Not a spoof, Roger

be prepared

Oh dear Roger, you wrote a spoof weekly message from Nick Walkley in the Barnet Eye blog and it turns out that truth is stranger than fiction:-

Make sure you’re prepared for the Olympics

Monday, 02 July 2012 15:11 Schroder, Johnathan

 

England were knocked out of Euro 2012 at the quarter final stage and expectation levels for Andy Murray to win Wimbledon are low, but there is still reason this year for some sporting anticipation as the opening ceremony of the London Olympics is now less than four weeks away.

 

As mentioned previously in First Team, it is vitally important that all leave plans for the Olympic and Paralympic period are well planned in advance by staff and managers to ensure that the council can continue to deliver excellent services throughout the period.

 

Ensuring that business continuity plans are in place, up to date and tested was the aim of a recent ‘desktop exercise’ to test the council’s Olympic preparedness. Managers are advised to check their plans are watertight prior to the Games, so that the council is able to continue functioning no matter what.

 

Staff who are planning to continue working throughout the Games period should also be aware of the large increases in traffic expected as a result of the Olympics and the potential impact of many more people using London’s public transport systems and ensure they leave plenty of time to get to work, particularly if they need to travel through East London. Transport for London (TfL) have set up a website entitled www.getaheadofthegames.com which gives a lot of helpful advice to people planning to travel during the Olympics.

 

Two days prior to the big kick-off on 27 July, though, Barnet will greet the Olympic Torch and it will pass within less than a mile of NLBP. Staff will be allowed to leave the office to watch this once-in-a-lifetime event but managers will be expected to ensure that frontline services continue to operate throughout the day. More information on when and where the torch will be will be shared through First Team later in July.

 

Kate Solomon, Emergency Planning Manager, said: “The desktop exercise which we ran at the end of June highlighted some of the key considerations that managers across our departments need to be thinking about in the run-up to the start of the Olympics.

 

“Business continuity plans not only need to be in place for each service area, but should include contingency plans for any eventuality arising out of potential incidents, be thoroughly tried and tested, and be owned and understood by staff and managers alike to ensure everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities. We need to expect the expected and the unexpected and respond to both with equal effectiveness and efficiency."