Some of you are likely to have read local press coverage on the latest Hurricane Season Forecast issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Centre. Whilst this Forecast does not differ in any significant measure from other Hurrricane Season Forecasts (from acknowledged sources) such as Klotzbach and Gray of Colarado State University, it does cite, in detail, many of the factors that have resulted in Forecasters to consider that the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be more active than normal (whatever normal may be!).

Do not let such press articles create increased anxiety within your organization – rather use them as a means to prevent complacency, promote awareness and to ensure that all Pre-Season preparations are either, fully completed or, near to completion.

We cannot stop Hurricanes, but we can mitigate against their worst effects and thereby, ensure the maximum potential for protection of staff and continuity of the business processes.

Include some questions that you should pose (rhetorically) to your organization/company:

a. Is there a clear Crisis/Emergency Management structure, including a Crisis Management Team (CMT)?

b. Is the CMT empowered to make and implement “across the board” executive decisions in times of crisis and emergency – do they truly “lead” the organization/company?

c. Does the CMT have a record/history of issuing clear and unambiguous directives and instructions?

d. Does the CMT issue regular, informative staff updates on the developing crisis/emergency?

e. Does “anarchy” prevail throughout the organisation/company with a variety of interpretations gleaned from a spectrum of differing sources?

Ideally, the answers should be “YES” to a – d and “NO” to e – if this is not the case, then your organization/company lacks some critical “components” and, is certainly flirting with potentially disastrous failure in the event of a crisis/emergency.

BIC Staff stand by ready to provide expert assistance for all your Business Continuity Planning and Management requirements.

The 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season is barely a month away and, once again, a “busy” Season is forecast. There are many “climatic indicators” that are appearing more severe in 2011 than in previous Seasons – whilst, these in themselves, do not mean that we will receive a Hurricane Hit in the Cayman Islands, it would be foolish to ignore them. Whether the Season is forecast as “busy” or not – it only takes one “direct hit” from a Category 3 and above Hurricane to have significant implications on the daily lives, businesses and liveliehoods of many.

Whilst not accusing any business or person of complacency, the lack of any significant damage (in the Cayman Islands) from a Hurricane over the past few years, may have lessened the priority of Hurricane Planning & Preparation in the face of more urgent business drivers. Nevertheless, I urge you all to start (if you have not already done so) your Hurricane Season Inspections and Preparations without delay – you have a month!

In all your preparation work, including Crisis Management Procedures, do NOT forget that your staff are the life blood of your business – without them, the strongest buildings, the most effective Data Replication and restoration, the most advanced communications, all become impressive but relatively meaningless tokens.

The staff and resources of Brac Informatics Centre (BIC) are ready and able to asist you with a wide range of business solutions, Continuity and Contingency planning, training, mitigation assessment, as well as an effective, comprehensive, reliable and timely Hurricane Notification/Advisories system.

One of the most critical capabilities for businesses is electrical power – something many take for granted until the Mains Power Grid fails.

I am going to examine the provision of stand-by power by means of emergency generators – future articles will address UPSs and Surge Suppression etc.

Following the ravages of Hurricane Ivan and subsequent “brushes”, “near misses” and “false alarms” many companies that did not previously have generators, have now had them installed – this is only the first step.

Obviously, any company that own a generator expect it to start automatically when Mains Power fails; however, like most electrical and mechanical equipment, regular maintenance and testing is required to ensure prime performance as and when required. This maintenance and testing applies to not only the electrical and mechanical components of the generator and associated Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS), but also to the Fuel Supply. Read the rest of this entry »

We have all heard about stress and most, if not all of us, have suffered varying degrees of stress at some time in our lives.

However, how many people are truly aware of the severe, debilitating effects that stress may cause both to individuals and also to the overall resilience of any team or organisation facing a crisis.

Stress is “an automatic biological response, our body has in order to increase our chance of survival” and is often triggered when we face: a possible threat, something new or, something unexpected.

We all, to varying degrees (on an individual basis) become used to a level of stress in our lives – examples may be bad traffic on the way to work, a work deadline to meet, tensions at home – there are innumerable examples. Very often, these “basic” levels of stress can, by means of a biological reaction in our bodies, spur us on to either, greater efforts or, levels of achievement and, over a period of time, the actual feelings of stress generated by such events can decrease. What is important to realize, however, is that stress can be “cumulative” – very similar to stretching a rubber band – a little bit of stretch and all is fine – but slowly keep on stretching that rubber band and we can reach a serious stage where there is a very fine line between either, being under incredible stress for long periods of time or, snapping. Read the rest of this entry »

Crises essentially fall into 2 categories – either, those that are anticipated and may have a timescale involved before they affect a company e.g. Hurricanes, Pandemics or, those that are sudden and can have immediate affects e.g. Fires, Earthquakes, Bomb Threats.

Regardless of the category of crisis, a principal factor in how a company faces the problem is effective Crisis Management. A critical component of Crisis Management is clear, unambiguous, two-way communication and information exchange along pre-determined lines of communication between the Crisis Management Team (CMT) and assigned work teams. Read the rest of this entry »