If tomorrow an event occurred which resulted in only law enforcement and public health officials to enter your building for the unforeseeable future, would you be able to maintain your essential day to day operations? That is a question every company should be asking themselves.
We all know the tragedy that September 11, 2001 brought both our nation and the world as a whole. It was the worst case of terrorism to occur on US soil. In the aftermath of 9/11, the federal government realized how quickly government business could be derailed. The President of the United States signed into law Presidential Directive 67, which mandated that every Federal agency prepare a COOP plan. To the average American, the term "COOP," which is short for Continuity of Operations, was something they were unfamiliar with. For many Americans this term remained foreign to them until recent tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina, the New York City Transit strike, the forest fires in the Western US States, and the Northeast blackout of August 2003. Events of this magnitude forced business owners, regardless of size, to evaluate if they were prepared should an event as simple as an overnight fire, or as major as a hurricane or terrorist attack, affect their company.
COOP planning is nothing more than planning for the "what if" scenario. It is planning which is done ahead of time so that in the event that a business needs to relocate their office for any reason, they can do so in a coordinated, efficient manner by following the instructions outlined in their COOP plan. No two COOP plans are the same as each COOP plan is unique to a company's day-to-day operations.
The objective of COOP planning is to direct and guide appropriate actions to assure the capability exists to continue core business functions and activities, and to achieve an orderly recovery from emergency situations across a wide range of potential emergencies or threats, including acts of nature, accidents, technological, and attack-related emergencies.
- Facilitating decision-making during an emergency
- Ensuring the continuous performance of an company's essential functions/ operations during an emergency
- Protecting essential facilities, equipment, records, and other assets
- Reducing or mitigating disruptions to operations
- Ensuring the safety of your employees, reducing loss of life and minimizing damage and losses
- Achieving a timely and orderly recovery from an emergency and resumption of full service to customers
Knowing the risks and the challenges ahead to develop a COOP plan, one might feel overwhelmed thinking of how they will develop a solution. We will tailor a COOP plan for the needs of your individual company.
Review of existing plans and policies: We will thoroughly review any existing emergency plans your company might have. Don't have one? Not to worry, we will work with your staff through the methods of face-to- face interviews and surveys to determine your company's essential functions, and develop a tailored plan.
During this seminar, we will introduce the new programs, policies or plans to your staff. This will serve as a starting point for the employee active participation portion of the program.
We will train members of your staff to allow them to train and educate new employees on your company's plans and procedures.
We will develop a drill that will allow you to practice and perfect a single emergency response.
We will develop a realistic scenario, and will coordinate and mediate a low-stress discussion involving staff from various departments of your plans, policies and procedures.
We will combine the interactivity of the single element drill exercise with a field element. A full-scale exercise is as close to the real thing as possible.
Using the results of the drills and exercises, we will develop an after action report which will detail successes and provide solutions for areas with room for improvement.
