Generic challenges to business continuity such as denial of site or geographical area or loss of mains electricity have been gathered by the authorities.
The UK Government has a national risk assessment capability which identifies risks to the UK as a whole over a five year period, and assesses their likelihood and impact. This risk assessment is used for response planning and capability building.
The Government believes that businesses may find some of this information, about generic challenges to business continuity, useful when developing and reviewing their business continuity plans, and when considering the business continuity requirements for organisations in their supply chain. This does not imply that all activities should be resilient to all of the challenges set out in the document, as this may not be appropriate or affordable. Similarly, there may be other risks particular to the businesses that are not reflected in these generic challenges. The Government adds that use of the generic challenges should not be a substitute for carrying out business specific risk assessments which should underpin all emergency planning and business continuity management processes.
You can visit the Preparing for Emergencies website for downloads on
Large-scale temporary absence of staff
Permanent or long-term loss of staff
Denial of site or geographical area
Loss of mains electricity
Disruption to transport
Loss of mains water and sewerage
Loss of availability of oil and fuel; and loss of telephone/ mobile telephone communications.
