Canadian Standards Association unveils new emergency management and business continuity standard

Toronto, October 8, 2008, Canadian Standards Association - "More than 40 per cent of Canadians say the company where they work does not have an emergency plan in place according to a recent study[1]. Canadian Standards Association (CSA), a leading developer of standards and codes, today officially announced a new emergency management and business continuity programs standard, CSA Z1600, which is designed for private and public organizations of all sizes to use if disaster strikes. This new standard is based on the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1600 Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs standard."

As chair of the NFPA 1600 technical committee, I am excited and pleased to see the release of CSA's Z1600 standard. I know that members of the CSA technical committee have worked very hard to produce this standard for Canada. Congratulations to all of them on their accomplishment.

Z1600 is an adaptation of NFPA 1600, which in its 4th edition, is the most widely used emergency management and business continuity standard in the United States. NFPA 1600 is also used in many countries around the globe. The CSA technical committee's work is impressive, and the NFPA 1600 technical committee has taken a liking to the ordering of Z1600. In fact, at the NFPA 1600 "Report on Proposals" meeting in August, the NFPA 1600 technical committee voted to reorder the elements within NFPA 1600 similar to the new ordering of Z1600. The CSA committee builds on the work of the NFPA technical committee, and the NFPA technical committee returns the favor. This is truly a relationship that is productive for both the United States and Canada and a model of how standards organizations can work together to produce quality standards for both private and public sectors.

I will be providing some updates on NFPA 1600 in the coming months as NFPA publishes the official "Report on Proposals" draft of the 2010 edition of NFPA 1600. The ROP draft will incorporate many changes to 2007 edition. I will also provide a link, so that readers can download the ROP draft and provide their comments for the technical committee's action. If you want more information on NFPA 1600 and the handbook written by technical committee members including yours truly, please check out this link.

1 Leger Marketing conducted an online survey among 1,088 working Canadians aged 18+ on their opinions of major disasters in their community. The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.0%, 19 times out of 20.