Business continuity is the ability of an organization to function and continue serving its constituents following a disaster or other major disruption. Typical continuity measures include:
- Being able to resume functions at alternate locations
- Backing up and storing data offsite
- Maintaining current contact information for staff, vendors and other persons critical to the organization’s functioning
The mission continuity planning process begins with determining core essential functions and the departments that comprise them. These are functions that must be recovered within days or weeks of a disaster or major disruption in order to prevent irreparable harm to the University's ability to provide critical patient care, administrative, academic, research or service functions or the University's reputation.
Continuity of Essential Functions
Essential personnel is generally staff who has been identified based on essential functions required to keep UCSF operating during an emergency such as a pandemic or an earthquake.
During an emergency, essential functions provide services that:
- Directly relate to University health, safety and welfare
- Ensure the continuity of key operations
- Maintain and protect University people, properties and the environment
Continuity planning is performed on a departmental level. Senior management or control points for each department and school determine which functions are essential and how to staff those functions during an emergency or suspension of normal operations.
Once the essential staffing plan for a department is complete, the departmental senior manager in the department is responsible for communicating the information to all personnel in the department.
- Some individuals may be required to perform essential services remotely. They are usually identified in advance and notified by their supervisors.
In most cases, however, essential personnel are expected to be on-site. These include but are not limited to:
- Healthcare workers
- Researchers involved in animal care or refrigeration of sources
- Police officers and dispatchers
- Facilities services workers and maintenance crews
- Public information officers
- Housing and logistics personnel
- Environmental Health and Safety personnel
To request more information, contact Rowena Rodarte-Do, Mission Continuity Program Manager, at [email protected].
Quick Reference Guides:
Quick Reference Guide: How to complete your Business Continuity Plan
Quick Reference Guide: How to edit your Business Continuity Plan
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