Risk Management articles for surveyors

When disaster strikes...

by Tim Prior LLB AIRM, Senior Risk Management Consultant

"What a nightmare – our offices burned down last night. We’ve lost everything.”

“They’re developing the site next door – and they’ve found an unexploded bomb from WW2. The office has been cordoned off. The emergency services won’t let anyone in.”

“A pipe burst in our basement overnight. As if the flood wasn’t bad enough, we’ve lost all power so we’ve got no computers.”

None of these are everyday occurrences but they could happen – maybe not tomorrow or next week, but one day, and there’s never a good time. How would you cope?

Your Disaster Plan

Assuming you have one, do you know where it is? Can you get to it? Let’s hope you didn’t keep it in the office if you are being denied access. Was it up to date? If essential information (telephone numbers for example) is out of date, your plan may fail at the first hurdle. Keeping an up to date copy off site is essential. Aim to test the plan at least once a year. Appoint someone to keep the plan up to date and to make sure it works.

IT Backup

What routine back-up procedures do you run for your IT? Now is not the time to learn that corners have been cut. Ensure that all files are backed up regularly and that you have a system for storing such data off site. If you have more than one office, a reciprocal system between offices can work well. Otherwise talk to your IT supplier or bank to see if they can help.

Consider saving emails to a separate server. If you don’t and there is a dispute, the cost of recovering fragmented emails could be prohibitive.

Be sure you know where to get hold of the latest back-up tapes or CDs - and the equipment needed to run those tapes!

A New Plan

If you don’t have a plan, ask yourself:

Who will take charge? Your best administrator is not necessarily a senior figure in your organisation
Who are your key personnel?
How will you contact them? Setting up a contact tree will help you to get messages across even a large organisation quickly
Do you need temporary premises?
Will some staff be able to work from home?
What essential information and equipment do you need? Laptops, Blackberries, servers, printers, phones, copiers, fax machines, headed paper, addresses and phone numbers will probably be on your list. Do your stationers have any headed paper on standby? Can your IT supplier hold a number of PCs on standby?

Other essential steps may include diverting your office telephone and fax numbers as well as mail and other deliveries.
Consider making a press release or posting a note on your website.

Time spent in disaster planning will be as nothing compared to the time you will waste if you have no disaster plan in place. Be prepared – and once you’re prepared, think whether you can pass on what you have leant to any of your clients. How well prepared are they? Figures suggest that over 90% of companies fail to update disaster plans after installing new systems. They may be very grateful.
January 2006

Surveyors

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