Developing a Response Plan

Recommendations to help your business set up plans and procedures to respond to a bomb threat

Every year in Canada alone, thousands of hours are lost as a result of bomb threats. While the overwhelming majority of reported bomb threats are unfounded, some are not. Care must be taken therefore to respond to each incident calmly and appropriately.

Most bomb threats are made over the telephone by anonymous callers. You or your organization will respond much better to the bomb threat when plans are in place to receive the call and to respond to the threat.

Preparation includes analyzing the risk of threat to your organization, establishing a plan for physical security of the premises and establishing a plan for responding to the call.

Analyzing the risk of threat to your organization

To assess the vulnerability of your organization, consider answering questions such as:

• Who and what are the possible targets?
• Why are they at risk?
• Who are the possible adversaries and what sort of skills and advantages to they possess?
• Is the threat internal or external?
• How powerful is the motivation of any potential adversaries?
• Are the threats constant or do the escalate at certain times in response to such events as political crises, union disputes or criminal hearings?

The answers to these questions should help you determine whether your organization has a high or low risk of threat and, if the threat varies, when it is higher.

Your local police service, public safety agencies and even your neighbours may assist you in assessing the vulnerability of your organization.

Good physical security

To assess the physical security of your work premises, consider where and how explosives could be placed, both outside your premises and inside. Consider, also, what areas of your work premises are open to the public. Based on your assessment of the risk of threat to your organization, determine whether you need to increase the physical security of your premises. The RCMP's Technical Security Branch provides advice on physical security.

Bomb threat response plan

To respond calmly and appropriately to a bomb threat, put in place a plan and train staff before the first scare. The plan should include:

• clear-cut lines of authority so that employees know who they should report to in the event of a bomb threat;
• assigning responsibility for the incident to a single person and designating stand-ins in case the responsible person is away;
• designating a location for the command centre;
• procedures for employees to follow for receiving the threat, contacting the local police service, searching if necessary and evacuating the building; and
• a plan to respond to media requests for information.

To obtain a CD with a multi-media presentation outlining the rationale for developing a bomb threat response plan and detailed document describing how to develop a response plan to a bomb threat, please contact us by email at cbdc-ccdb@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. There is no charge for the CD.

The Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness Canada also has self-help advice for individuals, businesses and institutions on the OCIPEP website.