Stevenson College
Showcase for Excellence: Excellent practice in business continuity planning
The college has recognised the importance of ensuring business continuity and minimal interruption to service delivery, in the event of a crisis or systems failure.
College staff work in partnership with other tertiary education institutions and external agencies, including the emergency services, to identify potential threats and to draw up plans for addressing them. A number of city-wide and tertiary education exercises have involved college representatives in exploring issues which could disrupt the work of the college. These include Project Griffin and Project Argos, which involve training by police in security procedures to prevent or deal with terrorist incidents, and Resilience Week, provided by the West Edinburgh Community which focused on how local infrastructure and communication systems would function in the event of a major incident.
Exposure to external agencies and the work of other institutions has broadened the college’s approach to business continuity and has led to the adoption of good practice. College staff have found that participation in anti-terrorism exercises has been particularly useful in heightening awareness of the risk to education institutions.
Key staff are now more confident in working with the emergency services.
The college has tested a number of internal systems and procedures using desk top exercises and off-site exercises. Emergency procedures are reviewed regularly and a business impact analysis is undertaken annually. A business continuity simulation, using an external consultant, was carried out in 2008. In 2010, the college plans to run the ‘ACT Now’ anti-terrorist exercise as a joint event run by college management and the Student Guild, facilitated by the police. This simulation draws on real situations faced by the emergency services and challenges participants to make decisions as the scenario unfolds. The exercise will draw learners into the management decision-making process. Importantly, line managers have been highly involved in the production of business impact analyses for their own curriculum areas or departments. As such they have ownership of the process and responsibility for keeping information current.
The college has shared its experiences through community of practice and networking events. Its approach to business continuity has been recognised by
CHASTE (Coordinating Health and Safety in Tertiary Education) as good practice.