ISO 22330

ISO 22330 is a set of standard guidelines for managing the personal side of business continuity/disaster recovery (BC/DR) in response to events that could be detrimental to employee safety and productivity. The standards publication is a creation of the International Organization for Standardization, who published the ISO 22330 guidelines in June 2018.

This collection of guidelines seeks to address the human aspect of managing crisis and stressful situations affecting BC/DR. The standards are made to create preparedness and structure in order to respond to events that might otherwise affect the productivity of the staff and thus affect the BC/DR abilities and sustainability of the organization as a whole.

The guidelines are divided into phases in relation to occurrences of disruptive events. These phases include:

• Pre-event preparation – involves the prediction, awareness and analysis of requirements, learning and development.
• Response – includes dealing with the immediate effects of a crisis, which is often prepared for through crisis simulations, BC/DR planning and training exercises.
• Recovery – consists of managing people and assisting in crisis response, including addressing injuries or trauma.
• Restoration – involves rebuilding following the crisis and implementing ongoing support for employees with lasting injuries, including offering counseling for problematic trauma.

The value of preparedness is usually not obvious until after a crisis. While traditional efforts for BC and DR focused on facilities and processes, organizations have learned from shared histories that this only addresses part of the possible problems. The ISO 22330 guidelines affirm people as the greatest asset to a business and support their safety and well-being as integral aspects of business continuity and disaster recovery.