ANSI Homeland Security Standards Panel Offers Post-Katrina Preparedness Solution - NFPA 1600

April 4, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

A new report from the American National Standards Institute Homeland Security Standards Panel (ANSI-HSSP) contains recommendations aimed at bolstering national preparedness, response and recovery efforts in the event of a natural disaster.

A key resource identified in the document is the American national standard for Disaster/Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs - ANSI/NFPA 1600, which was developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

The standard defines a common set of criteria for preparedness, disaster management, emergency management and business continuity programs.

The new report was developed during a series of ANSI-HSSP workshop meetings that examined U.S. congressional, agency and White House reports citing federal, state and local failures during and following Hurricane Katrina.

The goal was to define a set of recommendations and resources that could be used to mitigate the impact of similar disasters in the future. Suggestions ranged from methods for ensuring the continuity of operations to the coordination of communications.

Central outcomes of the ANSI-HSSP workshop include:

• Highlighting the value of compliance with NFPA 1600 - a standard specifically endorsed by the 9/11 Commission in its 2004 report to Congress - for both public and private sector disaster/emergency management and business continuity programs.
• Providing a set of targeted recommendations to the technical committee responsible for maintaining and updating the standard to be considered during the next review cycle.
• Identifying gap areas where further standards are needed to supplement the use of NFPA 1600 for future disasters.

"The conclusions from our analysis are clear-cut and consistent with needed policy and legislative changes regarding preparedness," said Dr. Joseph S. Broz, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Midwest Research Institute and co-leader of the ANSI-HSSP workshop series.

"This report identifies criteria critical for the resiliency of our society to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters and will serve as a useful tool for policy makers and all public and private entities that utilize NFPA 1600," he said.

For more information, or to obtain a copy of the report, go to www.ansi.org/hssp.

Source: American National Standards Institute (ANSI).