Business Impact Analysis and Continuity Planning questions for the ASP
ASP Domain 5: Emergency Preparedness and Response (5.4 Disaster response and recovery (business continuity)). 3 free questions below. Every answer quotes and links the source document it comes from.
Sources covered
- Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning
Guidance documents are quoted from the published edition linked above; they are recommendations, not regulations.
Question 1
A food packaging plant lost power to its production lines after a storm. The BIA report lists three processes that could be restored first: label printing (small financial and operational impact), the main filling line (largest financial and operational impact), and the employee cafeteria (minimal impact). The continuity coordinator must set the restoration order. Which order follows the BIA guidance?
Show answer and source
Answer: D. Restore the main filling line first because it has the greatest operational and financial impacts
The Ready.gov BIA guidance says processes with the greatest operational and financial impacts should be restored first. The filling line fits that. Restoring label printing because it is easy, the cafeteria for convenience, or everything at once ignores the impact-based priority the BIA report is meant to set.
On the job
A continuity coordinator at a hospital laundry reviews a BIA report after a boiler failure. The report ranks the sterile linen washing line as the process with the greatest operational and financial impacts, while the staff break room and the decorative-linen press show minimal impact. The coordinator directs repair crews and temporary steam supply to the washing line first and schedules the other two areas afterward, as the BIA priorities dictate.
Study aid, not site-specific safety advice. The official rule controls.
Answer D comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“The BIA report should prioritize the order of events for restoring business functions. Business processes with the greatest operational and financial impacts should be restored first.”
Question 2
A gift-basket company is building its BIA. Its order-fulfillment system could fail for two days in either of two periods: a slow week in late January or the weeks right before the December holiday rush. The team has no other facts. Which statement about the potential loss is most consistent with BIA guidance?
Show answer and source
Answer: A. The December outage could cost far more, because the timing of a disruption strongly affects the loss
Ready.gov's BIA guidance says the point in time a function is disrupted can have a significant bearing on the loss, and it gives a store damaged before the holiday season as an example. Equal duration does not mean equal loss, a slow period is not the costlier one here, and duration alone is not the only factor.
Answer A comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“The point in time when a business function or process is disrupted can have a significant bearing on the loss sustained. A store damaged in the weeks prior to the holiday shopping season may lose a substantial amount of its yearly sales.”
Question 3
A continuity coordinator at a metal fabrication plant is preparing a BIA questionnaire to learn what would happen if the CNC machining line were interrupted. Which group should receive the questionnaire first?
Show answer and source
Answer: C. Supervisors and lead technicians who run the machining line every day
Ready.gov says a BIA questionnaire should go to managers and others with detailed knowledge of how the business makes its products, and they should identify the impacts if their own process is interrupted. Supplier sales staff, front-desk staff, and an insurance broker do not know the line's day-to-day operations.
Answer C comes from
Ready.gov (FEMA), Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning(opens ready.gov in a new tab)“Survey those with detailed knowledge of how the business manufactures its products or provides its services. Ask them to identify the potential impacts if the business function or process that they are responsible for is interrupted.”