Business Contingency Plan

During a recent audit one of my clients was asked for a Business contingency plan. The Major Incident Plan did not pass muster even though it addresses all scenarios we can think of. This auditor was specifically asking for a plan that shows what a company would do if they could no longer trade due to unforeseen circumstances.

Naturally I passed this over to senior management,but even more naturally they have come back to me looking for a template too work from.

Would anyone be willing to share one that I can use to guide them?

Not sure which standard they were being audited under but we have used our Emergency Response Plan and that has been sufficient so far under BRC.  

It doesn't have any specifics on filling customer needs so I have been waiting for the day someone asks for the Business Contingency.  This summer we had a major fire that destroyed all of our frozen warehouses and damaged our packaging halls.  (Both my kids were working the night of the fire but they and all the other employees were evacuated without injury - :happydance: ).

Despite not having a fully documented contingency plan we have been able to fulfill most of our customer needs through production at our sister plants, some outsourcing and speedy repairs to the packaging halls.

And received an A rating on the BRC audit that was scheduled for 2 weeks after the fire but actually happened 11 weeks later.

IMHO a Business Contingency plan would identify alternate sources for whatever part of a business might not be available, storage, processing, packaging, testing etc. so that if faced with an emergency you aren't starting from scratch.  We were fortunate to be one plant among several so help was available without knocking on doors but that isn't always going to be the case.

Sandi

trubertq:

I believe what you are wanting is referred to as a business continuity plan.  I googled for a template and found this one

http://searchdisaste...plate-and-guide

This should help you.  I have not personally used this but seems pretty good.

Hope this helps you.

Hi Trubertq

I've emailed you!

Caz x

Hello trubertq,

   I found that a Business Contingency Plan is more so enforced under the SQF code 2.1.6 than BRC 311.1. Personally I think that every business should have one just in case the ____ hits the fan. Every business will have a different plan depending on your resources and product. This is a big project in itself.

Here's a template. Of course you need to adjust it to your facility.

BCplanTEMPLATE.doc   277KB   1269 downloads

You can also follow SQF's standard as a "template"

2.1.6.1 A business continuity plan based on the understanding of known threats to a business shall be prepared by senior management outlining the methods and responsibility the organization will implement to cope with a business crisis that may impact on the ability of the supplier to deliver safe, quality food.
2.1.6.2 The business continuity plan shall include as a minimum:
i. A senior manager responsible for decision making, oversight and initiating actions arising from a crisis management incident;
ii. The nomination and training of a crisis management team;
iii. The controls implemented to ensure a response to a crisis does not compromise product safety and quality;
iv. The measures to isolate and identify product affected by a response to a crisis;
v. The measures taken to verify the acceptability of food prior to release;
vi. The preparation and maintenance of a current crisis alert contact list;
vii. Sources of legal and expert advice; and
viii. The responsibility for internal communications and communicating with authorities, external organizations and media.

2.1.6.3 The business continuity plan shall be reviewed, tested and verified at least annually.
2.1.6.4 Records of reviews and verification of the business continuity plan shall be maintained.

There are some good threads on here and one particularly good Table of Content that was shared that can also give you an idea of where to start, go , end.

Business Continuity Plan Table of Contents SAMPLE.docx   20.85KB   915 downloads

Thanks Guys,

I have to write one up for another client so this is all a great help!

Emergency response plan needs to be extended to create Business Continuity Plan.

try to using ISO  22301  as standard for Business continuity Management

rgds

AS Nur

Does anyone have a blank template for crisis management exercise?

The contingency plan is a proactive strategy, different from a crisis management plan, which is more of a reaction to something that happened. A contingency plan is set up to account for those disruptive events, so you’re prepared if and when they arrive.The use of contingency plans is widespread and applies to any business venture. If you’re not working on a contingency plan when you’re planning any enterprise, then you’re opening yourself up to unnecessary risk.

Also an effective business contingency plan is based on good research and brainstorming.The steps you need to follow in a contingency planning process.

Step 1: List down the key risks

Step 2: Prioritize the Risks Based on Their Impact 

Step 3: Create Contingency Plans for Each Event

Step 4: Share and Maintain the Plan 

Once you have completed the contingency plans, make sure that they are quickly accessible to all employees and management tiers.