T 1.11 The effects of catastrophes in the environment

Problems in the area surrounding a government agency and/or company may lead to problems ranging from operational difficulties to non-productive time. Problems may include technical accidents and disasters, but also social or political unrest such as demonstrations or riots (see also T 1.12 Problems caused by big public events).

The properties of an organisation may be subject to a variety of threats from the environment due to traffic (roads, railways, air, and water), neighbouring businesses, or residential areas. These threats may include fires, explosions, dust, gases, blockades, radiation, or emissions (from a chemical plant), for example.

Prevention or rescue measures may also directly affect the organisation's properties. However, problems may also indirectly affect an organisation due to the complexity of the building services and IT equipment.

Examples:

• A huge cloud of smoke developed due to a fire in a chemical plant located in the immediate vicinity of a computer centre (approximately 1000 metres linear distance). The computer centre had an air conditioning and ventilation system that was not equipped with an outside air monitor. It was only the attentiveness of an employee (the accident occurred during working hours) who followed the development and spreading of the smoke cloud that allowed for closing the outside air intake manually before it was too late.