DHS Secretary Napolitano Announces New Standards for Private Sector Preparedness


Written by Phil on June 30, 2010 in Business Continuity, Standards.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano  announced the adoption of the final standards for the Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep)—a major milestone in DHS’ implementation of a program recommended by the 9/11 Commission to improve private sector preparedness for disasters and emergencies.

“Private organizations across the country—from businesses to universities to non-profit organizations—have a vital role to play in bolstering our disaster preparedness and response capabilities,” said Secretary Napolitano. “These new standards will provide our private sector partners with the tools they need to enhance the readiness and resiliency of our nation.”

PS-Prep is a partnership between DHS and the private sector that enables private entities to receive emergency preparedness certification from a DHS accreditation system created in coordination with the private sector.

The standards—developed by the National Fire Protection Association, the British Standards Institution and ASIS International—were published for public comment in the Federal Register in Oct. 2009.  The adoption of the final standards was published in a Federal Register notice today following a series of regional public meetings and the incorporation of public comments.

DHS will continue to accept comments on PS-Prep, the three adopted standards, and/or proposals to adopt any other similar standard that satisfies the target criteria of the December 2008 Federal Register notice which announced the program.

Comments may be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov or FEMA-POLICY@dhs.gov, in Docket ID FEMA-2008-0017.

For more information, visit http://www.fema.gov/privatesectorpreparedness/.

See Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Napolitano Announces New Standards for Private Sector Preparedness.

To learn more, see A Discussion on the PS-PREP Business Continuity Standards: BS 25999, NFPA 1600, ASIS SPC-1 – Free Webinar from BSI.

Tuesday July 20, 2010
1:00pm – 2:00pm ET

Are you confused by all the different Business Continuity Standards? There are many Business Continuity Standards available in the USA and it’s confusing for organizations to decide which standard they should implement.

Robert Whitcher, BSI’s Product Manager for the Americas, will provide a brief overview of three standards the United States Government has chosen for their Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-PREP). He will discuss some of the similarities and differences among BS 25999, NFPA 1600 and ASIS SPC-1. Come prepared to ask questions so you can determine which standard is right for your organization.

About the Speaker:

Robert Whitcher is the Americas Product Manager for IT Service Management (ISO/IEC 20000), Information Security Management (ISO/IEC 27001) and Business Continuity (BS 25999) at the BSI. He is an Information Security and IT professional with over 34 years experience within the IT industry and more than 24 years experience in Information Security, Privacy and Business Continuity.

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