Make a continuity plan for your business

Think about how you can protect your building and the staff who work there:

• have evacuation procedures for your buildings
• ensure that the fire exits clearly marked and fire procedures in place
• regularly practice fire drills
• have primary and secondary evacuation points at a suitable distance away from the building
• have a site plan of your building
• have generator backup systems in place
• have an alternative building to use in an emergency. This is a building where your business, or critical elements of your business, could continue to operate from
• check on a regular basis that the heating and air conditioning is working
• familiarise yourself and your staff with the location of the mains switches and valves, for instance electricity, gas and water
• carry out end of day inspections, for instance to check everybody has left
• have procedures in place to make sure that all appliances are switched off and doors and windows are locked at the end of the working day
• regularly check the condition of external fences and doors

Ensure that you can protect your staff. Its also important to know how you will communicate with them:

• make a list of all employee contact telephone numbers and home addresses
• ensure your staff know who is in charge in the time of a crisis
• give your staff specific roles in the event of a crisis
• check if your business could operate from another location and whether your staff work from somewhere else, or from home
• ensure that some members of staff have first aid or medical training

Assess your security measures:

• consider installing a security system
• write a security policy
• think about giving advice or training on security
• check references fully
• check on contractors, this incudes the company as well as each individual

Ensure that important information is protected:

• copy or back up your information
• store your critical paper documents in fire and waterproof containers
• make copies of critical accounts and store contracts at a separate location
• ensure someone is responsible for the upkeep of your files and accounts

Think about IT security:

• are your IT systems critical to the running of your business
• if your IT systems failed, do you have a manual processes that could maintain critical documentary or administrative functions
• do you know how long it would take to recover IT functions if your system failed
• who would restore your system if it went down and do you have their contact details
• do you have a tested IT disaster recovery plan
• is your computer anti-virus software up-to-date
• are documented IT security policies and procedures in place
• are all your computer users fully aware of email and internet usage policies
• is your company system part of a larger network
• do you know how many platforms/servers/applications or operating systems support critical business functions
• is expertise of how to use your IT system, and knowledge of where critical documents are stored electronically or limited to one individual
• do you have vital computer information stored on back up discs held off the premises

Check how dependant are you are on your suppliers:

• do you have alternative suppliers for critical equipment such as, parts, goods and products
• do you have an arrangement with your critical suppliers where they will inform you if they cannot make a delivery
• do your suppliers have a business continuity plan
• do you have your suppliers' correct contact details, both for office hours and out of office hours

Consider how important equipment is to your company:

• have someone accountable for the assets of your company
• make an inventory and is it regularly checked
• place controls over the movement of your company equipment

Think about your communication with customers:

• check that you have the correct contact details for all your main customers
• find out if you have any key customers who you will need contact with during a crisis

Check the potential risks at your location:

• think about the types of risk that might occur due to the actions or operations of other businesses near to you
• assess the types of risk associated with the environment, for instance flooding from a nearby river, snow, severe weather

Look at your insurance arrangements:

• do you have sufficient insurance to pay for disruption to business, for instance:
  • cost of repairs
  • hiring temporary employees
  • leasing temporary accommodation and equipment
• do you have your insurance company’s details in order to contact them immediately at the time of an incident

Consider what the most likely and greatest risks to your business are. Analyse the risk by asking the following questions:

• how likely is it to happen
• what effect will it have on the business
• what you need to do to stay operational if it takes place
• what measures can you take to prevent them from happening or minimise the effect they will have on your business
• are you insured against the worst eventualities

Bad publicity or incorrect information given out during an incident can damage a company’s reputation. If your business has a major incident then PR will influence how existing and potential customers, suppliers and all other stakeholders will view your business.

Nominate a company spokesperson, ensure all staff know who it is, ensure that they have some training in media handling.

During an incident ensure that :

• your company gives out a consistent message
• your staff are kept informed
• advertisements are placed in local or national papers as needed

Its a good idea to prepare an emergency pack. You could include the following items:

• business recovery plan
• list of employees with contact details
• details of IT providers
• contact details for clients and suppliers
• building site plan
• spare keys
• computer back up tapes/discs
• first aid kit
• stationary/message pads/coloured pens and pencils
• torch with spare batteries
• megaphone
• tape
• mobile phone, fully charged
• disposable cameras
• dust and toxic fume masks