Risks to Partners, Principals
and Company Directors

Without a Business Continuity Plan, Principals and
Company Directors are failing in their duty of care to
stakeholders. They are also in danger of contravening
the following regulations where they apply:

The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations
1999 (COMAH) and as amended by the Control
of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment)
Regulations 2005

COMAH applies mainly to the chemical industry,
but also to some storage activities, explosives and
nuclear sites, and other industries where threshold
quantities of dangerous substances are kept or
used. It further impacts upon businesses situated
within their vicinity.
 

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
 

This requires companies to undertake self assessment
to replace Fire Certificates, from October 2006. Failure to have completed written assessments could lead

to enforcement and prosecution. Businesses should undertake fire risk assessments of the workplace, provide fire risk assessment training, and audit fire risk assessment controls.

The Companies Act 2006

From 1st October 2007, there are serious new
obligations and implications for Company Directors.
These present fresh challenges, and with so many
things for directors to take into account in their
decision-making process, it will be much easier for
someone later to criticise a director’s decision and
how it was reached.

As a Director, there remains a single duty: to decide
on what is most likely to promote the company’s
success, which the Government has defined as,
“for commercial companies, ‘success’ will normally
mean long term increase in value”.