|
A FACILITY BLUEPRINT FOR SURVIVAL:
Loss Control is about staying in business, no matter what. Have you done what you can do at all of your facilities to improve your chances for uninterrupted operations? This article addresses some of these issues, and suggests strategies to make your company the one that bounces back quickly. "It won’t happen to us" has destroyed too many companies; don’t let yours be the next! COMMITMENT All of the decisions regarding loss prevention and control involve cost-benefit analyses. For example, it is probably a waste of money to provide any protection for a facility not worth, or valued at, the cost of the proposed protection. Not every facility in the world needs to be protected to the hilt, and some places aren’t worth the costs. SPRINKLERS Where sprinklers exist, they control 96% of all industrial fires! In the event of a fire, the statistics weigh heavily in favor of sprinklers. The 4% that aren’t controlled can always be traced back to poor practices, such as improper design or poor maintenance. Sprinklers work – their track record is impeccable. But are they for everyone? Maybe not; the cost of the installation has to be weighed against the benefits. Some points to consider: • Sprinklers save lives; how much consideration should
this be given? To have sprinklers work properly, there also must be an adequate water supply. This could be a connection to a public water system, or a private installation involving pumps and static supplies. The amount of water needed is based on the design of the sprinkler systems, which will be based on the hazards in the facility. CONSTRUCTION Will smoke or heat destroy the building or its contents? If so, maybe fire barriers are in order. A good rule of thumb is to always divide the warehousing areas from the manufacturing facilities using firewalls or barriers. If the warehouse burns down, the plant can still manufacture; if the manufacturing operation is damaged, the company can still sell out of the warehouse; if they’re both gone…. SURVEILLANCE For some very sensitive operations, like jewelry manufacturing facilities, a combination of security devices and people may be appropriate. In some places, an alarm system that signals when the sprinkler system activates may be enough. It depends on the operations, the value of the place, and the comfort level management wants to achieve. Undetected idle plant incidents are always bigger; a problem in a facility without surveillance always has a head start—and a potentially lethal one. HAZARDOUS MATERIALS EMERGENCY RESPONSE Industry is private, and many times the public responders are only capable of protecting the public from industrial accidents. There are many instances where the public responders have not gone onto industrial property because they were not properly prepared. And in some cases, management would rather have the public fire service stay outside the property during an incident. Each individual site will be different; knowing the differences takes communications with all responders involved. Have you had a face-to-face meeting with the local responders in your area to discuss possible incidents? Suppose the fire department responded to a fire in a plant and said they wouldn’t fight the fire because they didn’t know how to handle the chemicals that may be burning. And there is nobody on the site trained to fight the fire either; no in-house fire brigade, and the hazardous materials team isn’t trained to handle burning hazardous materials. (A hazmat team may be prepared to handle spills, but what about fires with hazardous materials?) What happens? Everyone looks at each other while the place goes up in smoke and the hazardous materials create a disaster. This has happened in the past, and it will happen again. What is your management’s level of commitment? KEEP IT GOING! Again, there are many tools to help in this area; the two most important being training and software programs. The training is available all over the world, and today it can be customized to fit. Insurance companies, contractors and consultants have programs to train people on all types of loss prevention equipment and procedures. Business continuity and disaster recovery experts are valuable in this area. The computer with specialized software makes scheduling simple. Programs are available for everything encountered in loss prevention maintenance and testing, business continuity planning and disaster management. Keep in mind that management also has the choice to do nothing. "It won’t happen to us." Many people view this as a viable alternative. Every choice has consequences, some of which are not nearly as pleasant as others. Everyone can choose how far to go. There is no secret formula to keeping a building standing, avoiding disaster or keeping the business operating. The principles are there, and have been for 150 years. Loss prevention and control is the best way to achieve business continuity—make sure that the disaster never occurs, and if it does, it stays small. About the Author |