Disaster planning
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OVERVIEW
Disaster planning is about understanding what to do when there is an emergency. Your organisation will have a plan covering major incidents such as fire, flood, bomb threat and theft which will detail who does what in the event of an incident, what is the chain of command, what items should be saved if possible, the location of key equipment and materials and a list of emergency contact details.
Your risk assessment exercise will identify aspects of your planned work which are most likely to be affected by a major incident and you will want to alert the appropriate staff in your organisation to these so that the overall disaster plan can take them into account. Your own risk register will also detail how you intend to manage these situations. For example, if a fire or flood affects the hardware you use, what impact will that have on the work to be done.
For digital content, you will want to consider disaster planning as an aspect of your records management processes to make sure that all vital records are safe and are held in duplicate in different locations. Make sure that your financial plans include an element for this.
Benefits of disaster planning
(From [http://bl.uk/blpac/disaster.html Disaster/Emergency planning online guide)
'It is not possible to prevent disasters or emergencies completely. However, with careful planning and preparation, it is possible to reduce their occurrence and mitigate their impact. Each organisation should appoint a senior manager to have overall responsibility to ensure the institution or company meets its obligations for the safety of staff and collections or resources in their care.
The process of writing a disaster/emergency plan has additional benefits. It will
- Identify chains of responsibility
- Enable decision makers to act
- Demonstrate that you have carried out your duty of care for the resources or collections for which you are responsible
- Lead to closer ties with other cultural property organisations by helping to share best practice, resources and facilities
- Meet professional guidelines and legal requirements for health and safety
- Demonstrate best practice in managing risk
- Meet requirements for funding applications, registration schemes, and may have insurance benefits.'
Related Digipedia articles
Further information
JISC infonet advice and guidance on records management
Harwell Document Restoration Services disaster plan template
Digital Preservation Coalition advice on disaster planning
[[Role::newcomer]] [[Role::strategy manager]] [[Role::policy maker]] [[Role::project manager]] [[Role::technical support]] [[Goal::managing]] [[Goal::staff training]] [[Level::basic]] [[Level::medium]]
