disaster planning and control - International Records Management ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

• The records should be at a safe distance from the offices of the organisation, but as near as safely possible to allow for a reasonably quick retrieval. At least 10 or more kilometres away from the main facility is considered by many experts to be the minimum distance for remote storage facilities. • The records should be in a location controlled by the organisation and available for use in the event of an emergency as well as for regular maintenance. • The location should provide a site where officials of the organisation could establish emergency operations for a short period of time. • Operating personnel should receive the highest possible security clearances. • The operating personnel should be able to provide all necessary records management services. • There should be emergency communication facilities available, in addition to regular communication facilities. • The facility should be self sustaining, for example, with a generator to provide power, water, humidity control system, air-conditioning facilities to heat and de-humidify the air and an ongoing security system. • The facility should be as safe and secure as possible with its own emergency plan to protect people and records. • If essential records are machine-readable, the hardware or machinery required to read those records must be available at the facility. For more information on the care of current records, see Organising and Controlling Current Records. Activity 29 Are there any commercial remote records storage organisations in your country or region? If so, try to visit one or enquire about their facilities and services. Compared with the checklist above, what facilities does the facility have and what facilities does it lack? Developing Reciprocal Relationships It is not always possible to use a commercial agency for offsite storage; in many countries such businesses do not exist or are not yet well established. However, it is possible to consider other options for offsite storage. A range of reciprocal relationships can be established if the organisation seeks creative solutions to the challenge of protecting vital records. One option to develop reciprocal relationships with other agencies in the country. For example, the archival institution and the museum might agree to store each other’s vital records. Or the records centre might establish a liaison with the library. If each is located in a different part of the city, this EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR RECORDS AND ARCHIVES SERVICES 63
arrangement might be very beneficial. If the facilities sit next to one another, the chance of protecting records diminishes; an emergency in one building might easily move to the other. Similarly, a records office might establish a relationship with other records offices around the country, or vital records might be stored in provincial records centres. Universities might exchange materials so that each cares for the other’s vital records. Organisations may develop reciprocal relationships with each other in order to protect each other’s vital records. Activity 30 If there is no commercial organisation in your area, name three options you might consider for developing reciprocal relationships to protect vital records. COPYING VITAL RECORDS Copying involves the creation of a second or duplicate copy of a vital record. Ideally, copying should only be done when no more changes are expected to the records. The copy should be stored in a safe place, removed from where the original is kept. This may be in a building or area completely separate from the general records storage area. Alternately, the copy may be used for general reference and the original stored in a safe offsite location. Remember, if a copy is used for reference, it should not be the ‘master’ copy but a copy of the copy. In other words, the original and one copy should also be protected from use so that one or the other is available in the event of an emergency. Vital records can be copied, but the master copy should also be protected so that one or the other version is available in an emergency. Copies do not have to be in the same format as the original record. The duplicate can take the form of a photocopy, carbon copy, electronic tape, floppy disk, microform or optical disk. The method selected should be made on the basis of the needs of the organisation and the equipment and facilities available. Before copying records, you should ask yourself the following questions. • Do duplicates already exist? If yes, where and in what form? • When should duplicates be made? When the record is created, or at a pre-set or scheduled time? EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR RECORDS AND ARCHIVES SERVICES 64
Page 1 and 2:
MANAGING PUBLIC SECTOR RECORDS A Tr
Page 3 and 4:
MANAGING PUBLIC SECTOR RECORDS A ST
Page 5 and 6:
MPSR Project Personnel Project Dire
Page 7 and 8:
Donors The International Records Ma
Page 10 and 11:
CONTENTS Introduction 1 Lesson 1 Id
Page 12 and 13:
INTRODUCTION TO EMERGENCY EMERGENCY
Page 14 and 15:
METHOD OF STUDY AND ASSESSMENT This
Page 16 and 17:
EMERGENCY PLANNING FOR RECORDS AND
Page 18 and 19:
• environmental, such as an aircr
Page 20 and 21:
Conducting a Risk Assessment The be
Page 22 and 23:
DETERMINING POTENTIAL IMPACT Once t
Page 24 and 25: Emergencies and disasters can have
Page 26 and 27: When preparing a risk assessment an
Page 28 and 29: very different when staff are not i
Page 30 and 31: METHODS OF CONDUCTING ASSESSMENTS I
Page 32 and 33: 7. Fire suppression systems are in
Page 34 and 35: • Compartmentalise holdings by in
Page 36 and 37: Special precautions should be taken
Page 38 and 39: When constructing a new building, t
Page 40 and 41: STUDY QUESTIONS 1. What types of ri
Page 42 and 43: Activity 7 There are benefits to ea
Page 44 and 45: PREPARING AN EMERGENCY PLAN EMERGEN
Page 46 and 47: The format of the plan should be ea
Page 48 and 49: Preventive Measures This section of
Page 50 and 51: Key people inside and outside the o
Page 52 and 53: List of Emergency Equipment and Sup
Page 54 and 55: atteries for lights or flashlights
Page 56 and 57: OBTAINING APPROVAL In order for the
Page 58 and 59: person who developed the plan. Peop
Page 60 and 61: • Take action to prevent the same
Page 62 and 63: STUDY QUESTIONS 1. What is the purp
Page 64 and 65: Senior approval is critical as is c
Page 66 and 67: Another asset to identify, of cours
Page 68 and 69: ultimately, its success. Such suppo
Page 70 and 71: event that the building and surroun
Page 72 and 73: Remember, the ‘vital’ nature of
Page 76 and 77: • Where should duplicates be made
Page 78 and 79: sometimes necessary to enter into c
Page 80 and 81: SUMMARY This lesson has outlined th
Page 82 and 83: ACTIVITIES: COMMENTS Activity 23 In
Page 84 and 85: Activity 33 When storing electronic
Page 86 and 87: It is suggested that an organisatio
Page 88 and 89: International Centre for the Study
Page 90 and 91: taken to prevent emergencies. Much
Page 92 and 93: National Archives and Records Admin
Page 94 and 95: SUMMARY This lesson has provided an
Page 96: ACTIVITIES: COMMENTS Activity 34 Ev
show all

disaster planning and control - International Records Management ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?