Business Continuity & HR
People Management Issues for Disaster and Critical Incident Planning
19th June 2007

Never before has having contingency plans, in place to action in times of crises, been more essential to organisations. Within the UK there are a number of recent examples of crises that have been both disruptive and costly to businesses. The London bombings, Buncefield Depot explosion and the ever present threat of Bird Flu are all examples of the natural and man made disasters which have threatened organisations in the UK.

The traditional focus for employers planning for disaster is to prioritise systems maintenance and infrastructure issues - people issues are often placed further down the list. However, HR should play a vital strategic role in contingency planning to ensure business continuity in times of crises. It is for this reason that HR must work in collaboration with other functions to ensure the human side of critical incident management is firmly on the organisation’s agenda.