Complaints policy & procedure

1. OVERVIEW

1.1. Business continuity management is concerned with ensuring that DMR Training & Consultancy Ltd. (DMR) can respond to and manage a serious incident, continue to operate crucial business activities with an acceptable level of service and return to normal business service delivery following a serious incident.

1.2. The range of incidents that may impact upon DMR are wide and diverse and this plan is scoped to address events that may reasonably be anticipated to affect DMR’s ability to function normally.

1.3. Examples of serious incidents are fire, flood, theft, adverse weather, loss of utilities, IT and telephony system failure, IT corruption or firewall breach and pandemic flu etc. These incidents could result in a failure or inability to use all or part of the IT systems, a loss or inability to use the premises or the loss of key members of staff. DMR has a separate policy covering the response to a pandemic.

1.4. These events could potentially disrupt training and assessment delivery, affect the health and safety of members of staff, learners and visitors and potentially have adverse environmental, financial and reputational impacts on DMR.

1.5. Business continuity management involves: –

1.5.1. Prior planning and preparation to maintain an appropriate level of organisational resilience to minimise the impact of and support the recovery from an incident.

1.5.2. Response procedures to manage an incident when it occurs.

1.5.3. Recovery arrangements to restore normal business activity after incident disruption.

1.6. All members of staff that may be required to assist during an incident will be required to provide their contact details to allow them to be contacted during both normal working and non-working hours.

1.7. This plan should be read in conjunction with other relevant DMR policies and procedures, such as the Health and Safety Policy, Pandemic Policy and Fire Evacuation Procedure.

2. RESPONSIBILITY

2.1. The Managing Director (or another member of the senior management team in his absence, e.g. the Head of Business Development) has primary responsibility for development of this plan, the implementation of this plan and for co-ordinating the response to a major incident.

3. STORAGE

3.1. Copies of this plan should be stored in additional locations such as a memory stick to facilitate quick accessibility in the event of a serious incident or an IT system failure.

3.2. In addition, up-to-date contact information for all members of staff and learners should be held on file and such details removed from the premises during any major incident evacuation if it is safe to do so. This information should also be stored in an additional safe and secure location for quick accessibility in an emergency by the Managing Director, who will abide by data protection obligations and requirements.

3.3. Telephone numbers and contact details of key organisations such as utility companies, the IT service network provider, the local authority and key stakeholders (such as devolved local authorities, lead training providers, employers etc.) should also be held on file and be readily accessible.

3.4. It is recommended that contact detail information is appended to a paper version of this plan or stored in the same location to facilitate its use in the event of a major incident. A copy of the insurance policy should also be readily available.

3.5. All contact detail information should be removed from the premises during any major incident evacuation if it is safe to do so.

4. NOTIFICATION

4.1. During normal working hours, a serious incident is likely to become known to members of staff, learners and visitors at a DMR office/training centre via activation of the alarm system or through word-of-mouth.

4.2. If the Managing Director is absent at the time of an incident, then a member of the senior management team (e.g. Head of Business Development) should contact the Managing Director to notify him of the incident at the earliest opportunity.

4.3. Outside of normal working hours, a serious incident is likely to be notified to the Managing Director by one of the emergency services. The Managing Director will be required to attend the DMR premises should it be necessary.

5. INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

5.1. The primary objectives in the management of a developing incident situation are to: –

5.1.1. Minimise harm and danger to members of staff, learners and visitors;

5.1.2. Minimise harm to the premises, its contents and assets;

5.1.3. Try and maintain business operational continuity;

5.1.4. Support a recovery and resumption process.

5.2. In the event of a major incident, the main DMR premises should be evacuated using the designated emergency exits i.e. the hallway at the main Church Street entrance, the kitchen at the rear of the building or the locker room at the side of the building.

5.3. The assembly point for office-based members of staff, learners and visitors is the Church Street car park.

5.4. In the event of a major incident at DMR’s Gainsborough House premises in Leigh or Dawes Road Hub premises in London, SW6 7EN, the premises should be evacuated using the designated emergency exits as notified and displayed within the building.

5.5. The assembly point for members of staff, learners and visitors at Gainsborough House or the Dawes Road Hub will be notified and displayed within the building.

5.6. In the event of a major incident, a Fire Marshal or other appropriate member of staff should ensure all members of staff, learners and visitors are accounted for.

5.7. Members of staff, learners and visitors should not leave the assembly point area until instructed to do so.

5.8. The Managing Director (or another member of the senior management team, in his absence e.g. Head of Business Development) shall ensure that the emergency services are called and will liaise with the emergency services when they arrive.

5.9. All significant occurrences, actions and decisions should be logged by the Managing Director.

5.10. Any immediate welfare matters e.g. distress and injuries should be dealt with as far as possible. The names of any members of staff, learners and visitors who may have been injured or distressed should be logged.

5.11. The Managing Director should notify the next of kin of any member of staff and learner seriously affected by the incident as soon as is reasonably possible.

5.12. Depending on the nature of the incident, essential equipment, resources, information and assets should be recovered from the premises if possible.

5.13. As soon as is practicable, the Managing Director, supported by the senior management team, should review what staffing, equipment, IT and telephony resources are available to continue normal business service delivery as far as is possible.

5.14. In the event of premises being out of use, the Managing Director may agree for members of staff to be sent home and learners to be sent home or to be requested to return to their employers, as applicable. The option of members of staff working remotely from home should be considered. The Managing Director should ensure that members of staff and learners are not exposed to any unnecessary risks and that working conditions at both the incident site and any temporary location (as applicable) are acceptable.

5.15. Every effort should be made to maintain the ongoing delivery of qualification and training programmes. Where necessary, off-the-job training courses can be re-timetabled, remote, on-line portfolio and flexible learning methods deployed.

5.16. The Managing Director should make arrangements to cover the absence of key delivery staff such as Assessors by reallocating NVQ qualification Learnersor off-the-job training course groups to an alternative Assessor. DMR deploys a number of associate Assessors to cover delivery staff absences and to facilitate minimum disruption to operational delivery arrangements.

5.17. Consideration should be given to providing contingency transportation for learners, including the hire of minibuses, where necessary.

5.18. Learners’ employers and where applicable, devolved local authorities, lead training providers and the Department for Work and Pensons (as applicable) must be informed of any incident affecting the continuity of training programme delivery, administration and operations and incident management and recovery plans on an ongoing basis.

5.19. The premises should be secured with critical documents, portfolios, equipment and sensitive data salvaged and protected as far as is possible. Data should be retrieved from server back-up processes and systems as far as is possible.

5.20. Depending on the nature of the incident and the anticipated period of disruption, the Managing Director will need to consider the deployment of temporary telephone lines, the use of temporary premises and training facilities etc. As required, the Managing Director should arrange for the provision of emergency food, water, sanitation and shelter for those members of staff working on any the scene of any incident.

5.21. The Managing Director should liaise with the insurance company, IT service network provider, utility companies, suppliers, employers, devolved local authorities, lead training providers, the Department for Work and Pensions (as applicable) and other stakeholders, as applicable.

5.22. The Managing Director should determine as quickly as possible whether any personal data has been compromised and whether all data can be adequately safeguarded from unauthorised exposure.

5.23. The Managing Director should confirm that IT backup arrangements are being followed and that the correct items are being transferred to a backup store. The Managing Director should confirm the necessary arrangements are in place to prevent unauthorised access to or disclosure of data, information, and property at the damaged premises and any alternative office/training facilities.

5.24. The Managing Director should ensure that any alternative office/training facility location sites have access controls implemented. The correct handling and storage arrangements must be implemented in respect of personal and sensitive data and information.

5.25. Members of staff, learners, the insurance company, employers, funding bodies and other stakeholders should be kept informed of decisions taken, the action plan produced and implemented, any resulting impact or alternative contingency arrangements, any restricted access to premises and timescales for a return to normal service and processes.

5.26. The Managing Director or Head of Business Development should ensure that all members of staff and learners are made aware of what counselling and other support assistance is available following a major incident.

5.27. The Managing Director shall have sole responsibility to respond to any media enquiries. Other members of staff should not respond directly to media enquiries, but should refer enquiries to the Managing Director.

6. POST INCIDENT MANAGEMENT

6.1. As soon as possible after the incident, the Managing Director, senior management team and other members of staff, as required, shall meet to implement and review recovery arrangements. The meeting is likely to cover the following discussion points: –

6.1.1. Situation report;

6.1.2. Critical items recovered;

6.1.3. Current state of premises;

6.1.4. Services affected;

6.1.5. Equipment and resource shortfalls;

6.1.6. Continuity and recovery;

6.1.7. Estimated date/time of return;

6.1.8. Member of staff, learner and visitor welfare issues;

6.1.9. Options to function around the disruption;

6.1.10. Potential availability of alternative facilities/premises;

6.1.11. Potential deployment of alternative members of staff;

6.1.12. Communications.

6.2. Other parties, for example the insurance company or IT service network provider, may attend the recovery implementation meeting, as required.

6.3. The recovery implementation meeting may result in a plan of action regarding the purchasing of replacement materials and equipment etc. Details of any expenditure resulting from an incident should be logged and retained.

6.4. Members of staff, learners, the insurance company, employers, funding bodies, lead training providers and other stakeholders should be kept informed of decisions taken, the action plan produced and implemented, any resulting impact or alternative contingency arrangements, any restricted access to the premises and timescales for a return to normal service and processes.

6.5. The Managing Director should undertake an incident debrief with members of staff to highlight any lessons learned and potential areas for improvement following a major incident. This plan should be immediately reviewed and updated following an incident debrief and the revised version should be read by all members of staff.

7. REVIEW

7.1. This plan will be reviewed at least annually.

• Implementation date: October 2017.
• Last review date: July 2025.

Key Contacts Contact Number/s
David Radley – Managing Director 07860775229
Elizabeth Gredecki – Head of Business Development 07754853783
IT Service Provider Prism – 08450 942420
Insurance Company Simply Business Insurance – 0333 014 6683. 0333 207 0560