A Certification Standard Has Not Emerged in Emergency Preparedness Plans

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Crisis Communications is an Integral Component

The most common item in emergency preparedness plans is crisis communications, which is included in 91% of the plans. Almost as common is inclusion of evacuation procedures, present in 89% of plans. Other common items are securing access to facilities in 77% of plans, locating employees in 75%, first aid in 65%, liaison with first responders in 64%, legal representation in 42%, and coping with stress and trauma in 39%.

Compared with smaller companies, firms at the enterprise level are far more likely to have implemented written plans that contain these specific items. The differences are most striking with regard to organizational procedures that go beyond the immediate needs of first responders and involve dealing with stakeholders in the outside world. Eighty-eight percent of large companies have a written plan for crisis communication, compared to 63% of mid-markets and 48% of small businesses; and 52% of enterprises have a written plan for legal representation in the event of an emergency, as opposed to 24% of mid-market firms and 17% of small companies.

Some Plans Have Board Approval

Among the companies with emergency preparedness plans, 58% have had the plan approved by their board. Therefore, 43% of companies overall have written emergency preparedness plans that have been approved by the board.

Among large companies, 92% of companies have a written plan, compared with 72% of mid-markets and 58% of small businesses. But only one-third of large companies have plans that have been formally approved by their board, compared to 49% of mid-markets and 44% of small firms.

"It is quite surprising that so few large companies have board approval on their emergency preparedness plans," says Cavanagh. "This could be because in larger companies, emergency preparedness is considered an operational rather than a strategic issue, so it may not be considered essential to send it to the board for review."

Off-Site Storage Very Popular

The most common procedure companies currently have in place for emergency preparedness is by far the maintenance of an off-site storage of data and documents. This step is essential for business continuity in the event that a firm's primary facility is damaged or otherwise inaccessible. Fully 81% of companies report that they store these materials off-site. But a much smaller proportion (40%) has an off-site emergency operations center. Approximately 62% of companies maintain a phone tree, and the same percentage has installed security checkpoints at entries to their facilities. With regard to other procedures, 42% have a travel management system and 21% have provided emergency survival kits to employees.

Some basic procedures are performed at least annually by a wide range of companies. Fully 83% of companies regularly update their emergency contact information, and 81% conduct fire and/or evacuation drills at least once a year. Two-thirds of companies give regular messages about security to their employees and conduct risk assessments and vulnerability audits, while 57% follow up the audits by implementing plans to mitigate the identified weaknesses. Some 56% of companies activate their backup facility in a test at least once a year. Some other procedures are considerably less common. Only 42% of companies conduct tabletop exercises on a regular basis, and only one-quarter schedule "work from home" days in advance to test their resiliency in the event that their personnel are unable to work from their main facility.

Business Continuity Plans are Closely Related

Business continuity programs originate from the need to recover IT operations in the event of a system crash. So it is not surprising that the most frequently mentioned item in BC plans is maintaining IT systems, present in 92%. In general, the most common items on the BC checklist refer to basic utilities, facilities, and HR issues. For example, moving operations to off-site locations and communicating with employees are mentioned by 82% apiece, followed by providing telecom services (78%), backup electrical generators (77%), identifying essential employees (75%), and working from home (71%).

A second cluster of issues, which is less commonly addressed, concerns the conduct of business operations. These items include conducting financial transactions (mentioned by 70%), contingency plans with suppliers (65%), coping with an avian flu pandemic (51%), prioritizing customers (49%), disruption of business travel (40%), and alternative transportation of goods (32%). The relative lack of attention to transportation issues may be somewhat surprising and even alarming, in light of the extent to which supply and distribution chains now extend across the globe for American businesses.

Companies at the enterprise level are especially likely to have implemented business continuity plans dealing with the conduct of business operations. The energy and finance sectors are most likely to have written business continuity plans, with 92% of energy companies and 90% of financial firms reporting such a plan. These two industries also lead the way on virtually all of the specific items that were asked about in the plans. One interesting anomaly is that the healthcare sector scores quite low on many aspects of business continuity planning, often at levels comparable to the trade and industrial manufacturing sectors.

Source: Benchmarking Business Preparedness: Plans, Procedures, and Implementation of Standards, Executive Action #267, The Conference Board