Civil protection in Jalisco: internal programs for businesses 

01What the internal program is

The Ley General de Protección Civil defines the Programa Interno de Protección Civil (Internal Civil Protection Program) as a planning and operational instrument, limited to the scope of a public, private, or social sector agency, entity, institution, or organization, made up of the operational plan for the Unidad Interna de Protección Civil (Internal Civil Protection Unit), the continuity of operations plan, and the contingency plan. Its purpose is to mitigate previously identified risks and define preventive and response actions to handle an emergency or disaster (article 2, section XLI), and it is carried out in each building (article 39).

The Jalisco law uses the term Programa Específico de Protección Civil (Specific Civil Protection Program) and defines it as the program limited to the scope of a public, private, or social sector agency, entity, institution, or organization that is applied in its buildings to safeguard the physical integrity of employees and the people who visit them, and to protect facilities, assets, and vital information in the event of a calamity (article 4, section XXIX). The Zapopan regulation uses the term Programa Interno de Gestión Integral de Riesgos (Internal Comprehensive Risk Management Program) and, in its definitions, describes it as an instrument made up of the operational plan for the internal unit, the continuity of operations plan, and the contingency plan, linked to the municipal program.

02Which law requires it and of whom

Under article 5 of the Ley de Protección Civil del Estado de Jalisco, buildings where medium- and high-risk activities or services are carried out, and buildings that receive a mass influx of people, must have a Programa Específico de Protección Civil. Their owners, tenants, occupants, or legal representatives are required to comply with it and enforce it, and must submit it to the Unidad Estatal de Protección Civil y Bomberos (Jalisco State Civil Protection and Fire Unit) or to the municipal unit to obtain, where appropriate, a favorable ruling, without which activities cannot be carried out.

To prepare it, the obligated party may request technical advice from the municipal or state units or hire an outside company. The authority must issue its ruling within no more than twenty business days, and if the building’s activities or facilities change, the process must be repeated (article 5).

At the federal level, the Ley General de Protección Civil provides that buildings and facilities of the public, private, and social sectors referred to in its regulations must have a Programa Interno de Protección Civil, prepared, updated, operated, and overseen by the internal unit (article 40), and that private parties whose use and purpose bring together or receive a mass influx of people must have an internal unit and an internal program, without prejudice to local regulations (article 78).

03What it contains

The Reglamento de la Ley General de Protección Civil (regulations of the General Civil Protection Law) provides that the internal program must be in writing and contain risk identification and assessment, the actions and measures for prevention and control, and self-protection measures in the event of an incident, emergency, or disaster (article 75). It consists of an operational plan for the internal unit, with prevention, relief, and recovery subprograms; a contingency plan; and a continuity of operations plan. It is valid for one year, must be updated and reviewed at intervals of no more than two years, and includes an annual self-verification program (article 76).

In Jalisco, article 5 of the state law lists what the Programa Específico must cover. Under general company information, it includes:

• Registered and trade name, and corporate purpose, with the articles of incorporation certified by a notary public and a description of the activities.
• Total number of workers by shift or workday, and any transient population.
• Address for receiving notices and an available means of communication.
• A cover letter with the name and handwritten signature of the owner, legal representative, or person in charge of the company.
• Name, handwritten signature, registration number, and expiration date of the technical lead who prepared it, with a copy of their valid ID.
• Table of contents of the document.
• Prevention, relief, and recovery subprogram, with the physical divisions in each.
• An up-to-date risk study or analysis on which the program is based.
• Any other items required by applicable regulations.

04Obligations of establishments

In addition to the program, article 7 of the state law provides that every service, commercial, or industrial establishment or workplace must, in accordance with the regulations:

• Provide civil protection training every year to the people who work there.
• Create and register an internal civil protection unit with the state unit or the municipal unit, which inform each other of these registrations.
• Apply for and obtain authorization and registration from the state unit at least five calendar days before starting operations that involve handling, storing, transporting, or using hazardous or explosive materials.
• Comply with any suspension or restriction of activities that is ordered.

05Internal unit, brigades, and drills

The Ley General defines the Unidad Interna de Protección Civil as the regulatory and operational body responsible for developing and directing civil protection actions and for preparing, updating, operating, and overseeing the internal program in buildings, and notes that these units are also known as Brigadas Institucionales de Protección Civil (Institutional Civil Protection Brigades) (article 2, section LVI). In Jalisco, specific programs set out the protection actions for which internal units are responsible (article 65 of the state law).

According to the regulations of the Ley General, the prevention subprogram includes, among other elements, training and exercises and drills (article 76), and each internal unit establishes a theoretical and practical training program for the personnel assigned to the internal program (article 79).

Each set of rules sets its own drill frequency:

• Ley de Protección Civil del Estado de Jalisco: industrial and service companies and workplaces hold at least three evacuation drills a year, one hundred twenty calendar days apart and on business days (article 46).
• Reglamento de la Ley General de Protección Civil: the internal program is evaluated through drills with different risk scenarios, at the frequency set by the program itself and, in any case, at least twice a year (article 76).
• NOM-002-STPS-2010: fire emergency drills at least once a year in workplaces with ordinary fire risk and at least twice a year with high fire risk (section 5.7).

06Zapopan and Guadalajara

The state law applies throughout Jalisco: in Guadalajara, Zapopan, and the other municipalities, the Programa Específico is submitted to the Unidad Estatal de Protección Civil y Bomberos or to the municipal unit (article 5), and the internal unit is registered with them (article 7).

In Zapopan, the Reglamento de Gestión Integral de Riesgos del Municipio de Zapopan, Jalisco (Zapopan Comprehensive Risk Management Regulation), published in December 2023, requires the buildings and facilities of public, private, and social sector establishments and organizations in the municipality to have a mandatory internal program; establishments that do not exceed the high-risk parameters are exempt from submitting it, and once approved it is updated every year (article 77). It is approved and registered by the Coordinación Municipal de Protección Civil y Bomberos (Municipal Civil Protection and Fire Coordination Office); it is prepared by an outside consultant with a current registration and includes a letter of co-responsibility (carta de corresponsabilidad) signed by a consultant with a current registration with the state unit (article 78).

For its authorization, the proposal must include the following (article 79):

• Founding record (acta constitutiva) of the internal unit, with the organization and composition of the unit and of the emergency response brigades, and the signatures and duties of their members.
• Training certificates for members in first aid, fire prevention and firefighting, search, rescue, and evacuation, according to their brigade.
• Maintenance logs for safety devices.
• Drill and training schedule.
• Letter of co-responsibility signed by the accredited outside consultant.
• Updated risk analysis.
• Copy of the current insurance policy.