The Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Philippine Standard (DTI-BSP) has issued its guide on business continuity planning amid the COVID-19 pandemic to assist local businesses cope with its long-term effects. The guide is in line with Philippine National Standards PNS ISO 22301:2020 Security and resilience – Business continuity management systems – Requirements and PNS ISO 22300:2018 Security and resilience – Vocabulary. Advisories from the Department of Health and World Health Organization were also applied.

Discussed in the document are key business operational risks:

  1. Human resource management
  2. Processes and business functions
  3. Supplier and customer management
  4. Internal and external communication

Guidelines on the following aspects are also provided:

  1. Prevention and minimizing health risks to employees, clients and visitors
  2. Prevention and minimizing the risk of premises becoming nodes of transmission
  3. Ensuring plans should employees be quarantined or infected
  4. Ensuring alternative arrangements with suppliers and customers for business operation continuity

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made companies, organizations and governments realize the importance of having an established business continuity management plan to mitigate the impact of unexpected business disruptions due to various reasons. We hope that this business continuity handbook can help local businesses, particularly MSMEs, survive the economic impact of this pandemic and be able to cope with the new normal in the weeks, months or possibly, years to come,” says DTI- BPS Director Neil P. Catajay.

The document is downloadable for free at the BPS Standards and Conformance Portal (www.ps.dti.gov.ph). Here is the direct link to the document: https://bit.ly/2WoH9TV.

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