Business Continuity Management

2010

Pandemic Influenza Coordination (PIC),

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)
 What is Business Continuity Management?
Process to identify potential impacts that
threaten an organisation
g and provides a
framework for building resilience and the
capability for an effective response which
safeguards
f d the
th interests
i t t off itsit key
k staket k
holders, reputation, brand and value creating
activities (Business Continuity Institute & BS 25999).
25999)

Includes disaster recovery,

recovery business recovery
recovery,
crisis management, incident management,
emergency management, contingency planning
and just plain old ‘plan B’.
 Why is it necessary?
• Staff health & welfare
• Ensure
Ens re that in the eevent
ent of a crisis
essential services can be maintained
• Preparedness is key
• Important to plan for all kinds of incidents,
e.g. a power cut, toilets explode, your
office blows up – it happens!
• Provides confidence that we can.
 Who is involved?
• Everyone in your organization!
• Team should be nominated
• Need
N d a Coordinator
C di t

• Parties you have an interdependancy with

• Anyone you expect to rely on
• Other branches
Preparedness v’s Readiness

Preparedness = the process of getting ready for a pandemic

(with the ultimate objective to achieve Pandemic Readiness)

Readiness = the state of complete preparedness to cope with a pandemic

0% 100%
Prepared Prepared
( ‘Ready’)
(=‘

Ready = Institutionalized + Operationalized

Buy-in and sign-off All preparedness measures

at highest level implemented & processes tested

• Command-and-control structures established

• SOPs for operational response during pandemic
• Plans signed into policy
• Contact lists & critical staff lists up-to-date
• Integrated into routine training
• Practical / logistical issues sorted out
• Majority of staff are familiar with the concepts
• Administrative issues sorted out
• Clear ownership & responsibility to maintain
(eg. Payroll ready to pay, hotline functional...)
Stages of Preparedness

0% 100%
Prepared Prepared
(=‘Ready’)

Planning to Plan Theoretical d

Ready

(no plan) Paper Plan Plan + Policies + SOPs

Nothing beyond a Exists only on paper; Continuously updated,
photocopy of the template nothing implemented yet Tested & maintained

“Department X will be responsible “An emergency communication Institutionalized

for drafting the plan” t
system will
ill be
b putt in
i place”
l ” (Buy in and sign-off
(Buy-in sign off at highest level)
+
“The Pandemic task force “X% of critical staff will Operationalized
will meet twice per year” telecommute from home” (All preparedness measures implemented)
Stages of Preparedness

0% 100%
Prepared Prepared
(=‘Ready’)

Planning to Plan Theoretical d

Ready

“We should order

a fire
extinguisher”
 Business Continuity Planning v. Contingency Planning

Pandemic Plan

Global & Protracted

Emergency

Influenza Pandemic
Nuclear Warfare
DSS Plan

Internal External
Emergency Emergency

Fire Floods
Terrorism Cyclones
Blackouts Tsunamis
Business Contingency
Continuity Plan
Plan
Terminology / Definitions

Mainstreaming = the phasing out of a project after its outcomes and related practices are
deemed to have been effectively embedded into routine processes & policies.

The discipline of Pandemic Preparedness should eventually be mainstreamed into generic Disaster Planning.

Integration = the process of becoming a part of a larger organizational entity or an effort

of greater scope.

PIC is integrating into OCHA in 2008 and now appears as a distinct unit in the OCHA Organizational Chart.
Chart

Pandemic Preparedness efforts should be integrated into National Disaster Management Structures.

Convergence = the tendency for a number of distinct disciplines to start sharing

overlapping goals, resources and ‘best practices’ – often resulting in synergy.

The present convergence of Pandemic Preparedness and Natural Disaster Preparedness efforts heralds the
emergence of a unified, multi-sectoral approach to preparedness against global disasters.

Complementarity = the tendency for the outcomes of distinct efforts or disciplines to

contribute to each other / something bigger.

Pandemic Preparedness and Business Continuity complement each other.

 BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT PROCESS

ESTABLISH
POLICY
IMPLIMENT,
TEST
TEST,
REVIEW, RISK
UPDATE ASSESSMENT
BUSINESS
CONTINUITY
MANAGEMENT
PROCESS

MITIGATION BUSINESS
STRATEGIES IMPACT
(interdependencies) ANALYSIS
 BCM BREAKDOWN

Policy
Commit
C i to BCM
BCM,
establish planning team

Implement, Test, Risk Assessment

revise and update plan. What could happen?
Staff health When?
Know triggers - when to & safety
sa e y Are we at risk?
activate and when to
de-activate it Maintain
essential
services
i

Develop Mitigation
strategies Business Impact analysis
Essential roles (staff), back How will events impact what
ups, cross training, we do?

(HR, IT, relocation, etc. H

How will
ill th
they iimpactt on
staff?
Share plan with staff
INTERDEPENDENICES
 Planning elements
• Organisational Structure – modes of operation to be used during the various stages of 
pandemic including the command and control and mechanisms for internal coordination.

• Triggers – identification of triggers, policies and actions to be taken based on the agreed 
organisational structure. 

• Continuity of operations –
C ti it f ti prioritisation of essential programmes to be continued and 
i iti ti f ti l t b ti d d
identification of the requirements / resources needed to ensure this continuity.

• Staff health and safety – measures to be considered in order to ensure staff are able to 
continue to provide essential services.

• Coordination with Local Authorities and National Government – alignment with national 
planning and preparedness and identification of methods for coordination and comunication
planning and preparedness and identification of methods for coordination and comunication 
during pandemic

• External communications – determine the protocols and messages for external 
communications
 Concrete actions
• Succession plan
• Does your delegate know?
• A they
Are th trained
t i d ffor your job?
j b?
• Do they have what they need to do your
job? (passwords, keys, etc)
• Do others know?
 Achievable ways to check your plan

• Check contact list by calling people on it

• Work from home
• Evacuation drill
• Fire drill
• W d check
Warden h k
• MOSS/MORSE check
• What to do if you can not access the office
• The phones do not work
www un-pic
www.un pic.org
org

www.unsic.org
i

www.paho.org

hearns@un.org