« Environmental Records & EDMS | Main | ISO certification assistance »

October 03, 2002

Disaster Prevention

Recent Disasters Re-emphasize Recovery Planning -
Tropical Storm Allison causes losses of $2Billion.

A sight that will stay in our minds forever: thousands upon thousands of documents raining from the sky as the World Trade Center towers fell 9/11. As a result of the unimaginable damage, corporate America is now examining the way the protect documents and information – especially documents that are vital to the survival of the organization.

As our last hectic weeks of hurricane season approach, we see yet again the importance of having a disaster recovery plan in place; tropical Storm Allison being the most recent example in the southern United States. Property losses are estimated in the $2 billion range for Allison alone.

Statistics show that many businesses directly affected by a disaster do not recover – some never open their doors to business again, or those who try often fail within a few years.

Although disaster events can never be predicted; organizations with comprehensive records and information management systems in place will have the best odds in recovery and staying in business.

According to a standard developed by ARMA International, an organization should start preparing by identifying documents vital to operations. Once these are identified, the value of safeguarding them must be weighed against the cost of reconstructing them.

Documents should be identified, classified and the media they are stored in should be documented. A loss and protection plan for each should be established and routines put in place for recovery and restoration.

Conducting routine backups and storing them and the most vital documents in a secure location – either offsite or an element-resistant location within the company’s building is the first step in any disaster plan. Having documents in electronic format; easy to duplicate, easy to protect is – needless to say – a lifesaving precaution for any business.
One year after the terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, the Insurance Information Institute estimates that the total insurance loss from September 11 will ultimately be about $40.2 billion; the biggest insured catastrophe ever, and the most complex. Says Gordon Stewart, president of the Insurance Information Institute; “This recovery process will take years.”

The estimate of $40.2 billion in insured losses includes:
$11 billion (27 percent) in claims for business interruption;
$10 billion (25 percent) in liability claims;
$6 billion (15 percent) in property claims for damage to property, including vehicles, other than World Trade Center buildings One and Two;
$3.5 billion (9 percent) in property claims for WTC buildings One and Two;
$3.5 billion (9 percent) for aviation liability;
$2.7 billion (7 percent) in life insurance claims;
$2 billion (5 percent) for workers compensation claims;
$1 billion (2 percent) in claims for event cancellation and
$500 million (1 percent) in hull claims for the loss of the four commercial aircraft.

Posted by DocuVantage on October 3, 2002 12:00 AM

Comments

Post a comment