Good afternoon,
Two years ago, when the ATL area experienced several days of very heavy rains and houses and businesses in many local areas were flooded, our Chattahoochee facility was also flooded under about 1-2 feet of water for several days. Of course the first priorities were employee safety and getting that facility back in operation, but we also experienced some wet records. Fortunately, the good folks at that facility notified us about the wet records and when we were allowed onsite, we were able to act fast. We removed the equivalent of about 120 cubic feet of wet records that were filed in the bottom drawers of file cabinets at that facility, some of which were original documents, and used a 3rd party company to help with the recovery process (freezing, etc.).
I am developing a guidance document for our filed locations that will include some general what-to-do and what-not-to do type things. Although the purpose of this document will be based on preventative measure, I also want our personnel to be prepared for handling records after an incident.
Though we acted as soon as we could in this particular incident and in the end, we were successful in restoring most-but not all of the wet records, and with the events of Hurricane Sandy in the NE (we also have facilities in that area too), I'm interested in hearing about any other "lessons learned" (or other recommendations) that anyone in RM Listserv land may've had from similar kinds of experiences? For example, one recommendation we now make to our field personnel is to file convenience copies of records in the lower drawers of file cabinets. We're in the process of developing a vital records program, where vital records ("vital records" is an old school term, as I believe the term now is "critical" records) will be identified, marked as vital (or critical) on our records retention schedules, and protected. Any "woulda /shoulda/coulda" advice, lessons learned, and/or recommendations from RM'ers who experienced Hurricane Sandy or any other natural or manmade disasters?
Years ago (I know I am dating myself here) ARMA used to offer a yellow pages-type of directory that identified vendors who specialized in this type of recovery. I haven't seen such a directory on ARMA's site in a while, so I am building a vendor list my own to include in my guidance. I'd also love to include short anecdotes of other experiences as well.
As usual, any and all comments are welcome, and please respond off-list as appropriate.
Thanks.
Earl
Pipeline Records and Information Management Excellence... Get PRIMEd!
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Earl Johnson, Jr., CRM
Corporate Records Manager
Colonial Pipeline Company [Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Colonial logo]
1185 Sanctuary Parkway, Ste. 100
Alpharetta, GA 30009
Internet: www.colpipe.com<http://www.colpipe.com/> | Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Office: 678-762-2586 | Mobile: 404-402-4420 | Fax: 678-762-2315
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