Fire Away

There is no question that installing an effective fire suppression system is critical to the ongoing operation of a records management facility. Between consulting fire safety experts, deciding whether a gaseous or water-based system is best and tailoring the system to work for a specific facility, installing a fire suppression system can be a costly and time-consuming process.

However, the costs and time associated with fire suppression go beyond system installation and deployment. To achieve optimal protection against fires, adequate attention must also be devoted to maintaining the suppression system, implementing facility security and planning for emergencies.

Records center managers can make the assumption that the mere installation of a suppression system is enough to ensure protection against a fire. Not so, says Dave Hague, fire safety system engineer for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Quincy, Mass.

"Our statistics indicate that a sprinkler system is about 98 percent effective when it’s properly maintained," Hague says. "When it’s not properly maintained, you run into a multitude of problems. The building owner has to be made aware that it does require some attention."

The NFPA offers specific instructions for maintenance of water-based suppression systems in NFPA Standard 25, which specifies that records storage companies test their fire suppression and alarm systems twice yearly. Some state laws require records storage centers to abide by the NFPA codes; however, even in areas without legal enforcement, Hague says the codes should still be taken seriously.

"Even if it’s not adopted into law, it’s a good idea to adopt it voluntarily," Hague says of NFPA Standard 25. "Facilities that follow the standards tend to not have as many incidents and have adequately installed and maintained fire protection systems."

While NFPA Standard 25 applies to water-based systems, NFPA Standard 2100 calls for records storage companies to service their gaseous-based suppression system’s agent storage tanks twice per year. Most clean-agent suppression system companies offer some type of maintenance agreement at an added cost for centers that purchase their systems. Adding the service agreement should be a no-brainer, says Dave Winder, sales manager for Suppression Systems Inc., Pennsburg, Pa. "Testing provides assurance," he says.

Winder says the two most common maintenance mistakes he’s seen at records storage facilities are unqualified technicians servicing systems and cutting corners when it comes to maintenance. He recommends only employing factory-certified technicians for service and says not even half of records storage companies conduct the annual full system maintenance check his company recommends, which includes testing all output relays. Most companies try to get by without testing at least one aspect of their fire suppression systems because they don’t want to interrupt operations, he says.

Beyond the biannual sprinkler tests, weekly or monthly inspections to ensure that valves are open are critical to prevent the risk of a fire, according to Warde Comeaux, owner of Fire Protection International Consortium, a fire protection consulting firm based in Concord, Calif.

"Believe it or not, the most common cause of system failure is a valve that has been closed either intentionally or accidentally so the water supply is cut off," Hague says. "As a matter of fact, 35 percent of the cases of system failure that we’ve studied are directly related to a valve that was inadvertently closed," he notes.

Finally, keeping accurate records of the types of sprinkler head fittings and other equipment used in the system is important to respond to and replace equipment should there be a recall, says Jim Booth executive director of PRISM International, the Garner, N.C.-based nonprofit trade association for the records management industry.

While some records center managers may dismiss maintenance as an unneeded waste of time and money, the risk of ignoring regular maintenance far exceeds the costs.

"The question a customer has to ask himself is what is his acceptable level of loss? Is $300-$500 for maintenance worth more than the loss of documents?" Winder asks. "Remember, your customers have entrusted you with their records for safekeeping. If you break that trust, they’re not going to come back to you."

In today’s age of identity theft and heightened threats to the security of individuals and businesses, it is important for records management companies to take extra precautions regarding who is coming into and out of their buildings.

"The greatest majority of fires occurring in records centers are from arson. Control access of visitors and do not let visitors roam the warehouse facility," Comeaux cautions.

While the potential for arson is a great concern for records management companies, finding solutions to the arson problem hasn’t been easy, says Booth, adding that it is nearly impossible to protect a facility against a determined arsonist.

For this reason, records management companies should focus on the measures they can implement to diminish the threat of arson.

One of the most common practices to prevent arson at records centers is screening potential employees using background checks, according to Hague. However, as Booth notes, background checks will only reveal arsonists who already have criminal records.

Booth identifies several common industry practices to enhance facility security against arson, including establishing robust perimeter security systems, establishing and enforcing dock procedures, introducing vehicle and man traps, using a key-card entry system, creating and enforcing guest screening procedures and limiting facility tours to only those people who need to view the records center in operation.

Finally, the aforementioned weekly or monthly maintenance checks to ensure valves are open may be the most effective way to avert an arsonist.

"In industry-related post-fire investigations it has been reported that arsonists who have been effective have done so by defeating or mitigating the effectiveness of the sprinkler system or other fire suppression systems by shutting the valves off and/or setting multiple fires within a facility," according to Booth.

Because precautions may not be able to prevent a fire caused by arson, it is also important to have an emergency plan in case of a fire.

To maintain the safety of their employees, ensure the security of their clients and allow their businesses to continue operating, owners of records management centers must prepare for their worst nightmare, a facility fire.

Emergency plans for fires fall into two categories: evacuation plans and disaster recovery plans. The evacuation plan includes educating all employees as to the proper procedures to take in the event of a fire. It should provide a safe escape route for each employee that doesn’t require traveling far.

"This is particularly critical in records centers where the records can go up 40 to 50 feet and higher," says Booth. "The travel time cannot be measured in square feet, it has to be measured in three dimensions because you have travel time down or up to get to the nearest exit."

Even though a fire can be debilitating for a records management company, it is important for employees to evacuate the building immediately and leave the fire extinguishing to the fire department, Comeaux says.

After employees have been safely evacuated from the building, a records management firm must rely on its disaster recovery plan to resume operations as quickly as possible, including plans to recover damaged records and transport unaffected records.

A disaster recovery plan should contain plans for communicating with insurance agents, investigators and law enforcement officials and also for resuming operations either at a third-party’s facility or at a separate facility run by the records management company, Booth says.

Records management companies also would be wise to establish a chain of command in the case of a death caused by a facility fire, Booth adds.

Finally, companies also should consider how they will interact with the media following a fire, including selecting a spokesperson, says Chris Kelley of DataChambers Records Management, a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based commercial records management company.

Companies developing emergency plans are more likely to minimize their losses, both financially and in terms of facility personnel. Fortunately for records management companies without such a plan, help is available. NFPA Standard 1600 offers a guideline on how to write an emergency plan, and PRISM International also offers a disaster recovery workbook for the records management industry.

By integrating proper maintenance and security plans, records management companies can do everything in their power to reduce the risk of a fire. Even if they are unsuccessful, creating emergency plans can safeguard companies against employee loss and help them retain their customers and continue operations. n