Without a business continuity management system in place, a company has nothing to ensure sustainability. An effective business continuity management system is defined as “the capability of an organization to continue the delivery of products or services at pre-defined acceptable levels following a disruptive incident.” It is a holistic procedure that fundamentally allows your management team to identify potential threats and their subsequent impact on the business. The business continuity standard or ISO 22301 offers a set of systematic process that will help you deal with potential hazards.
The core function of this standard is to evaluate the effectiveness of various functions within business management system. A business impact analysis is therefore the most significant part of this standard. To do so, a checklist must be made considering all elements and their impact. The following blog will present an example of an audit checklist that companies regardless of their size and type can use to demonstrate their capability in accomplishing compliance.
The following set of questions can be used to determine if a system has covered all the key clauses and conditions to ensure a comprehensive evaluation.
A Detailed Checklist for Business Continuity Standard ISO 22301
1.Questions for Context of the Organisation
•Have the internal and external issues relevant to the business continuity management system (BCMS) been identified?
•Are these issues documented and regularly reviewed?
•Have the needs and expectations of relevant interested parties been identified?
•Are there mechanisms in place to monitor and review these needs and expectations?
•Is the scope of the BCMS defined and documented?
•Does the scope consider internal and external issues, interested parties, and organisational activities?
2.Leadership
•Is top management demonstrating leadership and commitment to the BCMS?
•Are roles, responsibilities, and authorities for BCMS established and communicated?
•Is there a business continuity policy in place?
•Is the policy appropriate, communicated, and regularly reviewed?
•Are roles and responsibilities for the BCMS clearly defined and assigned?
3.Planning and support
•Are risks and opportunities related to BCMS identified and addressed?
•Are actions to address these risks and opportunities integrated into BCMS processes?
•Are business continuity objectives established and documented?
•Are the objectives consistent with the policy and measurable?
•Are adequate resources allocated for the establishment, implementation, maintenance, and continual improvement of the BCMS?
•Are personnel involved in the BCMS competent based on appropriate education, training, or experience?
•Are employees aware of the BCMS policy, their contribution to its effectiveness, and the implications of not conforming?
•Are internal and external communication processes established, implemented, and maintained?
4.Operations
•Are operational controls established and maintained to meet BCMS requirements?
•Is a BIA (Business impact analysis) conducted to identify impacts from business disruptions?
•Are risks identified and assessed, and is there a process to address them?
•Are documented procedures in place for business continuity?
•Are these procedures tested and reviewed regularly?
•Is there an established and documented incident response structure?
•Are regular exercises and tests conducted to ensure the BCMS is effective?
5.Performance evaluation
•Are processes in place to monitor, measure, analyse, and evaluate the BCMS?
•Are internal audits conducted at planned intervals?
•Is the internal audit program documented and implemented effectively?
•Are management reviews conducted regularly to ensure the continuing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the BCMS?
6.Improvement and addition checks
•Are nonconformities identified and corrective actions taken to address them?
•Is there a process in place for continual improvement of the BCMS?
•Are supply chain continuity risks assessed and managed?
•Are crisis communication plans in place and tested?
•Are post-incident reviews conducted and documented?
Do you wish to implement the business continuity ISO 22301standard? If your answer is yes, then contact us at Compliancehelp. We are one of Australia’s premier sites for achieving any ISO certification. Allow us to help you resolve all sorts of question and concerns regarding this topic. You can also hire us for our bespoke solutions for the ISO 9001. We can also guide you through the seemingly exhausting process of certification without any difficulty. If you wish to learn more about the system implementation, then our experts have the best way to teach you. Get help choosing the right certification. Ask the best consultants about the internal audit checklist!
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