Incident management and business continuity planning in the University

Incident response and business continuity planning

The University of Cambridge has policies and plans to ensure it can respond effectively to any incident that has the potential to:

present a risk to students, employees, residents, visitors or members of the local community;

create an environmental hazard;

disrupt academic business continuity and integrity;

result in enforcement action or litigation;

damage the reputation of the University.

By applying these plans, we will be able to ensure the earliest possible resumption of the core activities of the University.

Emergency Action Plan template

The University's template is here: Emergency Action Plan. Note that this template will be replaced by an updated version in Easter Term 2023.

The front cover box includes:

the requirement to record an assessment of the level of risk of the institution. The level of risk determines how frequently the plan should be tested. See paragraph 8 (Testing and Exercising) and Appendix F;

a reminder to review plans at least annually to record any staff contact changes or other change of circumstances for the institution (although plans should be updated as soon as such changes occur);

confirmation that the Head of Institution has signed off the plan.

A section on continuity planning is contained in Appendix L. This section prompts institutions to consider dependence on critical activities and resources and consequent contingency plans.