The three most common threats your laboratory faces

A disaster recovery plan involves a set of policies and procedures to enable the recovery of valuable laboratory samples and also the equipment they are stored in. Amanda Plumb reports

Expect the unexpected, easily done when you are sitting down to a movie but not so simple when running a business, particularly if you are a small or medium size enterprise with a smaller ‘calamity cushion’ than a larger one.

A disaster recovery plan involves a set of policies and procedures to enable the recovery of valuable laboratory samples and also the equipment they are stored in.

There are a number of events that could cause the activation of a disaster recovery plan:

* Long term power failure;

* Damaged building due to fire and flood;

* Freezer failure that cannot be easily fixed.

Most companies think about a disaster recovery plan but then it is put on the back burner as more current important issues need addressing. This means that the safety of your valuable samples are forgotten until a disaster occurs and could mean that several years of important research may be lost.

Many larger companies have plans in place in case power is lost to their facility, ie on site generator or hire of a generator in an emergency, but how often is the on-site generator tested and how long will the hire generator take to come on site? 

Just because a generator is tested weekly or monthly does not mean that it would start up in a disaster situation. It is better to have extra back up contingency plans in place in case your generator fails to start, or the generator hire company cannot deliver a generator for several hours.

MTS Cryo Stores provides disaster recovery plans for companies around the UK and ensures that its qualified engineers will be onsite to transport freezers and/or samples to its facility until the client is ready to have them transported back.

Amanda Plumb is Operations Manager, MTS Cryo Stores UK Ltd, Bulwell, Nottingham, UK.

Recent Issues