HSB PREPARE Program: Pre-Emergency Plan and Recovery

What is the availability of spare circuit breakers, switchgear, and wiring if the main distribution center or service entrance equipment is damaged? Are parts readily available? How long will it take to repair or replace?

Is an emergency generator, including fuel and oil, available? Is it routinely load tested? Can temporary cables be run for underground or bus bar feeds? Will other businesses be looking to purchase these resources at the same time (e.g. widespread disaster)?

Identify key contacts with your utility companies to establish contingency planning (spare transformers, temporary cables, alternate power/rentals, etc.). Are critical substation transformer replacements readily available?

Are there special electrical code, building code or hazardous material requirements that need to be considered?

Evaluate the need for visual inspections, testing and regular maintenance of key equipment. If these programs are lacking or needed to improve reliability, add to your pre-emergency standard procedures as well as your emergency plan.

Preventing a failure is always better than reacting. Consider these tools and tests as a proactive approach: surge protection, relay testing, thermographic (infrared) surveys, insulation testing, circuit breaker trip tests, transformer oil and similar reliability tests. 

Your plan should include contact information for maintenance, repair, rental, and restoration resources. You should also include account numbers. List the after-hours or 24-hour emergency phone numbers; those are the ones you’ll need. Having current contact information readily available will decrease downtime.

Is equipment readily accessible for repairs? If not, repairs will be difficult and will increase downtime and expense. Pre-plan and document if a wall needs to be knocked down for access, or if special rigging, cranes, or helicopters will be needed.

Your plan should document a backup resource for critical coolers, air conditioning or refrigeration, possibly including an agreement/contract with an equipment rental provider.

Refrigeration: Determine cold storage space requirements; consider establishing an agreement/contract with a local public/private cold storage facility. Also depending on the refrigerant type, develop an emergency action plan to include evacuation/ clean up.

Include phone numbers in your contact list for governing agencies that would need to be notified in the event of possible spoilage (e.g. USDA, FDA).

If refrigeration (or power) is lost, keep freezer, cooler and refrigerator doors closed if possible, or cover product if the cooler is an open type. Add ice blocks or cubes if available.

Your plan should address rental boilers if feasible. Rental boiler hook-up and power supply information is necessary as well as the name, address and emergency phone number of a boiler rental agency.

To expedite response, your plan should include names, addresses and phone numbers of your boiler manufacturer, reliable boiler repair companies and rigging concerns. Your plan should outline the specific options for cranes, rigging or if equipment might need to be airlifted into facility.

Your plan should include hot water or steam support equipment such as fans, air heaters, water feed pumps, water treatment facilities, piping, steam traps, condensate return equipment, economizers, feed water heaters and deaerators. All are usually essential.

Your plan should address any equipment access issues (for repair or replacement), and should document options. The inaccessibility of equipment often makes repairs extremely difficult. If the situation is identified prior to a failure, your plan will already have laid out possible solutions and action required, drastically reducing downtime.

Large air tanks and specialty pressure vessels normally require long lead times for replacement. It is important to determine the availability and sources for replacements. Welding and repair services should be ASME code authorized and should be evaluated and selected prior to the actual need.

In northern climates where pipes might freeze without heat, your plan should outline steps to be taken to prevent or minimize freezing.

Your plan should evaluate the need for stand-by generators and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), that will keep computers and similar equipment powered until the stand-by generator has come on-line and the load is synchronized.

Your plan should address the need for redundant data processing and data storage equipment.

Your plan should evaluate data backup equipment and procedures, and where back up date is stored. Separation is good.

Data is so important. Establish a Disaster Recovery Plan specific to data processing and IT operations.

Check (load test) battery packs of UPS equipment regularly.

Set up a Business Continuity Plan to address how you will communicate with employees, customers and vendors following a widespread disaster (or a smaller incident that interrupts normal communication channels).

Your plan should address if you have current contact information for manufacturer’s drawings, dimensions, specifications (e.g. bull gear material and hardness), repair firms, and availability of key recommended spares. Where will parts have to come from? 

Your plan should evaluate if any equipment is inaccessible for replacement and outline what steps should be taken to expedite the replacement. 

Evaluate the need for better point-of-use electrical surge protection for key equipment.

Your plan should include a list of the parts most likely to fail and compare that list to the spare parts immediately on hand (on premises).

Ask, “What If?” for each critical press, machine, etc., especially production equipment that processes product that no other line or equipment can handle due to width, tolerance, etc.

Customers expect delivery on time. Ask yourself what extra expenses might be involved to meet customer expectations during an upset condition to machinery? Is temporary outsourcing an option?

Know what you have for data and where it is stored. Dispose of data in an appropriate manner (hardcopy and electronic) when there is no longer a business use. Hardcopy data should be shredded using a cross-cut shredder. Hard drives should be degaussed or physically destroyed.

Maintain computer system’s operating systems and deploy critical patches as soon as they are available. Deploy and update anti-virus and firewall technologies.

Develop an incident response plan. The plan should include who is to be contacted in the company as well as information pertaining to the appropriate IT and insurance contacts. 

Identify a second means by which to communicate/conduct business should your systems be unavailable for an extended period.