23 March is “Near Miss Day”, acknowledging that sometimes we have a close shave that could have resulted in disaster. Every day hundreds of accidents are averted so it makes sense to have a special day when we can all reflect on events that didn’t quite come to pass and give thanks that we’re still here and in one piece.

Have you ever had a near miss in your business? Was there a fire in the business next door or a flood that didn’t quite reach your premises? Did you spot a mistake in a design or some calculations just before you sent them to a client? The relief is palpable when you realise how close you came to disaster.

When that happened, did you develop a disaster recovery plan as a result? Sometimes, when things go wrong (or almost go wrong) they can create a positive outcome – such as planning to make sure you are better prepared next time. A near miss helps to bring into sharp focus what could go wrong and can help to identify the priorities and actions you need to take to keep your business safe.

If you already have a disaster recovery plan, a near miss might help to identify gaps in it. Did something almost happen that you hadn’t anticipated before? What would the potential outcome have been? Is this something you can plan for? It’s perhaps in the immediate aftermath that you have the strongest sense of clarity and can draw on the experience in a positive way.

We have written before about how to create plans for disaster recovery and business continuity. To summarise here, the four stages are:

• Appoint a disaster recovery team and allocate specific roles so that in the event of a disaster hitting your business everyone is clear about what they need to do.
• Undertake a risk assessment to identify the specific risks faced by your business.
• Use the risk assessment to create disaster recovery and business continuity plans. The disaster recovery plan deals with the priorities immediately after disaster strikes, while the business continuity plan focuses on the longer term recovery of the business.
• Put the plans to the test to make sure they cover all eventualities and don’t have any gaps. Then make sure that everyone has access to the plans and review them regularly to ensure they are still fit for purpose.

If you take disaster recovery seriously you could do worse than appoint the services of First Recovery, specialist disaster recovery supplier. Find out a bit more about our services and get in touch for a chat to see how we can help.