The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released the 2010 Edition of NFPA 1600, Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs. It is available for download at no charge on NFPA’s Web site.
The new edition of NFPA 1600 is a completely revised and reorganized version that includes major changes to the technical requirements and definitions. The chapter on Program Elements now contains four different chapters: Planning, Implementation, Testing and Exercises, and Program Improvement.
“Disasters and emergencies are so unpredictable that organizations must always be prepared to manage them before they occur,” said James M. Shannon, president and CEO of NFPA. “Organizations keep turning to NFPA 1600 because it helps them develop the best possible strategy for dealing with unforeseen issues.”
NFPA 1600 establishes a common, high level set of criteria for disaster and emergency management and business continuity programs to develop, implement, assess, and maintain these programs. The programs address management, planning, prevention, mitigation, implementation, response, recovery, testing and improvement.
The standard began in 1991 when NFPA’s Standards Council established the Disaster Management Committee to develop a preparedness standard that recognized the crucial components of a comprehensive plan to be used by a wide variety of organizations and businesses. The plan was designed to address preparations for, responses to, and recovery from disasters resulting from natural, human, or technological events.
Today, NFPA 1600 is one of NFPA’s most widely implemented standards. It is used by and developed for organizations in both the private and public sector.
NFPA 1600 has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the national preparedness standard. Under the provisions of the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 (SAFETY Act), DHS has designated NFPA 1600 as a “Qualified Anti-Terrorism Technology” (QATT) and certified it as an “Approved Product for Homeland Security.” NFPA 1600, Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs has also been designated for adoption under the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep).
