Registrary's Office

Emergency and Continuity Management

Welcome to the Emergency and Continuity Management website. This page provides general information on Emergency Management and Continuity Management planning.

Information on our plans to deal with an outbreak of Pandemic Flu can also be found here.

The Emergency and Continuity Management Co-ordinator is Tamsin Mann who is based in the Registrary's Office and can be contacted via tamsin.mann@admin.cam.ac.uk or on 01223 339662.

The need for advance planning and preparation to react and deal with serious incidents is critical to the management of such events. In addition to the need to deal with escalating emergencies such as fire, flood, or spillage of hazardous substances, terrorism and pandemic flu have added an additional dimension resulting in heightened awareness by Government, Local Authorities and the Civil Emergency Services who have been taking on a higher profile recently in order to meet new demands such as the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

The emergency services would have sole responsibility for the command and control of all serious incidents to which they were called. However, the University also has a responsibility to provide information relevant to the initial response to an emergency and needs to ensure ‘business as usual’ can be resumed as soon as possible. Additionally, Central Government has also introduced new legislation which involves total deregulation of fire law and also the accountability and control of substances, which could become accessible for unlawful purposes, and the insurance industry now expects all organisations to have Emergency Response and Continuity Management Plans.

The University had emergency response plans prior to 2003, and although these plans dealt with the emergency response phase following a serious incident well, they did not take account of the subsequent recovery phase and Continuity Management. It became apparent that the University’s existing plans were no longer fit for purpose in the contemporary operating environment; therefore in 2003 the Registrary convened an ad-hoc group, the Serious Incident Policy Committee, to review and improve the University’s disaster management procedures to deal with all of these changes. A sub-group completed the detailed work as a project which improved and updated the University’s capabilities with regard to emergencies. The key outcomes to date are the creation of the Emergency Management Team (EMT), the Emergency Management Team Sub-Group (EMTSG), the Serious Incident Management Plan – Lengthy Emergencies (SIMPLE) and the roll-out of the Departmental Response Emergency Action Plan (DREAM). The formats of SIMPLE and DREAM have been endorsed by both the Police and the Fire and Rescue Service as best practice.

In addition the insurance industry now requires all organisations to be developing Emergency Response and Continuity Management Plans in order to reduce consequential loss; from the University’s point of view these plans are necessary in order to obtain appropriate insurance cover whilst achieving value for money.

The Council approved the formation of the EMT and the EMT Sub-Group and the format of SIMPLE and DREAM at its meeting on 13 December 2004.

The project was divided into three phases:

Phase 1 – develop overarching strategic document to deal with major operational events – SIMPLE (Serious Incident Management Plan – Lengthy Emergencies). SIMPLE is a strategic document intended for use as guidance to the University Emergency Management Team (EMT) and provides a range of contingency plans for reacting to and managing major incidents and other events which would impact on normal working arrangements.

Completed summer 2004.

Phase 2 – develop detailed localised procedures for dealing with emergencies – DREAM (Departmental Response Emergency Action Manual). DREAM provides local planning information and guidance for use by individual Departments to manage an emergency from the start of the event through (if it becomes necessary) to the point where SIMPLE is invoked. These files are comprehensive and user friendly and the contents can be tailored to suit the needs of individual Departments or Faculties.

174 site and departmental specific files delivered by end April 2007. Three year rolling audit programme commenced May 2007.

Phase 3 – develop arrangements to support the University’s emergency response arrangements and to ensure minimal interruption to teaching and research and other activities in the aftermath of a major incident.

3 (a) – develop security arrangements – for insertion into section 11 of DREAM.

3 (b) – develop insurance arrangements – for insertion into section 8 of DREAM.

3 (c) – develop and roll out continuity management arrangements to Schools, Faculties, Departments and Institutions.

The University is developing phase 3 arrangements in 2008 to protect its physical and intellectual assets, its core activities of teaching and research and to demonstrate its commitment to risk management and protecting the University brand from reputational damage.

All Schools/Non-School Institutions/Faculties/Departments should have effective Continuity Management Plans in place by the end of 2008. These plans should be reviewed annually and will be scrutinised by a sub-group of the Risk Steering Committee and the Internal Audit Service.

Acknowledgements
Martin Savage of Global Consultancy, Royal Sun Alliance for all his help
HEPS for document templates and guidance which were adapted for Cambridge