develop and maintain continuity plans can limit injuries, return to work more quickly, and reduce financial loss. Having a plan enables them to:
  • Respond to emergencies in an organized and practiced manner.

  • Ensure that critical business functions continue to operate regardless of the event.

  • Identify the people, places, things, communications, authorities, and actions that need to be performed.

  • Respond effectively and adapt quickly to the changing circumstances of an emergency.
 How Can EMSS Help?

Following such standards as NFPA1600 (National Fire Protection Association Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs) and BCI (Business Continuity Institute) guidelines, EMS Solutions can provide the objective BCP assessment you need to help you uncover any gaps, duplication, single-points-of-failure, or conflicting interdependencies in your plan. EMSS will provide evaluation of such plan areas as:
  • Assessment of current risk factors

  • Review of incident mitigation processes

  • Evaluation of resource management plans

  • Review of internal and external communications plans

EMSS can also assist in developing a comprehensive BCP for your organization; please see EMSS’ BCP Development page for more information