Small Fires, Big Problems:Emergency Management from a Small

Business Perspective

SESHA North Texas Chapter Meeting

June 3, 2010W&M Environmental Group, Inc.Heather Woodward, REM

hwoodward@wh-m.com; 972-516-0300

Heather Woodward Senior Environmental Consultant and Manager, Industrial Services

Division at W&M Environmental Group, Inc. Registered Environmental Manager (REM) with over 20 years of

experience in EH&S and manufacturing engineering. Project experience includes environmental compliance, real estate

due diligence and remediation project management. Other work experience includes property loss prevention and

employee wellness programs. Education

– B.S., Industrial Engineering, New Mexico State University

– M.S., Hazardous & Waste Materials Management, Southern Methodist University

Discussion TopicsIntroduction

Background InformationFire Event Timeline

Response ActionsInitialMid-TermLong-Term

Lessons Learned

Background Information• Small to Medium Size Business (~500

employees)

– Operation for certain production processes 24/7– Manufactured night vision equipment for military

• Semi-Clean Clean Rooms– Three different clean room manufacturing areas – Class 1,000(?) (e.g., 2-stage entry, tacky mats,

smocks, booties & hair nets)

• Other non-clean room manufacturing, office, warehouse/storage

Background Information

• Fire occurred in early 1990’s– Paper records more

common than electronic records

• Fire started on 3rd shift around 2:00 – 3:00 am

CONCRETE FLOOR

Production & Vacuum

Equipment

Clean Room

Warehouse

Fire Event Timeline

Production & Vacuum

Equipment

Production & Vacuum Equipment

Production & Vacuum Equipment

Misc Equipment /

Obsolete Inventory (e.g., junk)

Fire Description• Small Fire – minimal

damage from actual fire– Started in paper archive

records in Warehouse on 2nd floor of facility

» Loss of QA/QC and other records from fire

– Some heat damage to roof and one structural column

Fire Description• Lots of water and smoke

damage– Sprinkler and fire

truck/fighting water ran down walls & columns to 1st floor clean room directly below Warehouse

– Smoke traveled throughout facility and infiltrated the other two clean rooms

Response Actions• Initial Response (24 hours)

– Shut down critical processes during evacuation

– Emergency response & arson investigation

» Garland Fire Department» Delayed entry into facility

– Initial cleanup activities» Water removal

» needs to be done rapidly to prevent mold growth

» Smoke damage

Response Actions• Initial Response (con’t)

– Assess equipment and product damage» Disposal of damaged product» What stage of production?

– Assess damage to archive records» QA/QC data & other records» Wet paper deteriorates quickly requiring quick

response» Restoration warranted?

– Notify insurance company

– Meet with restoration companies

Many of these activities occurred simultaneously which caused some problems later on

Response Actions• Mid-Term Response (until operation restart)

– Production operations down 3 to 5 days– Repair structural damage to column and roof– Hire restoration contractor

» Removal of water damaged records to off-site restoration» Clean up smoke damage – e.g., wipe everything

– Gather data for insurance claim» More on this in “Lessons Learned”» Smoke damage

– Assist arson investigation

Response Actions• Long-Term Response

– File insurance claim & “negotiate” with insurance company

– Business Continuity Planning

» OK, we didn’t … but should have

Lessons Learned

• Don’t have a fire – it’s a pain!• Insurance Claims (possibly a bigger pain)

– Single point of contact and data repository

» Knowledgeable about filing claims and documentation

– Start collecting insurance claim data on day 1

» Difficult to track when simultaneous activities occurring within the first few days

Lessons Learned

• Insurance Claims (con’t)– Documentation,

documentation, documentation!!

» Photo document damaged equipment / product

» Inventory & Work in Process (WIP) records

» Receipts / invoices

Lessons Learned

• Insurance Claims (con’t)– Business interruption costs

» Lost labor time» Lost revenue» Lost customers / contracts

– Contactor costs e.g., facility repair, restoration contractor

Lessons Learned• Insurance Claims (con’t)

– Damaged product cost» Very important – don’t throw away

damaged/scrap product/equipment without assessing cost !!!!

– May need to hold for insurance adjustor or photo document

» Repairable? – If so, what is the cost?

» Dispose? – What stage of manufacturing process?– Don’t get to claim full value - only to the

point it was in the process

Lessons Learned• Insurance Claims (con’t)

– Damaged equipment cost» Repairable?

– If so, what is the cost?– Repair time - business interruption cost?

» Replace? – What is the long term business interruption

cost?– Other resources?– Salvage value?

Lessons Learned• Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

– Have a restoration contractor on contract before emergency occurs

» Plan ahead on what their role will be» May require retainer fees to assure

prioritized response if regional disaster (e.g., hurricane, tornado, etc.)

» Implement proactive mitigation strategies to protection valuable information

– Paper and electronic records

This is not an exhaustive presentation on BCP – just a few ideas based on my experience

Lessons Learned• BCP (con’t)

– Pre-Employment security & background checks» Including contractors

– Facility Design» Identify critical operations, risk factors, and preventative

measures– Clean rooms – critical risk: particulate from smoke – preventative measure: smoke

migration mitigation– IT rooms – critical risk: water damage to electronics – preventative measure: water

migration mitigation; non-water fire suppression systems

Lessons Learned• BCP (con’t)

– Facility Design (con’t)» Smoke migration mitigation

techniques– Separate HVAC for critical

operations– Smoke Dampers - smoke detectors

in ducts shut off or block HVAC unit

» Fire suppression water migration mitigation techniques

– Block gaps around floors, columns, etc.

Lessons Learned• BCP (con’t)

– Identify long-lead high cost inventory» Multiple storage locations?» Just-in-time delivery

– Organization and Housekeeping» Spent a lot of money cleaning up “junk”» Made restoration process more difficult

– Which archive records should be restored vs. disposed?

– Obsolete inventory – valuable for warranty work or scrap?

– Obsolete equipment – valuable for repairing existing equipment or scrap?

QuestionsQuestions

Discussion Discussion