Business Continuity PWG Current Activities

Professional Working Groups - Current Activities

An Update from the Professional Working Group - Business Continuity (PWG-BC)

The Professional Working Group for Business Continuity (PWG-BC) is just one of the 11 professional working groups within the EPS. The group has responsibility for representing the EPS on all Business Continuity related matters,; this includes representation on national working groups such as British Standards and the Civil Contingencies Secretariat.

The aim of this article is: to raise the awareness and profile of the PWG-BC amongst the EPS membership; to set out its role; and highlight some of the current themes being addressed within the group.

The PWG-BC is available to address the needs of the EPS members by reviewing and responding to any areas of concern that are raised at either local or national forums or by direct correspondence to the group.

Where an issue is identified, and it is felt that further action is required, a working sub-group will be established. This sub-group will be formed around a nucleus of PWG-BC members, where appropriate additional expertise may be invited into the group or joint working with another PWG may be undertaken.

The group currently has 24 members on its distribution list, comprising a mix of both Public and Private sector business continuity practitioners. There is a vast depth of knowledge and experience within the group. We are fortunate that many of the groups' current members are also involved with national and international working groups through their affiliation with other bodies, such as financial services, academia, government agency or the BCI.

Current Themes
Set out below is a brief overview of some of the issues the group are currently addressing:

Voice over Power Point Presentation.
Each PWG's has been requested to prepare a simple presentation which will be available via the web. This presentation will give a general introduction to the subject area that is represented by each group. The slideshow being developed for this group will use BS25999 and the Business Continuity Institute Good Practice Guide 2008 as the model for the Business Continuity Management System.

Standards
The group has been heavily involved with the development of the BS 25999 and still has representation on the British Standards working group. Since its release over 4,100 copies of Part 1 and over 1150 copies of part 2 have been sold (part 2 has only been available since December). This shows the level of interest that has been shown in the new standard by businesses across the country, and beyond. In fact several organisations have already achieved BS25999 certification. There is also a lot of interest to see whether BS2599 will be adopted as an International Standard.

Members should be aware of the other standards that are being developed such as the 'Societal Security - Guidance for incident preparedness and operational continuity management' ISO/PAS 22399:2007. This document talks about, amongst other things, Operational Continuity being the new term for Business Continuity. Although still in draft form, if this becomes the new international standard it will have a direct impact on BS25999.
SHOULD WE INCLUDE A REFERENCE AS TO HOW MEMBERS CAN OBTAIN A COPY OF THE DRAFT AND ASK FOR THEIR COMMENTS TO BE DIRECTED TO THIS GROUP SO THAT EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION AGAINST THE DRAFT CAN BE MADE? What do you think?

Terms & Definitions
The group is keen to try and standardise the terms and definitions used in all aspects of business continuity. Currently business continuity can fall under the control of the dedicated business continuity practitioner, the risk manager or the emergency planner. Risk managers use different terminology to that of emergency planners and of business continuity practitioners. The plan is to develop a glossary of terms that can be used by all which will hopefully reduce some of the confusion, for example, what is the difference between Incident and Crisis management? BCM should not be clouded with smoke and mirrors, it should be simple to understand and easy to implement.

Incident Response Public/Private - Who does what?
It has become clear that many private sector businesses do not have a full understanding of the roles and functions of the emergency services and local authorities during a major incident. Whilst many organisations have developed very thorough and detailed Incident Management Plans to deal with the initial response, they lack a clear understanding of how to integrate with those responders. Understanding the requirements of the emergency services to make a site safe; the implications to access a site should it be deemed a scene of crime, even matters such as the reporting a sudden and/or accidental death are not fully understood by many.

Several excellent documents currently exist within local resilience forums that outline emergency response procedures. The need for a simple guide for businesses is evident. The document will explain how the emergency services, voluntary sector emergency resources and local authority and public sector agencies integrate and respond to a major incident. It would also explain how the private sector would address the issues such as; evacuation, accounting for staff, relocating people, health and safety, activation of DR site. This should benefit a transfer of knowledge and understanding across all sectors..

Advice and assistance to businesses and the voluntary sector
Local authorities have a duty under the CCA to provide advice and assistance to local businesses and voluntary organisations. Some excellent work has been done to promote awareness and provide this advice, but it appears that the results have not been consistent across the country.

Many of the larger multinational and national organisations employ dedicated Business Continuity Managers who, in some cases, will have a greater awareness and understanding of the business continuity process than their Local Authority counter part. Many of who more often than not have a dual role to play in either the emergency planning or risk office.

It is the engagement of small businesses that has been the greatest challenge. The London Assembly recently released 'Prepared for the worst' which specifically looks at ways of promoting and coordinating business continuity within the Capital

Other BC issues that are also being examined are:

- Diversity of businesses such as tourism and agriculture which are more predominant in the rural authority areas.
- Competencies required to deliver advice and assistance
- Legal implications concerning use of the provision of templates and planning advice

CCA review/CCA 6,000 Mile Service
Bruce Mann gave a presentation in November 2007 at which he confirmed there will be a review of the CCA in due course. It is expected that members of the group will be involved with the review of both chapters 6 and8 in the Emergency Preparedness document. The work being undertaken with reference to the advice and assistance (as set out above) will complement the review.

Future Plans -

Website
The group now has a dedicated area within the PWG link on the EPS website. Currently the groups Terms of Reference and contact details are located at this site. However, under the direction of our Web Officer we aim to develop the following areas:

- Minutes of meetings
- Opportunity for members of EPS to send topics to be considered/suggestions to be reviewed

Annual Forum/Surgery
Plans are currently being considered to hold an annual 1 day forum for EPS members, specifically dealing with Business Continuity issues. The format of the event is still being discussed but a mix of presentations and workshops based around a particular topic seems to be the preferred choice. More information will be posted on the website once confirmed.

Summary
The PWG-BC is here to represent you, its members, on all matters concerning Business Continuity. We are also here to ensure that the real issues and concerns of our members across all sectors are also addressed. There is a lot of excellent work being done to advance business continuity across all sectors. It is important that we as a group can identify and influence these changes and then share best practices with our members.

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Professional Working Groups - Current Activities