What's Missing In Your DRP?

In most disaster recovery plans there is one flaw that goes by unseen by many. Let’s do a quick review of a simple disaster recovery plan or DRP. 

• Data recovery in place and tested – check, 
• Insurance updated – check, 
• Fire suppression inspected – check, 
• Furniture vendors lined up – check, 
• Perimeter security ready – check, 
• Internet and telco failovers in place and tested – check, 
• Poly Tarps to cover breaches and protect things inside – check, 
• Power generation tested and ready – check, 
• Computer replacements on hand or easy to obtain – check, 
• Cloud based paperless office in place for mission critical documents – check, 
• Co-Location ready – check, 
• Check, check, check and check. 

 So what is the one thing that is often over looked by so many? Refuse removal.

 

As an example it is no secret that the Florida Keys was hit with a devastating storm when Irma bulldozed through in September 2017. Many homes, boats and businesses were flattened into nothing but wreckage. A lot of that wreckage still remains over four months later in piles on properties, along the sides of streets and in canals and is just sitting there. It has been a frustrating ordeal for the citizens of the Keys as Monroe County and FEMA have seemingly dropped the ball in removal. Hence is the great fail, people often are reliant on government agencies to come in and clean things up. 

Instead of relying on the government for emergency refuse removal your DRP needs to have provisions in how to remove and safely dispose of any debris on your site regardless if the debris was generated by your building or from someone else’s. Generally you would need to hire a contractor to take care of this task for you unless you want to take care of the it yourself. But regardless any debris must be brought to and properly disposed of in an authorized landfill or recycling center. Regardless if you hire someone to remove and dispose of the debris or you do it yourself you could be ultimately responsible for the final disposition. 

Here comes another aspect, some of the debris may need to be separated for recycling and that might be an important part of your DRP. Items can include various metals, plastics, glass along with normal debris, not to mention potential contaminates. These can include propane cylinders and tanks, gasoline cans, paints, lubricants and other chemicals. And let’s not talk about untreated sewage which brings about it’s own health risks. For those potentially hazardous items you will need to follow proper collection and disposal procedures to the letter. 

In some areas you may be allowed to simply burn the debris but with the todays pollution laws you could wind up getting hit with a serious fine from the EPA, fire department or police department. So before striking that match check to see if you are allowed to do so. 

By not cleaning up and properly disposing of debris cannot only hinder successful recovery of your business or home but can cause a potential health risk. So no DRP can or should be considered complete unless refuse removal is included in it regardless if you own a business or not. 

Photos:
Dawn Kozash
Kimberly Beier-Brown