Every facility carries risks nobody thinks about until the day they materialize — a burst pipe that floods a data center, a power outage during a critical operation, a supplier that suddenly can't deliver. Facilities Risk Management is what separates organizations that absorb these shocks and keep running from those that discover, mid-crisis, that no one had actually thought it through.

That preparation depends on building genuine resilience into operations rather than assuming things will hold, developing contingency planning specific enough to actually be usable under pressure, and treating disaster recovery as a rehearsed capability rather than a folder on a shared drive. The Risk Management and Business Continuity Planning for Facilities Management training course, delivered by The British Academy for Training and Development, is built around that practical distinction between having a plan and being prepared.

Participants leave able to identify operational risk before it becomes a crisis, build continuity plans that survive contact with reality, and lead a facilities response that keeps critical operations running when it matters most.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the scope and value of Facilities Risk Management within organizational resilience.
• Assess operational risk across facilities systems, contractors, and supply chains.
• Build organizational resilience through proactive risk mitigation strategies.
• Develop contingency planning that addresses realistic facility-specific scenarios.
• Design disaster recovery procedures for critical facilities systems and operations.
• Test and refine continuity plans through simulations and tabletop exercises.
• Lead facilities response during a business continuity event with clarity and confidence.

Target Group

• Facilities and operations managers responsible for risk and continuity
• Business continuity and disaster recovery professionals
• Risk management and compliance officers
• Facilities directors overseeing critical infrastructure
• Emergency preparedness coordinators

Fundamentals of Facilities Risk Management

• Defining the scope of facilities-related organizational risk
• Connecting facilities risk management to broader business resilience
• The cost of inadequate risk planning versus the investment required to prevent it

Assessing Operational Risk

• Identifying operational risks across systems, people, and processes
• Evaluating supply chain and contractor-related risk exposure
• Prioritizing risks based on likelihood and potential impact

Building Organizational Resilience

• Core principles of resilient facilities operations
• Reducing single points of failure across critical systems
• Embedding resilience thinking into everyday facilities decisions

Contingency Planning

• Structuring contingency plans for realistic, facility-specific scenarios
• Defining roles, responsibilities, and decision-making authority during disruptions
• Keeping contingency plans current as operations and risks evolve

Disaster Recovery for Critical Facilities Systems

• Identifying critical systems requiring dedicated recovery plans
• Setting recovery time and recovery point objectives for facilities operations
• Coordinating disaster recovery with IT and broader business continuity plans

Testing and Refining Continuity Plans

• Running tabletop exercises and simulations effectively
• Identifying gaps and weaknesses exposed through testing
• Updating plans based on lessons learned from exercises and real events

Leading Through a Business Continuity Event

• Decision-making and communication during an active disruption
• Coordinating facilities response with broader organizational crisis management
• Conducting post-incident reviews to strengthen future preparedness