BUSINESS CONTINUITY POLICY
Business continuity management forms part of Hamlett Films’s approach to integrated risk management. The objective of our business continuity planning is to ensure the uninterrupted availability of our services in order to ensure the continued achievement of commissioned projects.
Put simply, Hamlett Films’s business continuity objective is to protect our people and project delivery capability and any associated support activities.
Aim
This policy has been designed to prepare Hamlett Films to cope with the effects of an emergency. It is intended that this document will provide the basis for a relatively quick and painless return to “business as usual” regardless of the cause. Our business continuity plan is part of an overall framework for delivering Hamlett Films’s business
resilience, thus providing the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of commissioners and clients.
Objectives
To provide a flexible response so that Hamlett Films can:
- Respond to a disruptive incident (incident management)
- Maintain delivery of critical activities/services during an incident (business continuity)
- Return to ‘business as usual’ (resumption and recovery)
Business continuity incident
A business continuity incident is defined as:
- an event which could potentially lead to the loss of critical business personnel, processes or the technology that supports them for an unsustainable period of time
- an event that could potentially lead to the loss of Hamlett Films’s office
- critical business process and / or its supporting infrastructure (physical, communications or IT) has already failed for an unsustainable period of time
Risk and vulnerability analysis
The purpose of the risk and vulnerability analysis is to identify and assess risks that could result in significant disruption to business continuity. It provides a means of identifying and prioritising the types of event that could cause disruption and gives a broad indication of the likelihood and consequences of such events.
Staff contribution to our values and associated delivery processes is critical to business continuity. Disruptive events that affect these people and processes represent the key areas of risk and vulnerability.
Staff welfare
Staff health and well-being, maintenance of a habitable office environment, access to software, document management systems and communication services.
It must be recognised that a business interruption may also cause additional pressures for staff. Staff members need to be given clear direction about the priorities of the business, which can be achieved by having well thought out and implemented continuity strategies in place. Managers will ensure that they monitor staff more closely to ensure that their welfare is maintained (e.g. regular breaks due to increased intensity or pressure of work).
Staff should be aware of what their role is when a major disruption occurs. Clear and concise communication with staff is pivotal to having an organised response. Staff must be made aware of what communication methods are going to be used so they can find out the latest information, if they are going to be working from home or a different location than normal. If staff are to be working from a different location, we will ensure that they know where the location is (provide a map and or directions if necessary) and they are able to get there and get access.
Critical Function Analysis and Recovery Process
| Resources required for recovery: | Additional incident response: | Likelihood of interruption to organisation: | Recovery timeframe: | |||
| Staff | The Production Manager and Managing Director will be jointly responsible for managing the disruptive incident, and activation of the Business Continuity Management Plan. In this way, the risk is mitigated by sharing the skills, knowledge and responsibility for recovery, by not relying on a singular individual. All staff members will be contacted and advised of the current situation and what their role will be in the recovery phase. If a staff member is part of a critical or disruptive incident, we will ensure the job functions of remaining staff adapt to support any business critical activities. | Regular check-in phone and video calls will be scheduled between management and staff to ensure they are up-to-date with any plans or contingencies, as well as ensuring remain across staff health and well-being which is at the forefront. Staff will be given the opportunity to feedback any comments they may have after the response phase, in the form of an informal debrief. If the Production Manager and Managing Director suspect that staff members have suffered undue stress or trauma from the business disruption, they will provide assistance for those staff who have been affected. | Minimal. Any staff disruption will be mitigated by ensuring work can be accessed remotely, and regular follow-up checks. Skills and knowledge are shared across staff roles, so that should any incident cause disruption to a particular role, it can be picked up elsewhere. | <8 hours | ||
| Data / systems | Hamlett Films subscribes to Google Drive, therefore all data is automatically backed-up, and can be accessed remotely, from anywhere. Google’s data centres are geographically distributed to minimise the effects of regional disruptions such as natural disasters and local outages. In the event of hardware, software, or network failure, data is automatically shifted from one facility to another so that, in most cases, Google Workspace customers can continue working without interruption. | All data, files and rushes are also backed-up to master drives on a weekly basis, kept on the premises. Gmail, G Drive, Google Docs and Sheets are all covered by Google’s data region policy. Google Workspace maintains backups of primary data for disaster recovery and business continuity. Hamlett Films also has two separate internet connection lines (from two different companies), should one of them have a network failure, we can use the other. | In the unlikely event that Google Workspace becomes totally unavailable, we have back-ups of files and emails and can use alternative forms of communication until the Workspace is reinstated. Documents can be shared via Dropbox, rushes via FrameIO, which can all be accessed by staff and clients. | <24 hours | ||
| Premises | The Production Manager and Managing Director will establish the current situation at the affected workspace, and assess if Emergency Services are needed, if there is access in/out of the office, if staff need to be relocated, whether there is an external incident in the surrounding area, and next steps. | Due to the flexible nature of our file systems (Google Drive), work can continue remotely, should the office premises be in any way compromised. Staff are all set-up to work remotely if and when needed, and regular staff check-in calls are scheduled. | The situation will be monitored regularly for a return to the office, but there will be minimal interruption in the meantime due to remote work access being utilised. | <8 hours | ||
| Communications | Methods of communication are flexible and adaptable to extreme circumstances. Staff and clients can be contacted via email, phone, Zoom, Teams, as needed. | The main form of communication in case of emergency will be via phone, initialised by the Production Manager and Managing Director, who will decide between them the plan going forwards and relay this to staff and clients. | Minimal, as staff are already in regular communication, and will be updated regularly via different contact methods, as needed. | <8 hours | ||
| Equipment | Spare equipment is kept on the premises, should the need arise for emergency replacements. Staff will be directed to use alternative sources if applicable. Equipment recovery suppliers will be engaged to mitigate any further delay. | Staff all have access to equipment to work from remotely, and are all set up to do this, should the need arise. | Minimal, as alternative equipment is immediately available. | <8 hours | ||
Contact Lists
Local Emergency Services:
| Service | Location | Telephone |
| Ambulance | Emergencies | 999 |
| Fire Service | Emergencies | 999 |
| Floodline | Information service | 0345 988 1188 |
| NHS | Non-emergency matters | 111 |
| Police | EmergenciesNon-emergency matters | 999101 |
Insurance, H&S and Finance Companies:
| Service | Company | Telephone | |
| Insurance | Charles Milne & Company | 020 7923 4655 | cm@charlesmilnes.co.uk |
| Health & Safety | Calvin Hanks, Chartered Safety & Health Professionals | 0345 200 1261 | info@calvinhanks.co.uk |
| Finance | Simon Kingsley Ltd | 020 7503 1131 | simon.kingsley@aims.co.uk |
Amenities:
| Service | Company | Telephone |
| WiFi | G Network | 0203 909 4555 |
| Water | Thames Water | 0800 316 9800 |
| Gas | EDF | 0800 111 999 |
| Electric | E.ON | 0808 501 5200 |
| Equipment Repairs | PC and Mac Dr | 020 8986 6640 |
Emergency Response Checklist
This page should be used as a checklist, to be used during an incident / emergency.
| Task | Completed(date, time, by) |
| Actions within 24 hours: | |
| Start of log of actions and expenses undertaken | |
| Liaise with emergency services | |
| Identify and quantify any damage to the organisation, including staff, premises, equipment, data, records, etc. | |
| Assess the key priorities for the remainder of the working day and take relevant action. Consider sending staff home | |
| Inform staff what is required of them, for example, inform them if they will be sent to work from home | |
| Identify which critical functions have been disrupted | |
| Convene those responsible for recovering identified critical functions, and decide upon the actions to be taken, and in what time-frames | |
| Provide information to:StaffSuppliers and clientsInsurance company | |
| Publicise the interim arrangements for delivery of critical activities. Ensure staff and clients are kept informed of contingency arrangements as appropriate | |
| Recover vital assets/equipment to enable delivery of critical activities. | |
| Daily actions during the recovery process: | |
| Convene those responsible for recovery to understand progress made, obstacles encountered, and decide continuing recovery process | |
| Provide information to:StaffSuppliers and clientsInsurance company | |
| Provide public information to maintain the reputation of the organisation and keep relevant authorities informed | |
| Following the recovery process: | |
| Arrange a debrief of all staff and identify any additional staff welfare needs (e.g. counselling) or rewards | |
| Use information gained from the debrief to review and update this business continuity management plan |
Actions and Expenses Log
This form should be used to record decisions, actions and expenses incurred in the recovery process. This will provide information for the post-recovery debriefing, and help to provide evidence of costs incurred for any claim under an insurance policy.
| Date/time | Decision / action taken | By whom | Costs incurred |