tor controls 85 percent of the critical infrastructure in the nation. Indeed, unless
a terrorist's target is a military or other secure government facility, the "first"
first responders will almost certainly be civilians. Homeland security and
national preparedness therefore often begins with the private sector.
communications capabilities, and (3) a plan for continuity of operations. As we
examined the emergency response to 9/11, witness after witness told us that
despite 9/11, the private sector remains largely unprepared for a terrorist attack.
We were also advised that the lack of a widely embraced private-sector prepared-
ness standard was a principal contributing factor to this lack of preparedness.
vate sector. ANSI convened safety, security, and business continuity experts
from a wide range of industries and associations, as well as from federal, state,
and local government stakeholders, to consider the need for standards for pri-
vate sector emergency preparedness and business continuity.
ing American National Standard on Disaster/Emergency Management and
Business Continuity Programs (NFPA 1600), the proposed National Prepared-
ness Standard establishes a common set of criteria and terminology for pre-
paredness, disaster management, emergency management, and business
continuity programs.The experience of the private sector in the World Trade
Center emergency demonstrated the need for these standards.
Institute's recommended standard for private preparedness. We were
encouraged by Secretary Tom Ridge's praise of the standard, and urge
the Department of Homeland Security to promote its adoption. We
also encourage the insurance and credit-rating industries to look
closely at a company's compliance with the ANSI standard in assess-
ing its insurability and creditworthiness. We believe that compliance
with the standard should define the standard of care owed by a com-
pany to its employees and the public for legal purposes. Private-sec-
tor preparedness is not a luxury; it is a cost of doing business in the
post-9/11 world. It is ignored at a tremendous potential cost in lives,
money, and national security.