Despite last year’s devastating hurricane season, close to one in three US companies do not see business continuity as important, a US study has found.

A study of more than 1,000 executives in the US found that while 28 per cent said business continuity planning (BCP) is not a priority or not important, including 22 per cent that have suffered from a disaster in the past. But, among those that did not believe BCP is important, 50 per cent don’t consider it a priority as they believe the risk of a disaster causing a disruption at their company is small.

It’s evident that for some companies, the various events of the past year have been a real wake-up call,” said Mark Keiffer, chief marketing officer, business, AT&T, which sponsored the study. “That’s the good news. But it’s surprising how many companies are still putting their businesses and future at risk by not adequately planning for the next hurricane, earthquake or cyber security hit.”

Worryingly, despite the devastating impact of hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita in 2005, only half of the companies surveyed said they implement specific protective actions when state or federal governments issue an alert for an impending disaster.

The biggest concerns for respondents were natural disasters, terrorist attacks and security threats.