ISO 22301: 2019 is a set of requirements for the Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). BCMS stands for Business Continuity Management System .
What is ISO 22301?
ISO 22301 is a standard for a management system that is used to disrupt business. Business Continuity Management System is ISO 22301 certified, which means an organization that:
- BCMS implements, maintains and improves itself.
- Complies with its business continuity policy.
- Support in disrupted trade.
- It can even continue to provide products and services with acceptable capacity during downtime.
The ISO 22301 standard was first introduced in 2012 and reviewed in 2019. While many recent ISO revisions have made major changes to previous versions, the 2019 version is very similar to the 2012 version. These documents have fewer requirements and new guidelines for planning changes for BCMS. Jobs have until October 31, 2022 to move to the 2019 version of ISO 22301.
Do you need to obtain ISO 22301 certification?
The business environment today is made up of many organizations that prioritize business continuity. If you’ve recently experienced a disruption in your business, you know how important it is to take a tough action. Because companies are looking closely at their business continuity plans, many are wondering if there is a way to create the most effective business continuity strategies possible.
If you have chosen ISO 22301, how can you obtain this standard now? We have answered all your ambiguities and questions in this comprehensive guide.
Summary of the requirements of ISO 22301: 2019
The ISO 22301 framework is designed to be compatible with the following other known standards:
- ISO 9001 – Quality management systems
- ISO 14001 – Environmental management systems
- ISO 27001 – Information security management systems
Like any of these standards, ISO 22301 includes a 10-point structure (SL appendix), with broad ideas applicable to any organization.
The first three paragraphs discuss scope, official references, terms, and definitions related to the standard. The remaining seven clauses include the components required for an effective business continuity management system and an outline of how to implement ISO 22301.
Clause 4 – The text of the organization
Before you can implement a business continuity management system, you need to understand the business itself. As an organization, you need to assess internal and external needs and design the scope of the new system. Business leaders must also follow the requirements imposed by stakeholders such as regulators, customers and employees.
Article 5 – Leadership
A business continuity management system needs effective leadership to lead the way. By prioritizing management commitment, businesses can ensure adequate resources and policy formulation. Business leaders should also see to it that appropriate staff are appointed to implement and maintain the system.
Clause 6 – Planning
As with any new system, adequate planning is essential. As part of the planning process, the organization should identify the risks of implementing BCMS. The company must also set clear goals and metrics to measure its success.
Section 7 – Support
To effectively support BCMS, you need knowledgeable and experienced staff to develop and maintain the system and respond to emergencies. All employees should be aware of their role in responding to incidents. This is very important given that only 14% of jobs have a dedicated business team.
BCMS support can include customer awareness of business continuity management issues. When normal communication channels are disrupted, they must be supported through alternative methods.
Clause 8 – Operations
The bulk of this standard is set out in paragraph 8, which sets out the operational requirements for BCMS. First, the business must understand how disruption affects operations. The risk assessment shows your business threats. Then, your organization can communicate its business continuity strategy more effectively.
As you identify potential events, you design steps that prevent them from occurring and reduce the likelihood of them occurring. Because it is impossible to predict and prevent all events, planning in the worst case is necessary.
The structure of the reaction to the accident ensures that the reactions can increase rapidly. It also enables people to take action. If the incident involves public safety, the response should include contact with injured foreign parties. For example, a chemical leak in a factory may pose a fire hazard to nearby buildings.
Section 8 attracts attention and quickly understands business continuity plans. These documents should enable a quick response to a specific incident. It is usually better to create a strategy for each part of the program than a large program involving many events.
In addition, the ISO standard addresses considerations that have not been taken into account by other standards of business continuity.
The following section is the latest exercises and tests. Because interruptions can occur at any time, it is important to check that responses work if necessary. Tests determine if one of the elements of business continuity is missing or broken. For example, you can test the generator of a center by turning it on. Exercises usually involve many experiments and include partial simulations of an incident and response. Exercises usually include training in how to manage events along with testing existing processes.
Clause 9 – Evaluation
Like other management systems, an organization must evaluate its performance. Using metrics, an organization can measure its performance over time. The organization should also conduct internal audits, in which management reviews the results and acts on the information disclosed.
Clause 10 – Improvement
Simultaneously with the evaluation, the organization must improve the system. ISO 22301: 2019 acknowledges that no settings will be complete from the beginning and needs to be improved as part of the certification. In addition, new threats can arise while the business environment is evolving. Therefore, the organization should make audits, reviews and corrective actions based on the results.
Benefits of obtaining ISO 22301
There are many reasons to implement and obtain ISO 22301: 2019. The first reason is the ability to maintain business activities in the event of a disruption.
Useful Business Continuity Policies: Complying with ISO 22301 requires you to create stronger applications. The idea is to create strategies to deal with and even prevent threats. By obtaining ISO 22301 now, you will develop valuable business continuity policies tailored to your business.
Powerful Reactions and Retrieval Methods: By implementing short, practical instructions for many scenarios, you are already loading the schedule for each event. Your team can put ideas into action quickly and reduce your response time.
Increase in assets and profit protection: Most disruptions in jobs lead to loss of income. Losing a supplier makes it impossible to deliver products to the customer, or a breach of information leads customers to competitors, hurting you. With BCMS, you can protect your profits through a strategy to continue serving your customers in the event of an accident. In addition, commercial disruptions caused by a natural disaster can damage other property and assets. Response methods can help you reduce asset damage.
Preserved credit: How your business responds to a crisis can affect your credit. If a major catastrophe delays shipping for more than a month, while your competitors are only a week late, your customers will notice. If the accident involves damage to health, damage to the environment or other damage caused by your company, by receiving ISO , you can reduce its effects and maintain your credibility with the people.
More visibility into threats: A challenge for many organizations is that they do not easily know what to expect. They do not know what risks may await them and they do not know what impact it will have on their business. You can detect these threats by conducting a thorough risk assessment. You can also show your customers and your supply chain that you understand your risks.
More managerial involvement: ISO 22301 requires a leader who is heavily involved in the business continuity management system. With this commitment, you ensure that BCMS is taken seriously throughout the organization. This stimulates employee engagement, while showing customers that management is committed to the success of BCMS.
Acceptance of the law: In general, business interruptions do not suspend legal requirements. Some accidents will lead to even more legal requirements. Your business continuity strategies can help you familiarize yourself with the rules during difficult times and quickly implement new policies and trends in response to changing rules.
Business authentication: If you offer products and other items to other organizations, you can open up more opportunities by obtaining ISO 22301 certification. Many departments need ISO certification as a way to reduce their business costs. You will also earn credit for proving that you can maintain business continuity and create less risk for your customers.
Why is ISO 22301 certification important?
Business disruption can cause financial damage, damage your reputation, and drive away valuable customers. Work breaks are unexpected. A company without a strong business continuity management system will fall prey to many issues. In other words, it takes a long time for the business to get back on track. This means more lost revenue and more dissatisfied customers.
Although an ISO 22301 compliant business continuity program will not always prevent the next catastrophe, it can help your business in many ways. It enables you to predict the next disruption through comprehensive threat analysis and ongoing monitoring. Effective response programs can prevent some disasters in the first place. In the event of an alert, your company can enter recovery mode with predefined methods.
ISO 22301 certification and return to work
Jobs temporarily shut down due to the Corona virus (COVID-19) should especially consider obtaining ISO 22301 and its plans to return to work. Companies are now worried about what will happen if the crisis causes them to stop working or make major operational changes. Even when jobs reopen, it’s hard to say another break is imminent. Anything from a natural disaster to a viral outbreak can cause a company to close its doors. The good news is that ISO 22301 certification can help your business a lot.
Through your BCMS, you can create policies to migrate operations remotely if possible. You will also be prepared to meet the ongoing challenges of secure reopening. If there is another temporary shutdown, you can resume operations and return to work sooner.