Security, Emergency Response and Business Continuity
Business continuity describes the processes and procedures an organisation puts in place to ensure that essential functions can continue during and after a disaster. Business continuity planning seeks to prevent interruption of critical services, and to re-establish full functioning as swiftly and smoothly as possible.
As a consequence of the times we live in, during the year we renewed our focus on ensuring we have the processes and procedures in place so that essential functions can continue during and after a crisis or an emergency situation — be it an extreme climatic event, disease outbreak, security issue, or any other event that poses a threat to the safety or health of employees, contractors, customers or the public or that can cause damage to assets, the environment, or our image and reputation.
Our approach to security, emergency response and business continuity is described in HSEC Management Standard 14, Crisis and Emergency Management. We seek to prevent the interruption of critical services and, in the event of a crisis or emergency occurring, procedures and resources are in place to effectively respond and re-establish full functioning as swiftly and smoothly as possible.
In particular, Standard 14 requires that systems are in place to:
- Identify potential emergency situations and their impacts
- Define response plans, roles and responsibilities
- Identify, maintain and test resources to ensure their availability
- Train employees, contractors, visitors and external stakeholders
- Conduct, document, share and follow up on learnings from emergency response drills.
Security, Emergency Response and Business Continuity Guidelines
HSEC Management Standard 14 is supported by a series of Guidelines that are prepared and updated on a regular basis by the Asset Protection Group, in conjunction with the Customer Sector Groups and the HSEC Function (read more: Governance>Structure and Responsibilities). The Guidelines cover:
Security — specifically the protection of assets, access control, pre-employment screening, employment of security guard forces, the use of firearms and other weapons, and crime against the Company and the reporting of incidents (read more: Socio-Economic Case Studies>Training for Security Personnel and the Community).
Crisis and Emergency Management (CEM) — provides a global framework for the crisis and emergency response capability for the Company. The CEM plan ensures that wherever an employee is located throughout BHP Billiton, a crisis management system exists, which, while flexible enough to adapt to the unique requirements of our respective assets and operations, shares a commonality of terminology and processes that transcends the challenges of working within a global environment. The CEMP is based around a tiered system where the level of response is determined by the degree of severity of the incident and potential impact on life, property and business operations. Upon being advised of an incident and the mobilisation of relevant incident management teams, the ECC notifies the appropriate emergency management team and, subject to the real and potential degree of severity of the incident (based on the BHP Billiton severity rating scale as utilised by the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management system), activates higher-level CEM teams.
A core component of the program is the London-based Emergency Communications Centre (ECC), which operats on a 24/7 basis and serves as the central point of notification for incidents, as well as performing a key communications role throughout any emergency or incident as it occurs. It is supported throughout the Company through regional asset protection managers located in London, Houston and Melbourne.
A comprehensive scenario-based training and exercise program is regularly conducted throughout BHP Billiton and is focused on the major risks facing the Company as identified in the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management system. All operations are included in these comprehensive training and exercise activities, with the effectiveness measured via the HSEC audit and self-assessment program.
Operations that do not meet the requirements of Standard 14 during the HSEC audit and self-assessment process receive additional support in the following period to ensure that the identified shortcomings are addressed as a matter of priority.
Business Continuity — specifically provides an overview of and guidance on the establishment of a Business Continuity Management Program. This program integrates with the Crisis and Emergency Management Plan and Disaster Recover Planning initiatives.
In July 2006, when weather forecasters predicted Hurricane Rita would pass very close to Houston, where some 600 of our people are located, the decision was made to close the office early so people could evacuate to safe areas. The office was closed for five working days and during that time business continuity plans were enacted that saw payrolls run remotely and regular messages sent to all employees via email, phone or text messaging to help ensure their safety. For information on how our employees supported the relief efforts after the hurricane, read Community Case Study>Disaster Relief
Safe Travel Management Systems — intended to reduce the security risks associated with business travel to as low as reasonably practicable. For an example on our approach, read Safety Case Study>Aviation Safety.
Avian Flu
Since June 2005 BHP Billiton has been closely monitoring the spread of avian flu and has established a Pandemic Working Group that is constantly monitoring all issues relating to avian influenza. This includes planning, response and resources required to assist businesses in the event avian flu affects our communities.
As a result, all business units have been issued with:
- Business Unit Pandemic Checklist — designed to enable businesses to determine the local conditions for their operations (measured against the six-phase pandemic scale developed by the World Health Organization) and provide considerations for developing an effective and appropriate response to any potential pandemic that may develop.
- Influenza Pandemic Planning Template — designed to help the Country Co-ordination Team or Local Contingency Planning Team to manage the local business, health and social implications of an influenza pandemic.
