4 REASONS YOU NEED AN

INTEGRATED CONTINGENCY
PLAN
By Chris Britton | August 25, 2016 | Business Continuity

As business continuity and emergency response professionals look to the future, many see a
need for increased investment in emergency planning. In fact, 24 percent of organizations
expect to increase spending on their business continuity programs in 2016, according to
the Business Continuity Institute. For those looking to step up their emergency planning
efforts, is an integrated contingency plan worthwhile?
An integrated contingency plan, also known as ICP or One Plan, is a single, unified
emergency response plan that is meant to help organizations comply with multiple federal
planning requirements put in place by various regulatory agencies. While many
organizations are still using contingency plans as a separate strategy, this is starting to be
seen as an outgoing trend. Contemporary best practices suggest incorporating contingency
plans into your larger emergency preparedness and business continuity initiatives.

The idea behind an integrated plan came from the U.S. National Response Team (NRT),
which in 1996 published guidelines for consolidating multiple emergency response plans
into one core document. Although an integrated plan is not required, the tactic can certainly
be helpful for certain organizations, particularly those in the public sector.
Is the integrated approach right for you? Here, we explore four key reasons your
organization may benefit from an integrated contingency plan:

1. A STREAMLINED EMERGENCY
PLANNING PROCESS.
By integrating multiple emergency plans into a single document, your organization can
enjoy a more streamlined planning process. You will no longer need to draft multiple
disparate plans, which helps to eliminate duplicate information and processes. Plus, if your
organization uses a mobile app or software platform for crisis response, employees will
have an easier time navigating one unified plan, rather than multiple separate ones.
An integrated plan also simplifies the review process, which can be especially timeconsuming in large organizations. When your stakeholders and crisis response team only
needs to review and approve one document, the process is significantly easier.

2. GREATER COMPLIANCE.
An integrated plan is especially helpful for those organizations that must comply with
several federal emergency planning regulations. The original NRT guidance document
sought to consolidate the emergency response elements of the following federal
regulations:

EPA RCRA contingency planning requirements

EPA SPCC regulation

EPA risk management programs regulation

OSHAs emergency action plan regulation, process safety management

standard and HAZWOPER regulation

Facility response plan regulations from the USCG, BSEE and EPA

Department of Transportation PHMSA pipeline response plan regulation

If your organization is required to adhere to any of the above regulations, an integrated plan
can help keep you in compliance by providing you with a single reference point for all

planning information. This streamlined approach also gives you improved visibility into
various parts of your organizations emergency response, which can help to reveal gaps that
could be costly.

3. POTENTIAL COST-SAVINGS.
Many organizations that adopt an integrated plan actually save money. Since the planning
process is streamlined and reviews are simplified, administrative costs are kept to a
minimum. Plus, by crafting a more comprehensive, effective plan, some may eliminate
regulatory fines and minimize the amount of funds spent on emergency response and cleanup.

4. IMPROVED EMERGENCY RESPONSE.

Not only does an integrated plan make the planning process more streamlined; it also
improves the response process itself. When your separate plans are incorporated into one
document, discrepancies and inconsistencies are minimized, and gaps are filled. Since all
information is readily available in one place, stakeholders are ready for any emergency that
may arise.
This is particularly true for organizations that leverage mobile crisis management tools. By
incorporating all contingency plans into a single document, you make it easier for
stakeholders to find the most relevant, up-to-date information for a specific emergency.
This empowers employees, leadership and other stakeholders to act quickly and decisively,
which improves emergency response and minimizes potential interruption to your
organization.
Has your company or agency considered adopting an integrated contingency plan? In what
ways do you think an integrated plan would impact your organization most?

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