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Many businesses still have little confidence in their ability to recover from a fire, flood, or other disaster, according to research carried out by SembCorp Protection which was presented at a Business Continuity conference in London.
The overriding message from conference delegates and exhibition visitors was that, while they appreciated the need for business continuity planning, many felt a high degree of discomfort regarding their current state of preparedness. The research identified that the focus for many companies is centred on what to do when something does happen, with little attention being paid to prevention.
The shortcomings acknowledged by delegates included not being prepared for significant business interruption, a lack of confidence in how they would respond, and uncertainty about how their staff would behave in an emergency. Few appear to have had any formal training in business continuity or disaster recovery, and often felt that they were unaware of their company’s business continuity plan.
A significant number of businesses have only one person with responsibility for business continuity planning, and that person often has other responsibilities that are seen as being of more pressing importance.
Commenting on the findings, SembCorp Protection’s emergency planning manager, Kevin O’Hare, said: “It is clear that delegates have little or no understanding of the Civil Contingencies Act or how it relates to business continuity planning or their company’s emergency preparedness. Many companies indicated that they worked in isolation and did not consider neighbouring businesses or the local community. Perhaps the biggest indictment was the number who admitted that they are just ‘ticking boxes’ rather than implementing effective and tested emergency response procedures.”
He added that respondents to the survey frequently did not check if their suppliers have business continuity plans, as they had little faith in their own. The majority are dependent on the emergency services, and lack any real understanding of the magnitude of business recovery issues.