BCM in Adverse Weather ... a consideration of the effects
Category Business Continuity Management - Water and Flood damage - disaster Recovery
Creating Continuity ... Building Resilience ...
BUSINESS CONTINUITY IN ADVERSE WEATHER 2005
The recent meteorological office alert that Britain may face the coldest winter in 40 years should alert business planners to the possible ramifications. The first concern should be the tandem warning from the electricity supply industry that, following the Met Office warning recognised the potential additional loading on the National Grid.
They have warned that their current supply potential has little spare capacity and that power cuts are likely as consumers turn up heating. All areas are said to be prone although outage is likely to be 3 hours at a time. UPS and stand by generators should obviously be tested now, but unusually low temperatures bring additional and unusual problems which should be recognised and addressed.
Fuel and diesel in stand by or auxiliary generators in particular, have a tendency to “Freeze” in temperatures below zero C. This freezing action is a misnomer as the actual effect is the formation of wax crystals which are contained in the fuel. These crystals turn the fuel into a gel and this blocks the fuel filters. The temperatures at which the gel forms can vary due to various factors. These factors can include wind chill, but more importantly the time of year the fuel was purchased. British Standard 2869 requires oil companies to supply diesel fuel with a CFPP cold filter plugging point of -12 centigrade for red diesel between October and March but only 0c during summer months. Obviously wholesalers could have held stocks over these periods and therefore you have a choice, expensive fuel testing, the hope that temperatures don’t cause waxing, or defence.
Some may remember hauliers lighting fires under their trucks to melt the wax gel but clearly this would be inappropriate for static generators. The planner should now be considering logistics and UPS. Defence can include fuel additives, or fuel line heaters which prevent the gelation.
Freeze damage is common place in many countries but in the UK where a temperate climate is the norm, anything outside normal can be expected to cause disruption.
Where high temperatures cause swelling freezing can cause shrinkage and many doors, locks, rail line and junctions may freeze up and fail. Transport and employee attendance issues must be considered especially in category 1 CCA situations.
The design of cold roof space (un-insulated roof) may have been welcomed but never challenged with regard to extreme heat loss from internal surfaces; the risk of frozen and burst pipes due to poor insulation is an obvious risk and should be assessed.
Security is an area where lighting and alarms should be assessed, invariably extreme conditions can trigger alarms or expose poorly maintained UPS or back up systems. Patrols may be limited to the comfort zone of the guard and good clothing is essential.
The safe maintenance of access and car parks is an obvious challenge. Employees or visitors who slip on ice may expose duty holders to liability or unnecessary sick leave. The availability of snow shovels, salt or ice melting chemicals is a very worthwhile expenditure and more important the appointment of the snow clearance team.
It should be remembered that the Workplace Health Safety & Welfare Regulations 1992 Regulation 7 requires the employer to maintain a comfort zone working environment, usually recognised between 16-24 centigrade This could be extremely difficult to achieve if power outage is extended beyond the 3 hours threatened.
History has shown us the unlikely failure in power supply companies who switch loads from area to area. The Auckland (New Zealand) failures of just one power line led to the transfer onto other lines which resulted in the total collapse of electrical power supply to the central business district in 1998.
IT and computer rooms in particular hardly existed 40 years ago and they may be the most vulnerable areas in relation to power outage and temperature. Total power failure may result in extremely damaging environmental conditions in these areas caused by condensation and the potential for latent and long term intermittent faults.
Temporary heating (cooling for IT) and auxiliary generators should be considered together with the logistics of fuel oil supply. Many heaters or generators require daily supplies and new Legislation and safety regarding fuel storage (bundage) must be observed, failure can result in a criminal conviction. From September 1st 2005 you must ensure that all heavy oil stores of more than 200 litres have measures in place to contain or minimise the chance of pollution. There is good reason for this and Environment agency records show there were 12 oil pollution incidents every day in England and Wales. Some of these I have seen melt the bitumen roof surfaces adjacent to generator fuel storage areas. See Environment Agency’s web site.
The use of LPG liquefied petroleum gas heaters may provide a short term benefit but users should be aware of storage and insurance limitations. Unattended LPG heaters can and have resulted in fire and installation must take account of their need for replacement fresh air as they burn oxygen and produce carbon monoxide. Suffocation in confined space is a very real hazard.
Space heaters are generally oil or paraffin blower heaters and these can flame out, create volatile explosive smoke clouds, small movement can cause large flume surges and this type of equipment may best be suited to open building sites.
Insurance limitations or indeed policy exclusions may exist so check with brokers prior to installation.
In 1997 there were 4,195 incidents, 47 deaths _and 820 non-fatal injuries involving space heater fires. The risk of fatality is high at 11 per 1,000 incidents, and the risk of injury is 195 per 1,000 incidents.
Behaviour involved in fatal space heater fire incidents 1994-1997
Risk of incident, fatality or non-fatal casualty, 1994-1997 (average)
* assumes 100 per cent of 23.5 million households have some form of heating
Source - Merseyside Fire & Rescue services
Conclusion
The expected lower temperatures, potential loss of power and personnel absence due to travel disruption and consequential loss from freeze incidents should alert planners to the need of assessments and additional plans for resilience.
The author is Jeff Charlton MD of www.disasteradvice.co.uk and can be contacted on 08700 789 999
Creating Continuity ... Building Resilience ...
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