[BCM] [JHA] [E1] [C10] Identifying Critical Business Functions for Jamiyah Home for the Aged

Identifying Critical Business Functions for Jamiyah Home for the Aged

10.1 Introduction

Jamiyah Home for the Aged (JHA) never closes. Its residents are older, often frail, and many have no family able to take them in, so the Home is their only home. If meals, medication, care staff or power fail, the harm reaches residents within hours, not days.

Business continuity management (BCM) keeps those essential services running, or restores them quickly, when something goes wrong. It asks a simple question in advance: what must JHA keep doing, whatever happens, and what does it need in order to do it?

This matters more than ever for JHA. From 1 July 2026, welfare homes must be licensed under a new law whose stated purposes include continuity of residential care. Continuity is no longer just good practice; it will be part of how the Home is judged.

This chapter introduces BCM to board members, the Superintendent and senior staff. It explains the key ideas and the international standard ISO 22301, and it offers a first list of JHA's critical business functions.

Later chapters cover the detailed work: context analysis, business impact analysis, risk assessment, strategies, plans and exercises.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

explain what BCM and a business continuity management system (BCMS) are, and how BCM differs from emergency response;
distinguish JHA's legal obligations from the charity governance code and from voluntary standards such as ISO 22301;
describe the structure of ISO 22301 and how its clauses follow the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle;
name JHA's indicative critical business functions and the dependencies behind them;
recognise the main disruptions JHA could face and their likely effects on residents;
outline who does what in BCM, from the board to shift staff.

10.2 About Jamiyah Home for the Aged

JHA, also known as Darul Takrim, is a 24-hour welfare home for elderly destitute persons. The Ministry of Community Development established it in 1996 and appointed the Muslim Missionary Society Singapore (Jamiyah) as its managing agent (JHA, About Us).

History. The Home opened at Still Road on 15 December 1996 and moved to its purpose-built premises at 1 Tampines Avenue 3 in December 1997. It was officially opened on 20 January 1998, which fell on 21 Ramadan 1418. It was one of four homes built to replace the Woodlands Home for the Aged, which closed in 1997 after 32 years (opening speech, 1998).

Statutory role. The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) oversees 11 homes gazetted as welfare homes under the Destitute Persons Act, including JHA. Admission is statutory: MSF, not the Home, decides who is admitted (MSF, Welfare Homes). This means JHA cannot simply turn residents away, close its doors or discharge people during a crisis.

Residents and services. The Home states that many of its residents are elderly, frail and destitute. Its mission is "to provide a Home for the homeless aged", with two outcomes: returning residents to the community where possible, and maintaining function and well-being for those who need long-term care. It provides shelter, meals, personal care, rehabilitation, social and religious programmes. Current resident numbers and capacity should be taken from the Home's own records; this chapter does not assume a figure.

Parent organisation. Jamiyah Singapore, founded in 1932, also runs a nursing home (Darul Syifaa'), a halfway house (Darul Islah), a food bank, community outreach and education services. That wider network is a continuity asset: it may offer staff, food, transport or space at short notice, subject to agreements being in place.

Features that shape JHA's continuity needs:

Residents cannot leave. Most have nowhere else to go, so "closing for the day" is never an option.
Ageing, frail population. The Home itself notes the challenges of an ageing resident profile, which raises dependence on medication, mobility aids and hands-on care.
Single site. All residents live at one Tampines address, so a fire, flood or power failure there affects everyone at once.
Faith-based setting. Halal food supply, daily prayer times, Friday prayers and Ramadan routines (pre-dawn meals and breaking of the fast) must continue during disruption.
Government-funded, government-admitted. MSF funds and admits; it will expect early notice of any serious disruption.
A visible public institution. The Home works with volunteers, donors and partner agencies, so its reputation depends on how it handles an incident.

10.3 What BCM is

Business continuity management (BCM) is how an organisation prepares to keep delivering its most important services during a disruption and recover the rest in a planned order. For JHA, the "service" is the safe daily life of every resident: a bed, meals, medication, personal care, dignity and faith.

A business continuity management system (BCMS) is the set of policies, roles, processes and records that keeps BCM alive over time. It turns a one-off plan into a habit: leadership commitment, regular review, training, exercises, and improvement. ISO 22301 sets out what a BCMS must contain.

How BCM differs from emergency response. Emergency response protects life in the first minutes of an incident: evacuating during a fire, calling the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), giving first aid. BCM takes over from there. It asks how JHA will still feed, medicate and care for its residents for the next 72 hours, the next week, or until normal service returns.

Take a kitchen fire at JHA. Emergency response gets everyone out safely and puts out the fire. BCM decides where tomorrow's halal breakfast comes from, who cooks it, how accurately soft and diabetic diets are maintained, and how families and MSF are informed. Both are needed, and the emergency response plan should feed into the business continuity plan.

ISO 22301 uses the term "prioritised activity" for what this chapter also calls a critical business function. Here, the two mean the same thing: an activity that must be prioritised because stopping it would quickly cause unacceptable harm.

Table 10.3: Key ISO 22301 terms with JHA examples

Term	Meaning in plain language	JHA example
Disruption	An incident, expected or not, that causes an unplanned fall in the delivery of services.	A citywide power outage that stops the kitchen, lifts, and air conditioning.
Prioritised activity (critical business function)	An activity that must be kept going or restored urgently to avoid unacceptable impact.	Administering residents' prescribed medication on schedule.
Business impact analysis (BIA)	A structured look at how the harm from a disruption grows over time, used to set priorities.	Asking how long residents can safely go without cooked meals, and what the harm is at 4, 12 and 24 hours.
Maximum tolerable period of disruption (MTPD)	The time after which the harm from a stopped activity becomes unacceptable.	Illustrative: meals cannot stop for more than 6 hours.
Recovery time objective (RTO)	The target time to resume an activity after disruption; it must be shorter than the MTPD.	Illustrative: an alternative halal meal supply in place within 4 hours.
Minimum business continuity objective (MBCO)	The minimum acceptable level of service during a disruption.	Illustrative: two nutritionally adequate meals a day plus correct therapeutic diets, rather than the usual full menu.
Business continuity (BC) strategy	The chosen approach to protect and recover a prioritised activity.	A standing agreement with Jamiyah's other homes or a halal caterer for emergency meals.
Business continuity (BC) plan	Documented instructions for responding to a disruption and restoring services.	A "loss of kitchen" plan listing who decides, who calls the caterer and how diets are checked.
Exercise	A planned activity to practise, test and improve the plans and the people using them.	A one-hour tabletop session where night-shift staff walk through a 2 am power cut.

10.4 Regulatory and governance context

JHA's continuity work sits under three different kinds of rules. Only the first is law. Mixing them up leads to either over-promising ("ISO 22301 is required") or under-protecting ("BCM is optional"), so the board should keep them distinct.

10.4.1 Regulators and legislation (legal obligations)

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is JHA's primary regulator. JHA is a welfare home gazetted under the Destitute Persons Act 1989, and MSF decides admissions.

From 1 July 2026, the Social Residential Homes Act 2025 (SRHA) requires welfare homes and other licensable homes to hold an MSF licence (MSF, About the SRHA).

The amended Destitute Persons Act now says MSF must not place a person in a welfare home unless that home is licensed under the SRHA.

The SRHA matters directly for BCM because continuity is written into it (SRHA 2025):

Purposes (section 4): the Act exists to ensure residents' safety and wellbeing, and the continuity of their accommodation and care.
Codes of practice (section 24): MSF may set measures for dealing with infectious disease outbreaks, fire, flood, disasters and other public emergencies. The Code of Practice issued on 20 July 2026 covers five domains, including incident management (MSF, Regulatory Requirements).
Directions (section 25): MSF may direct a licensee to act where it is necessary to ensure continuity of accommodation and care.
Step-in (section 27): where residents' safety or wellbeing is at risk, the Minister may order another operator to take over the home.

Two points remain to be confirmed with MSF.

Transitional rules for existing welfare homes sit in the Act's Sixth Schedule, and the board should confirm JHA's licence status, who holds the licence, and any attached conditions.

This chapter has not reviewed the Code of Practice clause by clause; that mapping belongs in the context analysis in the next chapter.

Table 10.4: Sector regulators and whether they apply to JHA

Regulator or law	Applies to JHA?	Why
MSF: Destitute Persons Act 1989 and Social Residential Homes Act 2025	Yes, primary	JHA is a gazetted welfare home; MSF admits residents, funds the Home and licenses it from 1 July 2026.
Ministry of Health (MOH) and its Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA)	Yes, for public health and infection control	JHA is not a licensed healthcare institution, but the Infectious Diseases Act applies to everyone. Since 1 April 2025, the CDA leads infectious disease prevention, outbreak response and infection control guidance (CDA).
Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)	No	ECDA regulates preschools. JHA serves older adults; Jamiyah's childcare centres are separate services.
Commissioner of Charities	Yes, through Jamiyah Singapore	The Charities Act and the Commissioner's filing requirements apply to Jamiyah, as the registered charity operating JHA.

Other general laws also affect continuity, including fire safety, workplace safety and health, personal data protection, and the employment of foreign care staff. They will be listed in full in the context analysis.

To our knowledge, no Singapore law or MSF circular requires welfare homes to adopt or be certified to ISO 22301.

If the Code of Practice includes specific business continuity or emergency planning requirements, JHA must meet them, and the BCMS should align with them.

10.4.2 Governance Framework ("Comply or Explain")

The Code of Governance for Charities and IPCs (2023) applies to Jamiyah Singapore's board, not to JHA as a separate body.

It operates on a "comply or explain" basis, and charities report against it each year through a Governance Evaluation Checklist (Charity Portal).

The Code expects the board to have a process to identify, monitor and review the charity's key risks, and its 2023 revision asks charities to start looking at environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. A working BCMS at JHA is strong evidence for both. The Commissioner of Charities has also said its 2024 risk management toolkit covers business continuity management, drawing on lessons from COVID-19 (COC address, April 2024). That toolkit is guidance, not law.

10.4.3 Voluntary Standards (Basis for the BCMS)

ISO 22301:2019 sets out the requirements for a BCMS. Its "shall" statements are what an auditor checks. JHA can use it without seeking certification; certification is a later, optional decision for the board.

ISO 22313:2020 is the companion guidance. It explains how to meet ISO 22301 and uses "should", not "shall". JHA's teams will use it as a practical handbook.

Amendment 1:2024 (climate action changes) adds two short items to ISO 22301. Clause 4.1 now requires the organisation to determine whether climate change is relevant, and clause 4.2.1 adds a note that interested parties can have climate-related requirements (BIS text of the amendment).

For JHA, climate change is very likely to be relevant. Frail older people are vulnerable to heat stress; intense rainfall can cause flash floods and power faults; and haze and mosquito-borne disease can rise as weather changes.

The Home should record its decision and the reasons, and note any climate expectations from MSF, donors or Jamiyah's own ESG reporting.

10.4.4 Worked Scenario: An Influenza Outbreak at JHA

The scenario below is illustrative. It shows how the three layers work together.

Day 1. Several residents develop fever and cough. Staff isolate them and follow infection control guidance. Law: public health duties under the Infectious Diseases Act and current CDA guidance.
Day 1. The Superintendent reports the incident to MSF as the licensing authority. Law: SRHA licence conditions and the Code of Practice incident management domain.
Day 2. A third of care staff are off sick. The Superintendent activates the business continuity plan and runs prioritised activities at their minimum level: medication, meals, hygiene and observation first; group programmes paused. Standard: ISO 22301 clause 8.4.
Day 3. MSF asks the Home to suspend new admissions for a week. JHA complies. Law: MSF can issue directions to protect residents and continuity.
Day 4. Jamiyah's nursing home lends two trained staff under a mutual aid agreement agreed in advance. Standard: a BC strategy chosen under clause 8.3.
Week 3. The board reviews what happened, updates the risk register, and records lessons learned. Governance: the Code's risk management expectations. Standard: clauses 9 and 10 on review and improvement.

10.5 ISO 22301 Structure

ISO 22301 has ten clauses. Clauses 1 to 3 cover scope, references and definitions; the requirements sit in clauses 4 to 10. They follow the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle used in all ISO management system standards, which means BCM at JHA is a repeating loop rather than a one-off project.

In plain terms: Plan what continuity JHA needs and who leads it; Do the analysis, strategies, plans and exercises; Check whether they work; Act on what is found. Each pass round the loop should leave the Home better prepared.

Table 10.5: ISO 22301 clauses 4 to 10 mapped to Plan-Do-Check-Act

Clause	PDCA phase	What it requires	JHA example
4 Context of the organisation	Plan	Understand internal and external issues, interested parties, legal requirements and the BCMS scope; decide whether climate change is relevant.	List MSF, residents, families, Jamiyah, suppliers, and the SRHA as context; set the scope as all resident services at 1 Tampines Avenue 3.
5 Leadership	Plan	Top management shows commitment, sets a BC policy and assigns roles and authorities.	Jamiyah's board approves a JHA business continuity policy and names the Superintendent as BCM lead.
6 Planning	Plan	Address risks and opportunities for the BCMS; set measurable BC objectives and plan changes.	Objective (illustrative): every shift has a trained BC lead by the end of the next financial year.
7 Support	Plan	Provide resources, competence, awareness, communication and controlled documents.	Provide a short BCM induction for all staff in the languages care staff use, and keep plans on paper as well as online.
8 Operation	Do	Carry out the BIA and risk assessment, choose strategies, write plans, run exercises and evaluate capabilities.	Run the BIA to confirm Table 10.2, agree on a backup halal caterer, and hold a night-shift power-cut exercise.
9 Performance evaluation	Check	Monitor and measure, conduct internal audits, and hold management reviews.	An annual internal audit of the BCMS and a management review at a board committee meeting.
10 Improvement	Act	Correct nonconformities and keep improving the BCMS.	After an exercise showed that night staff could not quickly find torches and battery lamps, they moved them, updated the procedure, and retested the exercise.

10.6 Overview of BCM at JHA

Table 10.1 brings the chapter together. It shows each BCM element, where it sits in ISO 22301, its purpose, how it applies at JHA, and which legal or governance requirement it supports.

Table 10.1: Overview of Business Continuity Management for Jamiyah Home for the Aged

BCM element	ISO 22301 clause	Purpose	Application at JHA	Governance or regulatory link
Context, interested parties and scope	4.1 to 4.4	Define what the BCMS covers and what shapes it, including whether climate change is relevant.	Scope covers all resident services at Tampines; parties include MSF, residents, families, Jamiyah and suppliers.	SRHA licensing; ISO 22301 Amendment 1:2024.
Leadership and BC policy	5.1 to 5.3	Show top-level commitment and assign clear roles and authority.	Board-approved BC policy; Superintendent as BCM lead with authority to activate plans.	Code of Governance: board accountability for risk. SRHA: approved person-in-charge.
BCMS risks, opportunities and objectives	6.1 to 6.3	Set measurable goals and plan how the BCMS will change.	Objectives such as trained shift leads and an annual exercise (illustrative).	Code of Governance: process to identify and review key risks.
Support: resources, competence, awareness, communication, documents	7.1 to 7.5	Give people the time, skills and information to act.	Training at induction; contact lists for MSF, families and suppliers; plans on paper and online.	SRHA Code of Practice: staff and incident management. Personal data protection.
Business impact analysis	8.2.2	Identify prioritised activities and set MTPD, RTO and MBCO.	Confirms the functions in Table 10.2 and sets timeframes for each.	SRHA purpose: continuity of accommodation and care.
Risk assessment	8.2.3	Identify and evaluate risks of disruption to prioritised activities.	Assess risks such as power loss, outbreaks, staff shortage, flooding and heat.	Code of Governance: key risks. Infection control guidance from MOH and the CDA.
BC strategies and solutions	8.3	Choose how to protect and recover each prioritised activity.	Mutual aid with Jamiyah's other homes; backup halal caterer; emergency stock of medicines and supplies.	SRHA: MSF may issue continuity directions if gaps arise.
BC plans and procedures	8.4	Document who does what, when and how during a disruption.	Plans for loss of power, kitchen, staff, IT and premises, with a clear incident response structure.	SRHA Code of Practice: incident management domain.
Exercise programme	8.5	Test plans and build confidence and skill.	Tabletop exercises each year; a live drill on one shift (illustrative).	Fire safety drill duties; Code of Governance: board oversight.
Evaluation of BC documentation and capabilities	8.6	Check that plans and capabilities remain suitable and current.	Review plans after any change in suppliers, staffing or premises.	SRHA licence renewal and inspections.
Monitoring, internal audit and management review	9.1 to 9.3	Measure performance and report to top management.	Annual internal audit; BCM report to the relevant board committee.	Code of Governance: risk review and reporting.
Nonconformity and continual improvement	10.1 to 10.2	Fix gaps and improve the system over time.	Corrective actions tracked after incidents and exercises.	Board oversight; MSF expectations after incidents.

10.7 Indicative Critical Business Functions

This is the heart of the chapter: a first view of what JHA must keep doing whatever happens. ISO 22301 calls these prioritised activities; this series also calls them critical business functions.

This table is preliminary. It is based on public information and typical welfare home operations, not on a business impact analysis. The BIA in later chapters will confirm, change or remove each function and set its timeframes.

The priority bands used are indicative.

High means serious harm to residents could follow within hours;
Medium within days;
Low means the function can pause for a week or more with limited harm.

Table 10.2: Indicative Critical Business Functions for Jamiyah Home for the Aged

Function	What it involves	Key dependencies (people, premises, suppliers, IT, utilities)	Impact if disrupted	Indicative priority
Personal care and 24-hour supervision	Help with bathing, toileting, dressing, mobility, turning and night checks; fall prevention.	Care staff on every shift; beds, lifts, call bells; incontinence and hygiene supplies; power and water.	Falls, pressure injuries, neglect and loss of dignity within hours.	High
Medication management and access to medical care	Store and administer prescribed medicines; monitor health; arrange doctor visits and hospital transfers.	Trained staff; medication records; pharmacy and clinic partners; ambulance access; secure storage.	Missed doses for chronic conditions; delayed treatment; avoidable hospital admissions.	High
Meals, nutrition and hydration	Halal meals and drinks; soft, diabetic and other therapeutic diets; Ramadan pre-dawn and fast-breaking meals.	Kitchen and cooks; halal food suppliers or caterer; gas, power and water; diet lists.	Dehydration, malnutrition, choking risk and blood sugar problems within hours; breach of residents' faith needs.	High
Safe premises and essential utilities	Keep the building safe, well-lit, ventilated, and sanitary; maintain fire safety systems and lifts.	Building at 1 Tampines Avenue 3; power, water, gas, sewerage; maintenance contractors; town council and utility providers.	Heat stress, unsafe evacuation, loss of sanitation; possible relocation of all residents.	High
Infection prevention and control	Hand hygiene, cleaning, laundry, isolation of sick residents, outbreak response.	Housekeeping and laundry staff; personal protective equipment; cleaning supplies; CDA and MOH guidance.	Rapid spread of illness among frail residents; staff absence; possible MSF restrictions.	High
Staffing and rostering	Keeping enough trained staff on every shift; arranging cover.	Staff (including foreign care workers and their work passes); rosters; transport; Jamiyah HR.	Every other function fails if shifts cannot be filled.	High
Incident reporting and communication with MSF	Report serious incidents; respond to directions; keep families informed.	Superintendent and deputy; phones and email; contact lists; licence conditions.	Breach of licence conditions; loss of MSF confidence; families uninformed.	High
Admissions, discharges and case management	Receiving MSF referrals; care planning; rehabilitation; preparing residents to return to the community.	Case and social work staff; MSF officers; partner agencies; case records.	Delays to placements and discharges; residents' plans stall.	Medium
Resident records and IT	Care plans, medication records, finance and correspondence.	Computers, network, cloud or server; backups; IT support; paper fallbacks.	Errors in care and medication if records are unavailable; reporting delays.	Medium
Religious and spiritual life	Daily prayers, Friday prayers, religious classes, Ramadan and festival routines.	Prayer space; religious teachers and volunteers; calendars.	Distress and loss of routine; reputational harm for a faith-based home.	Medium
Finance, procurement and payroll	Paying staff and suppliers; emergency purchasing.	Finance staff; banking; Jamiyah head office; MSF funding.	Unpaid staff or suppliers within weeks; no emergency purchasing.	Medium
Social, recreational and volunteer programmes	Exercise sessions, outings, volunteer and donor visits.	Activity staff; volunteers; venues and transport.	Lower wellbeing and engagement over time.	Low

10.8 Disruption Scenarios

BCM plans for the effect of a disruption, not every possible cause. A fire, a flood, and a burst pipe all lead to the same outcome: JHA cannot use part of its building. Planning by effect keeps the number of plans small and usable.

Table 10.6: Disruption effects and JHA examples

Disruption effect	What it means	JHA example
Loss of staff	Not enough trained people on shift.	Several care staff fall ill in a flu season, or a group of foreign workers is delayed returning from home leave.
Loss of utilities	Power, water, gas or sewerage fails.	A power cut stops the kitchen, lifts, fans and air-conditioning on a hot evening.
Loss or denial of premises	All or part of the building cannot be used.	A kitchen fire or water leak puts one wing out of use, or a police cordon blocks access.
Loss of suppliers	A key supplier cannot deliver.	The halal food supplier or the pharmacy that packs medicines stops trading or cannot deliver.
Loss of IT and data	Systems, records or communications are unavailable.	Ransomware locks resident records and medication charts; the internet line fails.
Health emergencies	An outbreak inside the Home or a wider epidemic.	An influenza or COVID-19 outbreak, with residents isolated and staff off sick.
Climate and weather events	Heat, heavy rain, haze or related disease.	A prolonged heatwave increases heat-stress risk; flash flooding disrupts deliveries and staff travel.
Damage to reputation	Loss of trust from MSF, families, donors or the public.	A social media post about a poorly handled incident leads to complaints and donor concern.

Worked Example: a Power Cut on a Ramadan Evening

The scenario and all timings are illustrative.

Detect and protect life (0 to 15 minutes). At 6.30 pm, half an hour before the fast is broken, the power fails across the estate. Emergency lighting comes on. The shift lead checks every resident, starting with anyone using powered medical devices and anyone in a lift or bathroom.
Escalate and activate (15 to 30 minutes). The shift lead calls the Superintendent, who activates the "loss of utilities" plan. A staff member contacts the utility provider for an estimated restoration time.
Prioritise. The team works from the High functions in Table 10.2: supervision, medication, meals and fluids, and safe premises. Group activities and non-urgent paperwork stop.
Act on each priority (30 minutes to 2 hours). Serve fast-breaking dates, water, and cold food from the emergency store on time. Order a hot meal from a pre-agreed halal caterer or a Jamiyah kitchen, with an illustrative RTO of 2 hours. Move temperature-sensitive medicines to a cool box. Residents on upper floors stay put while the lifts are down, and staff bring meals to them. Battery fans, cool drinks and lighter clothing reduce heat risk.
Communicate. The Superintendent informs MSF in line with licence conditions, briefs the incoming night shift and updates families if the outage runs long.
Recover. Power returns at 11 pm. Staff check fridge temperatures and consult the pharmacist about any affected medicines. The kitchen prepares the pre-dawn meal as normal.
Review. Within a week, the team lists what worked and what didn't, for example, missing torch batteries or an out-of-date caterer number. The team updates the plan, and the next exercise tests the fix.

10.9 Benefits of BCM for Each Stakeholder Group

BCM is sometimes seen as paperwork for auditors. At JHA, its real value is that each group with a stake in the Home gets something concrete from it.

Table 10.7: Benefits of BCM by stakeholder group

Stakeholder	Main benefit	JHA example
Residents	Care, meals, medication and routines continue during a crisis.	Diabetic residents still receive the right meals and insulin during a kitchen outage.
Families and next of kin	Confidence and timely information.	Families are told promptly and accurately about an outbreak and what the Home is doing.
Care and support staff	Clear roles, less panic, safer working.	Night staff know exactly who to call and what to do first during a power cut.
Superintendent and senior staff	Faster, better decisions with pre-agreed options.	A ready list of backup caterers, agency staff and mutual aid contacts.
Jamiyah Singapore board	Evidence of risk oversight and protection of the organisation's name.	BCM reports support the board's risk declarations under the Code of Governance.
MSF	A licensee that keeps residents safe and services running.	Prompt incident reports and a credible recovery plan reduce the need for directions or step-in.
Volunteers and donors	Trust that their support goes to a well-run home.	Donors see that the Home handled a heatwave or outbreak calmly and transparently.
Suppliers and partners	Clear expectations in an emergency.	The halal caterer has an agreed emergency order process and contact list.

10.10 Roles and responsibilities

BCM works only when everyone knows their part, from the board table to the 3 am shift. The roles below are suggestions; JHA and Jamiyah will confirm them, and the individuals who fill them, when the BC policy is approved.

The roles should line up with the SRHA. Under that Act, each licensed home has one approved person-in-charge for day-to-day operations, and key appointment holders with general management or supervision of the licensee's business need MSF approval.

In practice, the Superintendent is likely to be both the person-in-charge and the BCM lead, but this should be confirmed.

Table 10.8: Suggested BCM roles at JHA

Role	Suggested holder	Main BCM responsibilities
Governing body	Jamiyah Singapore board, or a board committee it delegates to	Approves the BC policy and scope; sets risk appetite; receives annual BCM reports; ensures resources.
Executive sponsor	A senior Jamiyah executive overseeing the homes	Champions BCM; unlocks cross-Jamiyah support such as mutual aid, HR and IT; chairs management review.
BCM lead	Superintendent	Owns the BCMS at JHA; authorises plan activation; leads the incident team; reports to MSF.
BCM coordinator	A deputy or senior administrative officer	Maintains plans, contact lists and records; organises training and exercises; tracks corrective actions.
Function owners	Heads of care, kitchen, medication, case management, facilities, administration and finance	Contribute to the BIA; write and maintain their function's plan; keep supplier and backup details current.
Incident management team	Superintendent, deputy, function owners and a Jamiyah communications contact	Assesses incidents, sets priorities, allocates staff and resources, and manages communication.
Shift leads	The senior staff member on each shift, day and night	First response: protect residents, escalate, start the first steps of the plan until the Superintendent takes over.
All staff	Care, kitchen, housekeeping, admin and support staff	Know the plans for their area; take part in training and exercises; report hazards and near-misses.
Jamiyah support functions	HR, IT, finance and communications at head office	Provide backup staff, IT recovery, emergency funds and media handling.
Volunteers and partners	Regular volunteers, religious teachers, partner agencies	Help under supervision in agreed roles, for example meal service or resident companionship during a disruption.

JHA exists to give older people a home when they have nowhere else to go.

That purpose makes continuity non-negotiable: residents cannot be sent home when the power fails, or staff fall ill. BCM is a disciplined way to ensure the Home's most important services keep running, or recover quickly, whatever happens.

This chapter introduced the language of BCM and ISO 22301, separated JHA's legal duties from governance expectations and voluntary standards, and set out an initial list of critical business functions.

The Social Residential Homes Act, in force since 1 July 2026, has made continuity of care an explicit purpose of the law that licenses the Home. ISO 22301 offers a proven structure for meeting that expectation and showing the board, MSF and the public that it is being met.

Key Takeaways

Continuity is now a legal purpose, not just good practice. The SRHA names continuity of accommodation and care as one of its aims, and gives MSF powers to direct or step in when it is at risk.
Keep the three layers distinct. MSF and public health law are mandatory; the Code of Governance is "comply or explain"; ISO 22301 and ISO 22313 are voluntary, and certification is a board choice.
Most of JHA's critical functions are High priority. Personal care, medication, meals, safe premises, infection control, staffing and reporting to MSF cannot stop for long. The BIA will confirm this and set timeframes.
Faith and culture are part of continuity. Halal food, prayer and Ramadan routines must be built into plans, not treated as extras.
BCM belongs to everyone. The board sets direction, the Superintendent leads, and every shift needs someone ready to act in the first minutes.

Sources

Legal and regulatory positions are stated as at 19 October 2026. Where a point could not be confirmed from a public source, the text says so.

Jamiyah Home for the Aged and Jamiyah Singapore

Jamiyah Home for the Aged, Home page (operating hours, address, Jamiyah services).
Jamiyah Home for the Aged, About Us (history, vision, mission).
National Archives of Singapore, Speech by Mr Abdullah Tarmugi at the opening of Jamiyah Home for the Aged, 20 January 1998.
Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippines, Outreach programme at Jamiyah Home for the Aged, April 2014 (Jamiyah founded in 1932).

Regulators and Legislation

Ministry of Social and Family Development, Welfare Homes.
Ministry of Social and Family Development, About the Social Residential Homes Act.
Ministry of Social and Family Development, Regulatory Requirements under the SRHA (regulations and Code of Practice 2026).
Social Residential Homes Act 2025, full text, compiled from Singapore Statutes Online (sections 2, 4, 18, 24 to 27); section 64, amendment of the Destitute Persons Act; section 70, welfare homes transition.
Communicable Diseases Agency, Official launch of the Communicable Diseases Agency, 12 November 2025.

Charity Governance

Charity Portal, Code of Governance for Charities and IPCs (2023 Code, comply or explain, Governance Evaluation Checklist).
Commissioner of Charities, Opening address, In Conversation with COC and Charity Council, 4 April 2024 (six principles, ESG, 2024 risk management toolkit covering BCM).

Standards

ISO 22301:2019, Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Requirements, and Amendment 1:2024, Climate action changes. Amendment text as published by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
ISO 22313:2020, Security and resilience — Business continuity management systems — Guidance on the use of ISO 22301.

Open Points to Confirm

JHA's SRHA licence status, licensee and licence conditions (MSF).
Requirements in the SRHA Code of Practice 2026 on incident management and emergencies (MSF).
Current resident numbers, capacity and staffing (JHA records).

Sustaining Community Services: Implementing BCM at Jamiyah Home for the Aged