NFPA 1600 2007 Standard - An Introduction

NFPA 1600 is a Standard on Disaster Management, Emergency
Management, and Business Continuity Management Programs.
NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association.


	The NFPA Standards Council established the Disaster Management Committee in January 1991. Its mandate was to develop a document that defines recommended disaster management practices. This work was completed and formally approved in 1995 by the NFPA membership during its Annual Meeting. At this point, NFPA was not yet an official standard. It was merely a recommended practice. This changed in 2000 when the NFPA 1600 document was elevated from a *recommended practice* to a standard. At the same time, the NFPA standard was expanded beyond disaster management to include both emergency management and business continuity management. NFPA 1600 was again updated in 2004. The 2004 edition renumbered and refined some of the sections and definitions. In addition, a section on Mutual Aid was added. The current updated version of NFPA 1600 came into effect on December 20, 2006 and is formally referred to as the 2007 Edition. The standard has changed quite a bit. A new section on Incident Prevention (5.4) has been added in addition to several new subsections and five new definitions. In addition, most of the old text has been revised and rewritten. As a result, we believe that the new standard is a major update.

	NFPA 1600 is a standard for: Disaster management programs Emergency management programs Business continuity management programs However, instead of asking you to establish three separate programs, NFPA developed this standard to help you establish a single integrated program. The result is simply called “the program”, according to NFPA. We’ll call it the NFPA 1600 Program, in the absence of a more informative alternative. Of course, depending on your particular background, you may choose to call your NFPA 1600 Program a Disaster Management Program, an Emergency Management Program, a Business Continuity Management Program, or something else.

	The purpose of the NFPA 1600 Standard is to help the disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity communities to manage disasters and emergencies. Its purpose is to help organizations and jurisdictions to: Prevent disasters and emergencies Mitigate disasters and emergencies Prepare for disasters and emergencies Respond to disasters and emergencies Recover from disasters and emergencies The NFPA Standard can be used to: Establish a new program Evaluate an existing program The NFPA Standard applies to: Public disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity programs Private disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity programs Not-for-profit disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity programs

	NFPA 1600 2007 can be used to deal with the following kinds of hazards: 1. Hazards caused by nature Geological hazards include earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, mudslides, sinkholes, volcanic eruptions, glacial avalanches, iceberg dangers, and so on. Meteorological hazards include storms, floods, droughts, famines, avalanches, forest fires, grass fires, tidal waves, flash floods, lightning strikes, hurricanes, cyclones, tornados, wind storms, sand storms, hail storms, geomagnetic storms, snow storms, ice storms, heat waves, very cold temperatures, ice, sleet, and so on. Biological hazards include diseases, epidemics, infestations, insect bites, animal attacks, and so on. 2. Hazards caused by humans Accidental hazards include fires, explosions, explosive materials, corrosive materials, radioactive materials, flammable liquids, flammable gases, flammable solids, utility failures, power disruptions, communication interruptions, energy shortages, fuel shortages, food shortages, resource deficiencies, air pollution, water pollution, contamination, poison, vehicle accidents, building collapses, structural failures, dam failures, dike failures, economic collapse, hyperinflation, misinformation, and so on. Intentional hazards include wars, riots, violence, public unrest, labor unrest, mass hysteria, political insurrection, sabotage, hijackings, military attacks, nuclear attacks, radiological attacks, biological attacks, electromagnetic pulses, explosions, theft, fraud, arson, vandalism, product defects, product contamination, disinformation, and so on. 3. Hazards caused by technology Technological hazards include computer failures, equipment malfunctions, software bugs, utility failures, power disruptions, energy shortages, telecommunications breakdowns, and so on.

	JULY 2004: 9/11 COMMISSION SUPPORTS NFPA 1600! On July 22, 2004 the 9/11 Commission published its final report. It recommends that the NFPA 1600 Standard be adopted by the private sector. The 9/11 Commission further recommends that insurance and credit-rating industries look closely at a company's compliance with the NFPA Standard in assessing its insurability and creditworthiness. The Commission believes that compliance with the NFPA Standard should define the standard of care owed by a company to its employees and the public for legal purposes.* * Source: The 9/11 Commission Report, page 398.

	AUGUST 2007: U.S. LAW SUPPORTS THE USE OF NFPA 1600! On August 3, 2007 H.R.1, Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 was signed by the President and became Public Law No. 110-53. One subsection on Private Sector Preparedness encourages the use of business continuity and disaster recovery standards such as NFPA 1600. It also calls for the development of a private sector preparedness accreditation and certification program. Such a program would be used to certify the preparedness of private sector organizations.

For a detailed overview of NFPA 1600, please see NFPA 1600 2007 Translated into Plain English


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