Black Cockatoo Community Services Will Seek to Avoid Damage of Records by Good Security

Records - Disaster management

Black Cockatoo Community Services will seek to avoid damage of records by good security.

This will include

·  Developing a ‘counter disaster plan’ specifically for managing records

·  Identify and document the vital records of BCCS

·  Create and maintain a disaster storage arrangement

Unfortunately disasters such as floods and fires do occur and they often affect records and recordkeeping systems.

The following counter-disaster plan provides direction to staff who need to deal with such an occasion

·  Senior staff to contact the current insurer

·  Contact conservators at State Records for advice and guidance on salvaging the records

·  Assemble all equipment and resources you will need for your recovery operation (includes fans, dehumidifiers, trolleys, disaster bins etc)

·  Salvage and recover vital records first! Prioritise client files, staff files and financial records.

·  Photograph and document the disaster; you will need records of the disaster for your insurance claims, reporting to management, and to funding bodies.

Quick tips for managing recovery

You will need to:

1. Assess the damage to records

·  What records are affected by the disaster?

·  What physical format are the records (eg paper, photographs, maps and plans, video, tape etc)?

·  Take photographs of the disaster and the damage to records.

2. Determine the extent of the damage

·  What damage has been done to the records?

·  Can the damage be repaired?

·  Are the records stored in boxes?

·  Are the boxes wet, but the contents dry?

·  Are records wet, damp, only a little wet, or soaked?

3. Identify your recovery priorities

·  Recover priority files and documents first (ie client files, staff files and financial records.)

4. Identify need for expert assistance

·  Identify and determine whether you will need to call in expert assistance for the recovery (this will depend on the nature and severity of the disaster and the quantity of records affected).

·  In making this decision, you will need to liaise and discuss external assistance with management and your insurer.

5. Establish recovery operations

·  Decide on a location for your recovery operations – negotiate arrangements.

·  Organise necessary equipment and resources for recovery

·  Start moving records to the recovery operations location for treatment.

Quick tips for managing wet records

Time is of the essence when dealing with wet and mouldy records. Here are some tips on what you should do and treatments that should be avoided.

Dealing with wet records in the first 48 hours

Water damage is the most common result of disasters, and mould growth is always a high risk in disasters involving water. Flooded areas and wet records must be dried out quickly.

·  Dry out the space. If this is not possible, remove the wet records to a dry area quickly

·  Where the quantity of records permits, air-dry the records by fanning them out and interleaving pages with blotting paper/butcher paper/grease proof paper.

·  Use portable dehumidifiers where the records are drying to speed the drying process and provide good air circulation.

·  Use pedestal fans to increase air circulation and aid in drying

Processes that should NEVER be used on Black Cockatoo records and archives during disaster salvage:

·  Decontamination with any chemical fumigant. Fumigants include ethylene oxide, hydrogen peroxide gas (e.g. bleach), methyl bromide, or any proprietary fumigant.

·  Decontamination using gamma irradiation.

·  Freeze drying of photographic or film collections.

Processes that pose risks to records and archives

·  All processes except air drying pose some risk to records and should only be undertaken by highly trained staff and reputable companies

·  Freeze drying can cause damage to some formats, e.g. photographic materials, and should only be used where the size of the disaster precludes air drying

·  Freezing is only recommended for some formats and is only recommended where the quantity of records would mean they cannot be dried within 48 hours.

Appointment of disaster recovery team

It is important that the disaster recovery company appointed by your organisation and insurer has the right expertise for records salvage and restoration. Remember, you should liaise with your insurer about the appointment of a disaster recovery team and the recovery processes used on the records.

What procedures do you and the disaster salvage company have to put in place to determine whether the records have been adequately and appropriately treated?

·  Moisture content readings should be taken of records following salvage and treatment to establish whether records have been dried adequately – they should fall into the normal range for dry paper

·  Where mould growth has been observed or is suspected, records should be tested to establish whether mould growth is abnormal compared with the baseline levels at the affected site

Damaged records

Once records have started to be recovered, you will need to identify the records and make decisions about what to do with the records.

It will be necessary for you to make decisions about the records using authorised retention and disposal authorities and in consultation with your organisation. Importantly, you will also need to follow your organisation’s disposal authorisation processes.

Copies, publications and ephemeral records

·  If the affected records are identified in organisational policy as ephemeral and can be disposed under Normal Administrative Practice, then you may not need to recover the records and the records can be destroyed.

·  HOWEVER, care must be taken to ensure that only records able to be disposed of underNormal Administrative Practiceare destroyed.

Time expired records

·  If the affected records are covered by retention and disposal authorities, have been retained for the minimum retention period, and are no longer required for administrative, legal, financial, audit or business needs, then your organisation may decide to dispose of the records rather than recover them.

·  REMEMBER to document the disposal of these records and follow your organisation’s disposal authorisation processes.

Records needed for business purposes or State requirements

If the affected records are:

·  still required for ongoing business

·  not covered by retention and disposal authorities, or

·  identified as State requirement eg Child Protection issues

then you should contact State Recordsto seek advice about these records.

Before a disaster strikes!

Its important to plan and prepare for disasters. You need to:

·  Implement theStandard on records managementandStandard on physical storage of State records

·  Develop acounter disaster plan for managing a disaster

·  Identify and document your organisation’svital records

·  Create and maintain adisaster binand/ordisaster stores.

Acknowledgement

Black Cockatoo Community Services would like to acknowledge the use of the University of Technology Sydney's records recovery assessment tool in the development of this.

Black Cockatoo Community Services December 2015