Goodyear’s environmental, health and safety efforts continue to play an important role in the development of the company’s global Business Continuity Process announced in early 2004. Key to this process is this strategy that aligns the company’s human and material assets in such a way that any number of those assets may be deployed to successfully avoid or respond to an extraordinary operational disruption. Such disruptions include any number of natural, technological or human events.

Under the process, particular emphasis is placed on returning the company’s operations to normal as quickly as possible in order to meet customer needs; protect the company’s reputation; maintain profitability and provide shareholder value. Each Goodyear business unit, facility and functional group is part of this integration. In every case, the BCP is closely coordinated with corporate emergency response, crisis management, disaster recovery and business impact analysis programs.

Goodyear’s BCP is led by a steering committee made up of top executives from all the company’s business units and functional areas, such as global support operations, human resources, information technology, finance, health and safety and communications, among others. Part of the initial organizational effort provided by the steering committee was its adoption of a proven BC planning model and providing for overall BCP objectives. It also was responsible for organizing the BCP Tactical Team, which includes senior and middle management associates from all company business units and functional groups. Its members are in charge of refining the company’s process and are on the front line of putting the process in motion should the need arise. EHS specialists are members of both the steering committee and tactical team.

During 2005, several hurricanes along the U.S. Gulf coast, typhoons in Southeast Asia, and global concerns over the possible development of a bird flu pandemic put Goodyear’s BCP to the test. In each instance, the process proved its value – not only in meeting the situation at hand and its aftermath, but in terms of providing “lessons learned” for possible future incidents. EHS team members were key to ensuring that company facilities were properly prepared for the expected incidents, responded when necessary to storms, and played a critical role in the company’s restoration and recovery strategy. Their assistance was particularly valuable in preparing associates to “work out of process” and avoiding injury.

As Goodyear’s EHS organization, or more specifically its BCP group, continues to evolve, it has been developing various scenarios that demonstrate how the business continuity process can be used to lessen the effects of a business disruption, including a pandemic. By year’s end, a national survey of major U.S.-based corporations showed Goodyear well ahead of most companies in terms of its BCP development.