Businesses who want to test their ability to survive a crisis like a major fire, power cut or a flu epidemic can make use of free resources from the Bedfordshire and Luton Local Resilience Forum (BLLRF).
Often business continuity plans are drawn up, put in a desk drawer and not used until a crisis strikes, the forum points out. Any omissions or mistakes only come to light during an actual emergency – when it might be too late. BLLRF hosted a free “table top” exercise in March to coincide with Business Continuity Awareness Week (BCAW).
Tony Green, Luton Borough Council’s Emergency Planning Officer, said: “Any plan is only as good as its last test. If you don’t test your business continuity plan, how do you know it will work when you need it? Using our simple desk top scenarios companies will be able to simulate emergency situations that might affect their business to discover if their current plan works. Does it protect vital assets? Does it enable your business to carry on? Will it save you money if disaster strikes? A plan that looks good on paper but doesn’t work in reality is something you don’t want to discover during a real emergency. Testing your plan now also gets your emergency team actively involved in understanding how your business might respond in a real crisis.”
The simulated scenarios included a fire, flu pandemic or a power cut. Businesses can download a scenario that could affect their business and a series of “injects” to be used during the day/week to test their reaction to an evolving emergency.
Bedfordshire businesses can visit the BLLRF stand at the Business Expo on 16 April 2015 at Bedford Corn Exchange. Visit www.bllrf.org.uk.
