Developing the Business Continuity Plan.

Developing the Business Continuity Program

A comprehensive Business Continuity Plan will include the following:

The Strategic Plan which will define the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the program.
Emergency Operations/Response - identify the procedures which spell out how you will respond to emergencies. Whenever possible develop them as a series of checklists that can be quickly located. The plan should also list the roles and responsibilities of internal and external agencies, organizations, departments and individuals. This shall also include an organization chart which will establish the line of authority for agency, organization, departments, and individuals.
The Mitigation Strategy which shall establish interim and long-term actions to eliminate hazards or to reduce the impact of those hazards that cannot be eliminated.
A Recovery Strategy which shall identify the short-term and long-term priorities, processes, vital resources, acceptable time frames and procedures for restoration of services, facilities, programs, and infrastructure. The Recovery Strategy should address the possibility of loosing access to one or more workplaces/facilities. This Continuity of Operations Plan identifies the critical and time-sensitive applications, processes and functions to be recovered and continued, as well as the personnel, resources and procedures necessary to do so.

Each component will have common elements. These elements are the foundation for the procedures that will be followed to protect personnel and equipment and resume operations. These core elements of emergency management are:

Direction & Control - Someone must be in charge in an emergency. The system for managing resources, analyzing information and making decisions in an emergency is called direction and control.
Life Safety - Procedures for protecting the health and safety of everyone during an emergency (i.e., evacuation planning, routes and exits, assembly areas, sheltering, etc.)
Property Protection - Procedures for protecting facilities, equipment and vital records (i.e., fighting fires, containing material spills, shutting equipment down, moving equipment to a safe location, etc.)
Communications - Specific methods and equipment will be needed to report emergencies, warn personnel and customers of the danger, keep employees and families informed about what’s happening, coordinate response actions and keep in contact with customers and suppliers, keeping in mind that the normal communications systems could be unavailable.
Community Outreach - You may involve outside organizations in your emergency management plan. This section should include a plan for public information and media relations.
Recovery & Restoration - This section should include your critical operations and the plans for resuming operations, continuity of management and protection of the chain of command, insurance coverage, contracts and claim requirements, and employee support.
Administration & Logistics - This section provides direction for the creation and maintenance of complete and accurate records to ensure a more efficient emergency response and recovery, keeping in mind that certain records may be required by your insurance carrier(s) or prove valuable in the case of legal action after an incident.