What is the difference between a Contingency Plan and a Continuity of Operations Plan? Do I really need both?
The University requires each office or department to be covered by these plans. It may be helpful to think of Contingency and Continuity as two elements of one emergency plan. • A Contingency Plan protects life safety in the event of an incident and is geographically based, meaning that your office’s plan should be specific to its location. In other words, what will you do in case of an immediate emergency- where will you go, what should go with you, how will you account for everyone, etc. • A Continuity of Operations Plan critical functions. That is, it protects the job that you do, and should outline how you will continue do essential tasks in the event of an incident that may affect operations. For example, how will you do your job if you can’t use your office space for a week? More specific information can be found in the plan writing guidance (install link here) or the Incident Manual.
