Companies are advised to develop a business continuity plan (BCP) that will enable them minimize the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on their operations, or prepare for possible future disasters.
“The current situation right now, it is still not yet too late to establish regulations and standards that will help you manage the crisis,” Mechell Madriaga, health, safety, security, and environment (HSSE) manager at Subic Bay International Terminal Corp., said in a live event.
Madriaga said firms have to define their specific yet measurable objectives in creating a framework of a comprehensive BCP. She said the plan should enumerate strategies, procedures in making decisions, internal and external communications and other related practices, systematic procedure for recovering systems, networks, and maybe processes that help companies resume their normal operations.
“With appropriate strategy to gauge both of your efforts, customers, community and your partners, it is to reduce the likelihood of your business going to be significantly impacted by a disaster or distraction,” she said.
The framework should also define the specific roles and responsibilities of the employees and communicate with clients about its implementation, Madriaga said, adding the need to test and revise the plan.
She said a risk assessment tool is likewise imperative in analyzing the business weakness and strength, “especially when you face unexpected events such as this pandemic that can cause your organization money and worse, permanently close like what happened to some businesses today.”
“One of the aspects in your business that needs to be considered are your resources. Number one resource is your people which are the most important assets in your organization. You need to check their function and their capability since they are gonna be the executor of your plan,” she added.
Madriaga said the BCP should identify tools and equipment, existing procedures or processes involving engineering, safety, security, finance and administration that will be utilized. It should likewise list stakeholders and firms’ partners, including clients, third party service providers, different government agencies, emergency responding units, and surrounding community, she said.
“Can they [suppliers or service providers] give us our business requirements during these disruptive events? Can our suppliers respond to our needs? If not, then we should have a back-up supplier then.
You need to have a good relationship with them, strong connections, (you need to) reach out to them. Make them feel they are important, prioritize them as you would want them to prioritize you,” she added.