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DRI International has issued a statement reiterating its support for NFPA 1600, the Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity, and criticizing the American Society for Industrial Security’s ‘Management Systems for All-Hazards Risk - Standard of Best Practices’.
The statement reads as follows (published verbatim):
Many years ago, DRI International elected to support inclusion of business continuity standards and methodology in the ground-breaking effort undertaken by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to create a single standard in the larger context of public and private sector preparedness. This project is now known as the NFPA 1600 "Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Program." Toward this end, DRI International provided a representative to the NFPA 1600 Technical Committee soon after its formation, and we have continued to provide representation and assistance up until the present. Moreover, DRI International will continue to support NFPA 1600 as the rallying point for the many disparate groups and organizations in emergency management and business that must come together for productive dialogue on advancing the cause of effective preparedness in the United States and around the world.
The business continuity management professionals of DRI International deeply believe in the goals of preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery for all organizations. We also believe, however, that much work remains to be done in the establishment of an industry "dictionary" that contains definitions of key terms and concepts representing a wide consensus on the meanings of these terms. In the larger scheme, DRI International strongly supports efforts currently underway to create a clear, logical and unambiguous hierarchy of the concepts and practices included in the umbrella term "enterprise risk management," of which business continuity management and security management are vital components. We also support the importance of ensuring that business continuity "standards" avoid conflict with regulations that are already in place in specific industries that deal with business continuity.
We do not, however, support the continuing creation of additional standards in these areas that do little more than generate confusion in fields that are already beset with multiple standards and definitions. We believe that such efforts serve only to increase the "noise" in an industry that is already far too difficult for even experienced practitioners to explain to those who look to us to help them manage the complex array of risks that we all face in today's environment.
Consequently, DRI International does not support adoption of the "Management Systems for All-Hazards Risk - Standard of Best Practices" created recently by the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS).
We believe that this particular "standard," while well-intentioned, will only serve to generate additional confusion and controversy in an industry already struggling to define itself through the good work that has been done on existing standards - specifically NFPA 1600 and the DRI International Professional Practices (which, together with the Business Continuity Institute's "Certification Standards for Professional Practitioners," form the basis for the certifications held by over 98% of the world's certified business continuity professionals). We strongly urge our friends at ASIS to join the diverse community of professionals working to make the excellent NFPA 1600 standard even better.
DRI International highly values the skills and expertise of business continuity professionals; their extensive knowledge of the industry contributes greatly to realizing the objectives of preparedness and resilience that enterprise risk management addresses. We applaud the actions of Congress and the President in passing legislation that clearly focuses on the critical need to enhance the preparedness levels of our private sector, and we pledge to do all that we can to ensure that this effort is the huge success that we all need it to become. Toward that end, DRI International will continue to support the NFPA 1600 platform as the means to reach our preparedness goals, and we urge our professional colleagues in all related disciplines to do the same.
For DRI International: John Copenhaver, CBCP, President/CEO
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•Date: 25th October 2007• Region: US •Type: Article •Topic: BC general
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