Awareness
Everyone must know the policy, how their work affects continuity, what better continuity delivers, what nonconformity costs, and their own part before, during and after a disruption.
01What applies
Everyone working under the organization's direction must know the business continuity policy, how they add to the effectiveness of the BCMS and what improved continuity performance brings, what follows from failing to conform, and what their own part and duties are ahead of, during and following a disruption. The four points are cumulative. A campaign that covers the policy and stops is not awareness in the sense of the clause. The clause reaches contractors and temporary staff because they work under the organization's direction, and it reaches new starters because they arrive with no context.
02Why it matters
In the first hour of a disruption, most people are not in the continuity team and have never read the plan. What they do depends on what they know. The clause is the cheapest resilience investment available and the one most often reduced to an annual slide. The fourth point, the person's own part, is the one that changes behaviour: knowing whether to evacuate, call a customer, stop a process or wait.
03What good looks like
Write one page per audience: all staff, response team, customer-facing staff, contractors. Each page answers the four points in that audience's language. Deliver it at induction and once a year, then test it with three spot questions rather than an attendance sheet. Put the first-hour instruction on a card that lives where people work.
04Evidence an auditor asks for
Stop three people in a corridor and ask what they do in the first ten minutes of a disruption. Their answer is the awareness programme's real result.
| Evidence | The record |
|---|---|
| Material | Awareness material covering all four required points for each audience |
| Delivery | Delivery records covering staff, contractors and new starters |
| Verification | A spot check or survey that tests knowledge, not attendance |
05Where it commonly fails
- Awareness content covering the policy only, silent on individual roles
- Contractors and temporary staff excluded
- No verification, so awareness is evidenced by attendance
06What to do before the estimate
Write the four-point card for all staff and a second for the response team. Test it on five people and fix what they get wrong.