National Safety Month

May 30, 2018 - June is the annual observance of National Safety Month and time to think about your organization's safety culture. If you're not committed to safety and working to incorporate it into all your plans and policies, you should be. Check out this week's articles and see how you can raise the priority for safety in your company.
 
Here are some downloads to get you thinking about National Safety Month. (Item #1)   Do you know what fatigue is costing your company in terms of safety and dollars? (Item #2)   Where does National Safety Month come from, and how can your company participate? (Item #3)

Thinking about safety is not just for construction workers. (Item #4)   Here are 25 ways to tell whether or not you have an awesome safety culture. (Item #5)   Workplace safety games can enhance employees' understanding of safety policies and standards. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

Mass Communication Systems

May 23, 2018 - Today we have a multitude of options for mass communications, but often we don't have a clue about how to decide on one that's best for our individual needs. These articles look at the types of capabilities you need in a system, how you can use these systems to solve other corporate problems,  the importance of testing and maintaining such systems, and on what criteria to evaluate potential vendors.
 
For executives already leveraging mass notification systems for IT alerting or just evaluating available solutions, three key capabilities are worth considering. (Item #1)  Mass notification, or emergency communications, are two terms that are often used interchangeably; but are they truly the same thing?  (Item #2)  Nobody wants to think about the worst that can happen, but having a system in place to notify employees of situations like an active shooter or natural disaster is crucial for workplace safety. (Item #3)

Are your mass notification systems and plans enough to ensure your occupants' safety during an emergency? (Item #4)  See if our list of business challenges sounds familiar and read on to learn how a mass communication system might be an answer. (Item #5)  This article has information and a chart that helps you evaluate vendors of mass and emergency communication systems. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

Hurricanes and Other Severe Weather Threats

May 16, 2018 - The hurricane season begins June 1 and brings with it many severe weather threats that can cause problems through November. Early predictions indicate 14 named storms, seven of which will be hurricanes and three of which will be major hurricanes. This is better than last year but still slightly above average. This week's articles cover a range of topics, including communication in a hurricane and legal issues of concern. What are you doing now to prepare your business to deal with the potential disasters that could threaten?
 
Increasingly severe natural disasters and unpredictable weather patterns are disrupting workplaces across the U.S. and serve as a warning that business continuity and workplace recovery plans should be in place long before disaster strikes. (Item #1)   are four steps to take to maintain business continuity during a disaster and when to act – starting now. (Item #2)   Are you prepared to effectively and efficiently communicate during a hurricane? (Item #3)

FEMA's Ready Business Program is intended to recognize and acknowledge organizations who complete preparedness and mitigation actions to protect employees, customers, and continuity. (Item #4)   A labor and employment attorney warns that businesses should be preparing for the unique HR challenges that pose as a result of hurricanes. (Item #5)   The most important thing you can do as hurricane season approaches is to get yourself, your family and your home prepared. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

Business Continuity

May 9, 2018 - Business Continuity Awareness Week is May 14-18. The theme this year is "Working together to improve organizational resilience." It's a good time to take steps to ensure that your business will be able to recover from an emergency or crisis. The first thing you have to do is stop thinking that it won't happen here because, eventually, it will, and you need to be prepared. Everyone in the organization needs to be aware of any plans and to know what their roles are. These articles can help in your preparations.
 
When done right, business continuity training and awareness programs have the potential to deliver significant value across the entire organization. (Item #1)  Let's take a look at some key employee considerations that should be in your business continuity plan. (Item #2)  Understanding what is happening within our brains when making decisions under stress can help improve performance under pressure; this article provides an overview and some useful tips for ways to improve your decision making during incidents. (Item #3)

The essence of resilience is, of course, real; think of it as a desirable organizational property, like compliance or liquidity. (Item #4)  The art of crisis management (for it is an art) is often confused with business continuity, and, while they are similar necessities, crisis management is its own animal. (Item #5)  The author shows how business continuity managers should go about planning and executing a business continuity training and awareness campaign. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.

Legal, Ethical and Cultural Issues of Business Continuity

May 2, 2018 - The laws and regulations of business continuity planning are pretty well known at this point, but ethical and cultural considerations may not be. These ethical and cultural issues are not illegal, but, as some have called some such practices, are "lawful but awful." You need to consider all these issues in your planning to prevent problems and even liabilities.

Legal issues and business risks go hand-in-hand, and BCP and DR are no exceptions. (Item #1)  Ethical and cultural issues play an important role in business continuity planning. (Item #2)  Acting ethically is more than simply doing what the law requires; it is also "doing the right thing", an approach that is an integral part of an emerging discipline of "integrity management". (Item #3)

Strategic planning for organizational "integrity" continuity is essential for avoiding, mitigating, and surviving organizational scandals and (un)ethical disasters. (Item #4)  Your company can display two types of resilience---business resilience and cultural resilience. (Item #5)  Just as business has developed a safety culture, it now needs to develop a continuity culture. (Item #6)


For the full issue, click here.