MSO(Estates) CHAPTER -3 DISASTER MANAGEMENT 3.1 Disaster Management Plan The probability of occurrence of natural disasters like earthquake, drought, flood, cyclone, hail storm, avalanche, land slide, fire, etc., are based on the geographical and seasonal factors affecting the location in which the office is located. These disasters could trigger fire hazards, diseases and cause damages to essential support systems. In addition, negligence in using electrical appliances and installations, security lapses, terrorist attacks etc, could also end up in a disaster and may affect the following aspects in any office. * Damages to the building = Loss of human life * Loss of records, files and other assets. * Loss of critical IT data relating to the office. ‘The following actions are to be taken to handle such situations effectively. 1, Setting up of a Disaster Management Committee (DMC). 2. Assess the probability of occurrence of a disaster and formulate safety norms. 3, Establishing a ‘trigger’ mechanism to perceive and respond quickly to a disaster situation to minimize the impact. 4, Handling of disaster situation effectively to bring in normalcy and to continue the official business. 3.1.1Setting up of a Disaster Management Committee (DMC) Head of the Department (HOD) in each office should constitute a four-member committee, DMC, headed by the Group Officer in-charge of Administration, preferably including Branch Officers in-charge of office management, Secretary to the HOD and Welfare Officer. DMC is responsible for co-coordinating with other Govt. agencies dealing with disaster management for identifying preventive measures, for assessing the vulnerability for a particular disaster and for handling emergency situations. DMC will ensure installation "O/o CAG of IndiaMSO(Estates) of proper emergency management system (EMS) for the office by covering the following areas: ‘A. Installation of suitable warning & security system. B. Maintenance of uninterrupted communication. C. Create awareness among the staff about Disaster Management Plan (DMP), preparedness, DOs & DONT’s during emergencies and relief measures, D. Publishing contact addresses and telephone numbers of responsible authorities namely Fire Department, Police, District Collector/ Commissioner, Meteorological Dept, Hospitals etc. E. Conduct periodical inspections or safety audits to check the readiness of EMS. F, Conducting mock exercises to ensure automatic activation of EMS in case of emergency. 3.1.2 Risk assessment for the probability of occurrence of disasters & formulation of safety norms The DMC shall be responsible for assessing, in coordination with the competent departments of Central/ State Government, the risks to which the office, its properties and employees are prone due to any disaster. Accordingly, preventive measures should be taken. The “Guidelines for Formulating Safety Norms’ are given in Annexure-3, Generally, IAAD offices are highly vulnerable to fire as it accumulates and stores huge quantity of records. Therefore, office-specific fire safety norms should be prepared and circulated among the employees and officers. Instructions/guidelines issued by Headquarters’ office for fire safety precaution is enclosed in Annexure-4. 3.1.3 Establishing a ‘trigger’ mechanism The primary objective of the ‘trigger’ mechanism is to perceive and to respond to an emergency by undertaking immediate rescue or relief operation. This mechanism envisages @ quick response on receiving signals of a disaster happening or likely to happen from various sources such as newspapers, television, radio, police, security personnel, NGOs etc. The warning messages should be quickly verified for its ns suitable for handling each type of emergency should be authenticity and activated. Therefore, DMC under the guidance of HOD should evolve a proper ‘trigger’ ‘0/0 CAG of India Page-Il of 78MSO(Estates) eee etre mm mare nent Ate AAR RN mechanism and design disaster specific follow up action based on the following guidelines. A. Identify the disasters that are prone to the locality and install suitable signal or warning mechanism to alert the employees. B. Security staff and caretakers could be designated as ‘trigger’ points and should be authorized to use public address systems, fire alarms, sirens etc to alert the staff and officers. C. Security & housekeeping staff and Caretaker of the office are to be instructed to be vigilant to perceive any emergency and report to the members of DMC to activate the EMS. 3.1.4 Handling of di ter situation to bring in normalcy quickly Disaster specific preventive and remedial measures are to be planned well in advance and the same should be widely published for creating awareness among all employees and officers. All activities required for the mitigation process are to be activated quickly by DMC simultaneously without loss of time. To ensure proper and quick handling, the following actions are to be taken, ‘A. List disaster specific remedial actions and specify job descriptions and responsibility to staff and officers of different levels. B. Quickly mobilize the trained security staff and volunteers to handle emergencies once the ‘waming or signal’ is on. Evacuate employees and officers quickly from the office premises without any delay. C. Involve other Govt. agencies viz. Fire Dept, Police, District Collector/ Commissioner, Hospitals etc. for emergency handling without any delay, D. Develop alternative contingency plans as back up. E. Keep first aid kit ready in the welfare cell. F. Devise continuity plans ready for quick restoration of normalcy. 3.1.4 Meetings of the Disaster Management Committee The Disaster Management Committees of the offices shall meet half yearly and the report of the meeting has to be sent to Headquarters’ office through online mode in the month of January and July every year. ‘O70 CAG of India or78MSO(Estates) Annexure-3 [Refer Para 3.1.2] GUIDELINES FOR FORMULATING SAFETY NORMS IAGAD offices are generally prone to localized hazards due to fire, electrical shock, water contamination, collapsing of buildings, thefts ete. CPWD is primarily responsible for installation of firefighting installations, water tanks, run-off systems and electrical facilities in the Government buildings. In private buildings, such systems are provided by the owner of the premises or by the office itself. Head of the Dept. should ensure installation of proper EMS suitable for handling localized disasters that would safeguard human life and office properties. Disaster Management Committee of each office should formulate safety norms to handle different types of disasters based on the following guidelines. ‘© Prepare ‘DOs’ and ‘DONT’ to handle emergency situations. ‘© Create awareness among the employees on the procedure for using fire fighting gadgets and other safety devices by giving wide publicity through circulars, sign boards, notices etc. © EMS such as fire fighting equipments, sirens, sensors, security systems ete provided in the buildings should be adequate and properly maintained. © Sand in big containers should be placed at suitable and easily accessible places in the building. © Sccurity staff are imparted proper training to handle the fire gadgets and for evacuating the employees from the fire affected area. © Proper coordination should be maintained with Fire Dept., Police and hospitals of the local area. © The structural strength of the office buildings should be assessed by CPWD or other experts periodically to assess the risk of collapsing of the building, ‘* Preventive measures should be taken against collapse, electrical shock, fire etc. ‘based on the vintage of the building, electrical wirings and fittings. a tee manne ee Page-54 of 78MSO(Estates) ‘© In case of offices located in the seismic zones and flood affected area, the indication or waming signals if any, given by the Metrological dept. or any other agency are to be taken seriously and ‘trigger’ mechanism should act. © Working networks of similar nodal agencies may be identified for quick implementation of the rescue programme. «For safe-guarding important files and records, backup copies in Hard Dise Drives(HDD) should be created and stored separately. Digitisation could be considered for archiving permanent records that are very important. © For IT infrastructure, any one of the internationally accepted best practices for DMP could be adopted in addition to the Business Continuity Planning (BCP)'* guidelines given in “Information System Security Handbook for [A& AD”. ‘These guidelines are illustrative and not exhaustive. Therefore, other relevant factors if any, specific to the office may be taken into consideration while formulating the safety norms. DMC should conduct safety audit on half yearly basis and take corrective action if needed. HOD should monitor DMP through calendar of returns. “gusiness Continuity Planning (BCP is essential for the continuation of key business services, in the event of an unexpected occurrence which seriously disrupts the business process. en ‘Olo CAG of India Page-55 of 78bs Adminis Annexure-4 [Refer Para 3.1.2] FIRE SAFETY PRECAUTION ion should ‘Conduct regular mock fire drills. Conduct an annual joint fire safety assessment exercise with CPWD along with Fire Services department. Post building evacuation plans and discuss them during mock fire drills. Include disabled employees in the fire emergency planning process. All escape routes should be marked with a signboard on the corridors and passage to guide during evacuation. Fire escape doors should be painted with fire resistant paints. As far as possible, plan and use fire resistant construction materials, hardware, paints wiring etc. while constructing, redesigning, renovation and upgradation of office buildings. Phase out old record to an alternate safe space other than office, if possible. Ensure that a team is trained to deal with fire incident for each floor. If fire strikes, staff should Escape first, then call for help. Sound the alarm and call the fire department immediately or on Telephone No. 101, no matter how small the fire appears to be. Leave the area quickly, closing doors in order to contain the fire and smoke. If smoke or flame is encountered during escape alternative exit should be used. Heat and smoke rises, leaving cleaner, cooler air near the floor. If there is no knees, keeping the head 12 to 24 inches above the floor. ‘Once outside, move away from the building, Never go back inside the building until the fire department permits it. Attack the fire with available equipment, without taking undue risk. ‘Olo CAG of India Page-56 of 78,MSO(Estates) nnn nn anna stems es Amanat anne ene mee ‘© Staff should know the escape routes, how to operate fire alarm and how to use first fire fighting equipments + Lifts should not be used as a means of escape. ‘* Staff should not shout or run. This tends to cause panic. * Fire hydrants should be clear of debris for easy access by fire department. 3. Help the firemen to help you © Give way to fire engines to enables them to reach at the incident quickly. © Don't park car/truck close to fire hydrants/underground static water tanks. © Guide firemen to water sources i.e. tube wells, ponds, static tanks, ete. in case of fire. © Donot hide any information concerning hazards in the premises and make this information known to all. © Do not crown the fire accident site as it may hamper fire fighting and rescue operation. 4. Staff should know that . Availability of fire fighting equipm outbreak of fire. They help in minimizing losses due to fire if maintained in the premises do not prevent and operated immediately, effectively and efficiently. * Not informing Fire Service department about the fire incident is a cognizable offence. 5. Fire safety precautions against electricity © Majority of fires are of electric origin on account of electric short circuit, overheating, overloading, use or nonstandard appliances, illegal tapping of electrical wires, improper electrical wiring, carelessness and ignorance etc, © Itcan lead to serious fire and fatal accidents, if proper instructions are not followed. © Such incidents can be minimized to a great extent if adequate fire precautions are observed. ‘Olo CAG of India Page-37 of 78+ Follow your building's security measures and keep unauthorized people out of the building. © Keep doors locked after office hours. + Alleys and other areas around office building should be well lit. 7. Housekeeping + Keep clutter out of halls, lobbies, alleys and other public areas. ‘© Keep waste paper, empty boxes, dirty rags, cleaning supplies, and other combustibles away from exits, storage areas and stairways. 8, Equipment and Appliances . Leave space for air to circulate around heaters and other heat-producing equipments. © Keep electrical appliances away from anything that might catch fire. * Do not stack books, files or papers on top of computer monitors/servers/CPUs. + Designate and employees to tum off or unplug all electrical appliances after office hours. 9, No Smoking zones © Donot allow smoking in the workplace. © Apply the same cautions to visitors and be alert to smouldering cigarette butts on furniture or in wastebaskets. 10. Do's and Don'ts Use 1S. certified appliances. Use fire resistant wires in construction, Dont use substandard fixtures, appliances. upgradation, renovation, modemization of office space. Tse good quality fuses of correct rating, miniature | Never have temporary or naked joints on wiring. Page-38 of 78akage circuit breakers. MSO(Estates) SS Use one socket for one appliance, Don't lay wires under carpets, mats and doorways, They get crushed, resulting in short circuiting, ‘Switch off the electric supply of the fire affected areas, Don't allow appliances cords to dangle. Fuses and switches should be mounted on metallic cubicles for greater safety against fire. Don't place bare wire ends in a socket. Replace broken plugs and switches. Don't meddle with electrical fixtures like plugs, wires switched and sockets, Keep the electrical wires away from hot and wet surface, Don't leave spray cans on or near heaters or in direct sunlight they could explode. ‘Switch off appliance after use and remove the plug from the socket, Don't throw matches, cigarette ends or pipe ash into waster pipe baskets. Keep the escape routes/staircases free of any obstructions. Don't place oil lamps, agarbattis or candles on the floor or near combustible material Do regularly check with the help of CPWD, the load bearing capacity of the major electrical wires. Don't plug too may electrical appliances in one socket, Good housekeeping must be ensured. All receptacles for waste should be emptied at regular intervals. Don't paint fire detector/sprinkler heads. Faulty electrical should be repaired replaced immediately. appliances Don't overheat/overload the electric wires by putting additional electrical like heaters/ Air Conditioners than actually permissible. appliance Switches and fuses should conform to correct rating of circuit. Welding/cutting jobs should be carried out under strict supervision. Impart elementary fire fighting training to stalt. Don't put electrical switched/points in the fabric separators of the modular furniture. Necessary fire safety measures shall be built in while planning installation of modular furniture. = OC