News
Paula Lindo
DO you as a business owner have a plan in place for what will happen to your business during and following an emergency?
Do you and your staff know what to do in the event of an earthquake, a hurricane, a fire?
These and other topics were covered in the American Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (AmCham TT) Business Continuity workshop at the Frank Stockdale Building, UWI, St Augustine, on May 16.
The event was held in collaboration with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) as part of National Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Month.
There was lively discussion among the 30 attendees representing small and medium enterprises as facilitator Wendy Dickson of AmCham TT’s ARISE committee explained the importance of business continuity planning.
AmChamTT project assistant Ariana Gayadeen said business continuity planning was essential, not a luxury.
“In an increasingly connected and unpredictable world, the risks are coming at us faster and hitting harder. Many of us have felt this firsthand, whether through flooding, cyber-attacks, supply chain disruptions or the effects of economic instability. If there’s one lesson we have learned, it’s that waiting until a crisis hits is no longer is no longer an option.
“This workshop is about being intentional in the steps we take to strengthen our businesses and protect our people. That means thinking about risks before they materialise. It means identifying weak points in our operations and working to fix them and having real strategies in place when destruction strikes.”
She said the world is connected and a problem in one country or part of society could have a ripple effect.
ODPM mitigation manager Peter Kalicharan said he hoped the lessons learned during the workshop would be applied by those present and promoted to their fellow business owners.
Dickson said it was often difficult to get senior management to buy into and support the need for business continuity planning. She said the people attending the workshop will be able to explain and enable their staff to understand what was needed.
“Business continuity is about preparing for any unforeseen incident that may occur. The world is getting weirder everyday, we have increasingly epic weather events, multiplying global geopolitical uncertainties and stubborn economic stressors. Business community planning addresses both natural and human disasters that may bring business to a halt. While it is not possible to avoid disasters, companies can protect themselves by planning for them.
“Business continuity creates roadmaps to follow in the event of any emergency. It’s essentially a form of insurance and it gives the company the comfort of knowing that even if a disaster should strike, it won’t be overwhelmed.”
Dickson said the ISO 22301 standard is an international standard for business continuity management systems (BCMS). It provides a framework for organisations to plan, establish, implement, and maintain a BCMS to ensure business continuity during disruptions. She said the standard is applicable to all types and sizes of organisations.
She said no organisation should function without business continuity plans, which were important because they enabled businesses to protect their people, were a Central Bank regulatory requirement, and allowed businesses to continue providing services to stakeholders and meet stakeholder expectations.
Dickson said there were four phases of business continuity: reduce, which deals with how to respond to and mitigate against the event. These steps should be planned in advance, shared and practised by staff; respond, which involves putting previously laid plans in place when an incident occurs; recover/resume, which takes into account how soon the business’ critical operation and processes can resume after a disaster; and restore/return, how quickly the business can fully resume operations.
She said there are four main components to business continuity planning: emergency response, crisis communications, IT disaster recovery management and business unit operational procedures. She said all of these plans could not be prepared by one person, which meant a team was required. She said each plan should have a captain and alternate charged with implementation.
Dickson outlined various scenarios where business continuity plans would be needed, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, etc.
She said in the case of earthquakes, staff should practice the standard drill of drop, cover and hold. She said if a desk/table was not available indoors, people should find a sturdy wall, crouch, and protect their necks and heads. She said this could also apply outdoors. Asked what happened if the nearest available wall was glass, she said glass walls and structures should be avoided.
Dickson said in preparing for a hurricane or heavy rains causing flooding, people should have a grab and go bag with three days worth of food, which should be checked regularly for expiry dates, batteries, radios, clothing, essential documents, written records of phone numbers, etc.
She said people should read the fine print on the insurance policies for their homes and vehicles, as many companies did not cover flooding under general policies and flood peril needed to be a separate specific clause. She said flooding could also be defined differently by different companies, and some companies charged higher premiums or did not cover homes in flood-prone areas.
Kalicharran said business owners should be following the ODPM’s social media pages, where the organisation posts tips on how people can protect themselves, warnings of adverse events and information on where people can get help.
ODPM training and education specialist Kirk Jean-Baptiste said the TT population was reactive, especially when it came to disasters where they received advanced warning. He cited instances where people would say, “God is a Trini” when told a hurricane was imminent, waiting until the last minute to go to the grocery, fill up with gas and come to the ODPM for sandbags, hindering workers from leaving to protect their own homes.
Kalicharran reminded that ODPM was a co-ordinating agency. He said people should also take personal responsibility and make plans for their homes in case of disaster. He said people should sign up for the Public Alert Notifications System, which would give them necessary information in the event of a disaster.
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