The solar energy sector encompasses unique operations and risks. From manufacturing solar modules and racking systems, to field erection of new renewable technologies, energy operations are subject to both natural disasters and man-made threats. Effective business continuity planning starts with an understanding of these threats and how they might impact your most critical operations. Predefined disaster recovery and response strategies are key to helping you ensure your company’s long-term viability and maintaining a competitive advantage
Identifying threats to your business
Risk assessment is fundamental to developing a realistic, reliable business continuity plan. Companies that proactively consider which events are most likely to occur are able to focus disaster response planning efforts where they will yield the best return on investment, and remain better positioned to recover from a disaster.
Always base response and recovery strategies on an understanding of the threats your company faces, as well as their potential impact on business operations.
Assessing risk
Threats that may leave critical resources and operations vulnerable are not limited to catastrophic events. Although natural disasters seem to be happening more frequently than ever, particularly in the U.S. where 9 of the 10 most costly disasters in 2012 occurred, many business losses are actually caused by small events that are not wide-spread.
When determining what the biggest risks are to your businesses, consider the following:
- Historical – what has happened in your community, to your facility or neighborhood before?
- Geographic – what is your proximity to flood plains, major airports, etc.?
- Physical – what is it about the design or construction of your facility/office that might make your business particularly susceptible to a certain event?
- Organizational – what is it about your employee, operational or technological infrastructure that might make your business particularly susceptible to a certain event?
- Regulatory – is your business/industry required or mandated to prepare for any hazards?
Some common threats include:
-Natural disasters
-Man-made or technological events such as fires or explosions
-Malicious attacks such as robbery or vandalism
-Loss of workforce due to events such as long-term illnesses
-Human errors such as carelessness or fatigue
Developing your business continuity plan should be a thoughtful process resulting in a plan that can be beneficial to you if an event occurs. Start by assembling a team of key decision-makers who will lead your continuity planning efforts. Senior management, team leaders and anyone with in-depth knowledge about business operations should be included.
Four steps to developing an effective business continuity plan:
- Identify threats or risks
Understanding the risks that could leave employees, customers, vendors, property and operations vulnerable is fundamental. Identify the risks most likely to occur based on historical, geographical, organizational and other factors. Then weigh the probability of each event against its potential impact to your business, as well as your readiness to respond. - Conduct a business impact analysis
Identify the people, places, providers, processes and programs critical to the survival of your business. What functions and resources, if interrupted or lost, could impact your ability to provide goods and services or meet regulatory requirements? Consider who and what is absolutely necessary to restore critical operations. Then prioritize the need to restore each item after the event. Plan to use limited resources wisely. Complementary functions can always be restored later. - Adopt controls for prevention and mitigation
Prevention and mitigation planning and activities are intended to help prevent an event (such as a fire or explosion from unsafe conditions) as well as to reduce the impact or severity of an event (such as relocating critical equipment to a higher elevation in flood-susceptible areas). Your prevention and mitigation plans should address, among other things, emergency response, public relations, resource management, and employee communications. - Test, exercise and improve your plan routinely
A business continuity plan is an evolving strategy that should adapt to your company’s ever-changing needs. Test and update it regularly–yearly at a minimum–or any time critical functions, facilities, suppliers or personnel change. Train employees to understand their role in executing the plan, too. Exercises can include discussions or hypothetical walk-throughs of scenarios to live drills or simulations. The key is to ensure the plan works as intended.