Government advises businesses to implement disaster plans

The Government has advised businesses to act swiftly to ensure they have plans to deal with events that could spell disaster to them. With 20% of large companies and 80 % of small firms unprepared, a new, free CD and booklet prepared by London First will help any business take the vital steps to keep their business going if it is affected by incidents such as a terrorist attack, explosive device or fire.

In addition, the counter-terrorism office has drawn up standard procedures to help small businesses plan for the worst. There are 5 steps.

Step 1
Analyse the Business
It is essential that a director at board level is committed to the project because it needs to be implemented as normal business practice throughout the firm. They also need to have a complete understanding of the way people work, both within the organisation and with customers and suppliers.

Step 2
Assess the Risks
There are 2 aspects of the risks a company faces: how likely is it that a disaster will happen and what effect will it have on the business? It is best to work this out on a cost basis.

Calculate how much the firm could afford to lose if an emergency prevented people from coming in for days, weeks, or months. The results could include business going to competitors, failures in the supply chain, loss of reputation, human-resources issues, healthf and safety liabiliities and higher insurance premiums.

A second useful tool when evaluating risk is to look at the worst-case scenario and which functions and people are essential. This is also helpful when dealing with incidents that are not quite so catastrophic.

Step 3
Develop your strategy
This largely depends on a company's attitude to risk, and it is beset to check with the board to ensure that your company strategy reflects this.

The most likely strategies are:

Step 4
Develop your plan.
Continuity plans are different for every business, but all should include some important features. The most common are listed above. It may also be worthwhile including information from outside experts or from other business people who face similar risks. This could include talking to the emergency services, utility and insurance companies, and having an emergency-planning officer.

Step 5
Rehearse the plan
Your company's strategy should be constantly updated. Weaknesses are often seen only when plans are put in to action, so it is worth trying them out. Paper-based exercises are the easiest, but you can follow these up with a telephone test message to see how quickly the information gets around to the correct departments, and then go for a full rehearsal.

To learn more, download the 32 page booklet (.pdf 522 KB), published by London First, the Business Continuity Institute and the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, a police unit working to the Association of Chief Police Officers