NFPA 1600 / NFPA 1660 & ISO 22301
A Comparison
NFPA 1600 “Standard on Continuity, Emergency, and Crisis Management,” 2019 edition and ISO 22301 “Business continuity management systems — Requirements,” 2019 edition are the leading standards for programs or management systems for preparedness and resilience.
Brief History and Usage of NFPA 1600 and ISO 22301
NFPA 1600 is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited national standard. Its first edition was published in 1995, and 2019 is the 8th edition. It was endorsed as the USA’s “National Preparedness Standard” in PL 110 53 in 2007. NFPA 1600 was also the basis for the Emergency Management Accreditation Program’s EMAP Standard. NFPA 1660, “Standard for Emergency, Continuity, and Crisis Management: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery,” 2024 edition is a compilation of NFPA 1600 with NFPA 1616, “Standard on Mass Evacuation, Sheltering, and Re-entry Programs,” 2020 edition and NFPA 1620, “Standard for Pre-Incident Planning,” 2020 edition. Chapters 4-10 of 1600 and 1660 are essentially the same. NFPA 1600 has not been withdrawn, and all editions of NFPA 1600 are still available.
ISO 22301, 2019 edition is the second edition and cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2012. British Standard BS 25999 was the basis for the first edition.
Both standards are used extensively around the world. NFPA 1600 is predominant in the Western Hemisphere and was used as the basis of standards in Canada (Z1600) and several countries in South America. Parts of NFPA 1600 have also been incorporated into or used as the basis for emergency planning regulations in the USA. NFPA 1600 is used extensively in the Middle East and countries in East Asia. ISO 22301 is predominant in Europe and used extensively in the United States.
What are the main differences between the two standards?
ISO 22301 is one of many ISO “management systems standards.” The underlying requirements for the management system are more extensive than the program management requirements in NFPA 1600. ISO 22301 and all ISO management system standards align with the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” cycle. NFPA 1600 is written following a program management, planning, implementation, execution, training/education, exercises/tests, and maintenance/improvement process.
Tools to assist with the evaluation of programs and management systems
Preparedness, LLC has compiled two self-assessment checklists--one based on NFPA 1600/1660 and the other based on ISO 22301--that provide hundreds of questions aligned with the two leading international standards. Click to download in Adobe PDF format.
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