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Points to Consider on Contingency Planning & Business Resumption

The September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have certainly demonstrated the vulnerability of this country to terrorism. This has raised a number of questions about what actions might need to be taken to enhance readiness.

While the emphasis on terrorism has increased, Colorado remains vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards. And the following three critical underpinnings of effective contingency planning remain unchanged.

First, the planning must focus on all hazards,

Second, it needs to consider the time before, during, and after the event, and

Third, it must fix functional responsibility.

Thoughts for consideration in assessing whether your company is prepared for an emergency.
These are not meant to be all-inclusive.

• Do you have a contact list for key personnel (work and home phone, cell, pager)?
  
• Have you identified your essential and non-essential personnel?
  
• If you have essential personnel who are also a primary care provider, do they have a family support plan in place that allows them to be available for priority business.
  
• Is there an evacuation plan for your buildings with designated assembly areas so that you can account for all your personnel? Has it been exercised?
  
• Does your agency have a physical security plan and a designated security officer?
  
• Have all of your key personnel been trained in how to respond to and recover from a disaster emergency?
  
• Have you identified the critical sites/facilities within your agency which might be a “show stopper” if rendered inoperable?
  
• Has someone conducted a vulnerability assessment of those critical sites/facilities and proposed actions that would reduce those vulnerabilities?
  
• Have you identified your company's critical, essential and necessary functions and prioritized those for restoration?
  
• Have you fixed responsibility for restoration of those functions/services?
  
• Is there an established milestone schedule for restoration of those services?
  
• Have you planned for safe keeping of vital records (including storage, location and access)?
  
• Do you have an alternate facility designated with a plan to move operations from the damaged facility?
  
• Is there a management structure in place for both the response and recovery phases of a disaster emergency?
  
• Have you documented all of the above in a planning document, and have you trained your staff on the plan?
  
• Have you conducted an exercise to validate your plan, and/or identify and correct deficiencies?
  
• Do you have agreements with other organizations who might assist in restoration of critical services, and have they been exercised?