Precast Inc. - July/August 2008 - (Page 44) BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT One for the Books Don’t wait for a disaster to learn the value of protecting your company records. By William Atkinson NPCA photo W orkplace disasters are often like serious illnesses. When they strike unexpectedly, businesses and people are often poorly prepared to deal with the consequences. While the safety of employees is the most important concern during and after a workplace disaster (such as a fire, flood, tornado, earthquake or hurricane), records retention should be the second most important. Machinery and equipment can be replaced (and can be insured), but records are irreplaceable – and many are vital for the continuation of the business. To keep records loss from becoming a disaster in itself, you can either create a basic program or you can create a more detailed and comprehensive program. Basic program According to Kenneth D. Sherman, president and CEO of Continuity Solutions Inc. (www.contsol.com) in Powell, Ohio, it is very important to consider data backup and a business continuity program. The company provides IT and disaster recovery consulting services, business continuity planning consulting and data security services. “The best way to deal with a disaster is to never have one in the first place,” he says. 44 JULY/AUGUST 2008 | PRECAST INC. “The first step is to realize that you can be vulnerable. Most people don’t think about disaster recovery or business continuity until a disaster actually occurs.” Jonathan A. Sherman, vice president and secretary, points out that he has seen a lot of companies with stacks of paper lying around everywhere. “A fire could wipe them out very quickly,” he says. One way to start a program, according to Kenneth Sherman, is to walk into your office some morning and ask yourself, “What do I need to keep this business running?” Then create a system to protect and back up those critical documents. Jonathan Sherman recommends looking at your documents and determining which ones need to be backed up. If you have more than one business location, one option is to keep duplicate sets of documents – one at each site. The company practices what it preaches. Back in the 1970s, while Kenneth Sherman was out of town one weekend, a tornado destroyed his business. “Because of the plan we had in place, though, we were back up and in business Monday morning,” he says. Detailed and comprehensive According to Barney Pelant, owner and director of Barney F. http://www.contsol.com
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