Now through August, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is hosting a series of two-day seminars on American National Standard NFPA 1600, the National Preparedness Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs, to help employers in the private and public sectors prepare their disaster plans. The workshops are sponsored in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Public Sector Office and New York University's International Center for Enterprise Preparedness.
NFPA 1600 has been acknowledged and endorsed by Congress, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), DHS, and the 9-11 Commission (also known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States). Last year, ANSI convened a wide range of public and private sector organizations to recommend a voluntary standard for the 9-11 Commission, which it included in its final report to Congress and the President.
NFPA 1600 is a "total program approach" that can help businesses identify hazards and assess risk, document strategies and procedures, respond to a disaster and resume critical business or service functions within a predetermined period of time, minimize the amount of loss, and repair, restore, or replace the stricken facilities as soon as possible.
Targeted toward property, engineering, and security managers, and others charged with protecting facilities, the workshops are designed for developing new emergency management and business continuity programs and assessing and enhancing existing ones for potential hazards like hurricanes, tornadoes, utility or technology emergencies, workplace violence and terrorism.
For more information, please call NFPA at (800) 344-3555. For a complete list of dates and locations, or to register online, click here.
