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[Portfolio]– Vital Records
Identifying and protecting your Vital Records allows you to re-establish normal operations in your office soon, if not immediately, after a disaster. By realizing the importance of your records for continuing your office functions and arranging for protection of these records, you will save valuable time and resources after an emergency. You will be able to concentrate on restoring operations rather than finding necessary information or spending money and time on restoring unnecessary records.
The identification and protection of your Vital Records is crucial as it allows you to:
- Minimize the disruption of normal business operations after an emergency.
- Minimize the economic impact of the disruption.
- Provide for rapid and smooth restoration of services.
- Comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
- Recover and/or salvage office vital records and assets (i.e., equipment) rather than using time to recover unnecessary information.
A Vital Record is recorded information, regardless of format (i.e., paper, photo, database, magnetic tape), that must be protected in the event of an emergency or disaster because of severe consequences to the Division / Portfolio and the Institute as a whole if the record is lost or destroyed.
Vital records are records that will be needed in anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours after a disaster to restore office Department / Portfolio operations. They are records that, if lost or destroyed, would be both costly and time consuming to recreate - if they can be recreated at all. They can be active (currently used by the office) or inactive (in storage).
Vital Records are:
- Vital to the function and mission of the Institute.
- Essential for the continuous operation or reconstruction of any Institute owned buildings.
- Necessary to establish or protect the legal or financial position of the Institute.
- Necessary to protect and ensure the rights and interests of the employees and clients of the Institute.
Only a small percentage of your records will be vital; most will fall into one of the following three categories:
Essential Records - These are records that will be needed within 72 hours after an emergency and, although it may be costly and difficult, CAN be reconstructed or replaced from other sources.
Useful Records - These are records which can be easily replaced. The time and cost of reproducing or accessing these records would be minimal because of the ready availability of these records at other locations.
Non-Essential Records - These are records that are of little or no value to the office. Examples would be stores catalogs, brochures, extra forms, etc.
Vital Record - Detail
Record / Document:Description / Function of document:
Related Critical Function:
Media (Paper, Disk, E-Doc, Tape, Photo, Other):
Storage Location(s):
Retention:
Protection Method:
Back-up Documents Available / Location:
Managed By: