Emergency Preparedness for Business Continuity Recognition Program

Why We Plan

“60 percent of businesses impacted by a major disaster close within two years of the event.”

-The Association of Records Managers and

AdministratorsTime Magazine

“Companies that are not able to resume operation within 10 days of a disaster are not likely to survive.”

-The Strategic Research InstituteTime Magazine

Why we Plan

“91 Percent of Americans live in places with a moderate to high risk of earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, high wind damage, or terrorism.”

-Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South CarolinaTime Magazine

“There are four stages of denial. One: It won’t happen. Two: If it does happen, it won’t happen to me. Three: If it does happen to me, it won’t be that bad. And four: If it does happen to me and it’s that bad, there’s nothing I can do to stop it anyway.”

-Eric Holdeman, Director of Emergency Management for King County, SeattleTime Magazine

Why we PlanHow timely that we'll be having our call the day after the East Coast

earthquake. Here's how a personal contact described the response at her building:

“It was totally disorganized. Our "south building" was apparently told to get out, but no one else was told although lots of folks did. I went to the lobby and there was a building person talking to police who knew nothing. About 25 minutes after the fact, they made an announcement saying the building was structurally sound and to stay put.”

“At another building I met the property manager returning from a meeting

with County emergency response. She was told to expect an aftershock in the next two hours. She looked really shaken (pun intended).”

Lt. Governor’s Endorsement

“The Commercial Facilities Sector is vital to our State’s economy and security; We Recognize BOMA Utah’s effort to achieve a network of disaster ready businesses and look forward to continuing to work together in an effort to improve the protection of the Commercial Facilities Sector in an all-hazards environment.”

-Lt. Governor Bell

Message from the President

“When the student is prepared, the teacher will appear.”

- Larry H. Miller

Preparing for the Teacher…

• BOMA Utah Standard:Every current or future member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Utah (whether a building owner, property manager, or associate member), and building tenant, vendor or service provider, will develop, publish and practice a Business Continuity Plan. The Standard will be set and each member will be asked to complete the seven (7) steps as outlined.

Step 1: EducationStep 1: Complete the 12-Point Program as taught by Be Ready Utah, Ready Your Business.

“The mission of the Ready Your Business program is to educate and provide knowledge and training to those individuals seeking an understanding of Business Continuity. The State of Utah has organized an education schedule where the 12-Points are taught over the space of 3 hours. We will retain an instructor from the Ready Your Business program to assist in the education of BOMA Utah and its members. Be Ready Utah has offered their full support to teach the program on location if hosted by a member of BOMA. This will allow us to be aggressive with the program as all curriculums are developed and are put in place and will allow us to schedule education sessions immediately.”

To schedule your Be Ready Utah 12-Point Education contact ___________

Step 2: Evaluation Step 2: Complete a BOMA Utah|BCP Evaluation and Assessment on your property.

BOMA Utah has developed a simple two page evaluation form that allows property owners and all businesses to evaluate their current level of planning and preparedness in their organization. Within this form building owners and managers will learn quickly the ability to think about all facets of planning as it pertains to their current situation. The form takes into account interaction with general business continuity, employee continuity, records continuity, communication continuity, facility and equipment continuity, utilities continuity, and vendor and supply continuity. These are issues at the very core that should be evaluated and addressed in a fundamental plan.

Step 3: PlanStep 3: PlanFollowing completion of the 12 Point Program through Be Ready Utah, and the completion of the BOMA UTAH | BCP EVALUATION, members will be able to begin the development of their Business Continuity Plan. Using the format supplied by the Be Ready Utah Program, it will be necessary for members to complete and address–at a minimum–the following items:

• Hierarchy of event managers & Communicators• Communications’ conduits for reporting inside &

outside business• Business continuity provisions, including:

– List & Prioritize value of critical assets– Records– Employees– Equipment– Others (deemed by your organization)

• Asset Protection• Asset Recovery• Establish reliable relationships with:

– Suppliers– Supporting Contractors– Essential Utilities– Neighboring emergency support providers

• Conduct scheduled plan evaluations & updates• Conduct regular plan practices

Step 4: ExerciseStep 4: Exercise your Plan

There is no better review or education than putting into practice and exercising what you have established for your organization. It is recommended that the organization gather the key figures and exercise the plan by running a tabletop exercise. A tabletop exercise allows you to put yourself in a “lifelike” scenario. It addresses all potential issues that you may encounter in a situation where you may experience potential or prolonged business interruption. Currently, the State of Utah has a training department within the Department of Public Safety – Home Land Security, in which they can either provide you a tabletop exercise to be administered by someone within your organization, or they can actually bring the tabletop and run the exercise for you.

The Business Continuity Planning Committee is also working toward training and learning how to effectively organize and run simple but prudent tabletop exercises. In the very near future, we intend to be the expert, or provide BOMA membership resources to which they can utilize or be connected in order to complete this very relevant step toward Recognition completion.

Step 5: ReviseStep 5: Revise your Plan

With the tabletop exercise now completed, participants will understand in greater detail what they may experience when an event occurs. This should give cause to reflect and determine what had been left out and, if not left out, could potentially use some revising for real life practice rather than theory and review. Through this step we now encourage the participant to go back and revise the evaluation that was filled out in step 2. This revision should be the details that you expect will be implemented following a disaster at any level. A revision form should be complete and filled-out in preparation for submission to the Business Continuity Planning Committee for a review.

Step 6: SubmissionStep 6: Submission for Recognition

Upon completion of the final application form titled “BOMA UTAH | BCP APPLICATION FOR RECOGNITION” it will be submitted to the Business Continuity Planning Committee for review. This review will be simple and thorough to ensure that the proper steps were completed for Recognition among your peer participants within the BOMA Utah chapter.

Step 7: RecognitionStep 7: Be Recognized

Following the review of the “BOMA UTAH | BCP APPLICATION FOR RECOGNITION”, the organization will be recognized at a monthly luncheon for completing the process. This is an important part and potentially serves as motivation for other members, associate members, and vendors to jump aboard and complete the necessary steps for Business Continuity development for their organizations. In addition to this recognition, participants will also be recognized on an individual basis for completing the 12 Point Program. This recognition will be by the State of Utah, Governor Herbert, and Lt. Governor Greg Bell.

Plaques may be purchased upon completion of recognition from BOMA.