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OCTOBER 2019 21
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and contingency management, which is available to
download for the CIBSE website.
THE FM PRACTITIONER’S VIEW
LUCY HIND, HEAD OF PROPERTY AT
BARNSLEY COUNCIL
How many
times in our
sector do we
hear “it will
never happen
to us”? O en
has been my
experience
when it
comes to
considering
risk,
mitigation
and putting
in systems
and processes to support business continuity. I have
frequently discussed risk and mitigation as part of
my day-to-day role looking at ensuring as best we
can against any considered threats. Power outages
is one that is sometimes overlooked and by some
organisations not deemed a threat until something
happens.
Today our National Grid delivers reliable electricity
to millions of homes and businesses. However,
electrical failures that a ect large geographic areas,
as well as localised outages, do happen on a recurring
basis and we live in a modern society where almost
everything is run by electricity. Businesses rely on this
powerful energy to be able to perform tasks and ensure
continuity of service, whether that be a data centre,
an o ice or in a retail outlet. For hospitals and other
health-care facilities, however, these power outages can
be life-threatening. The one thing all businesses want
to avoid is loss of money and bad publicity through
failure to deliver service and, this is where generators
come into their own providing a temporary supply of
electrical energy. Industrial generators were developed
to ensure that there is a continuous supply of power
in the event of failure on the grid system. Thus, this
equipment has the capacity to guarantee an e icient
performance to equipment, in case there are breaks to
the electric supply.
So why are we still having the debate about necessity?
I would say that it is quite simple, until something
happens to you or you have experienced an issue
within your organisation we still believe that we will
not be a ected and that it will not happen. Power blips
in essence are not an issue – not until they occur. Be
aware and vigilant, risks to our business that involve our
power supply do happen and for business continuity,
generator back up is essential. We must also not forget
that once bought and in place these systems need to
be set up correctly to provide essential supply to areas
of special need. They need to be sized correctly for
demand and regularly maintained in line with guidance
to ensure that the systems are in full working order and
able to provide continuity of business operation. You do
not want to have a system in place that fails when it is
needed through lack of set up and maintenance...
At the end of the day it is vital that we keep the lights
on!
THE UPS SPECIALIST’S VIEW
TIM WILKES, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, KOHLER
UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER
Any organisation’s
power protection
is only as good as
the maintenance it
receives. Whether
that’s ensuring that
the batteries are
all in good health
and ready for a
power outage, or
that the capacitors
are replaced when
necessary. It is
not uncommon to
hear of capacitors
being overlooked, o en resulting in a certain degree of
drama…and smoke. That can lead to activation of fire
prevention systems in server rooms and data centres, or
in the worst cases, even equipment fires. In addition to
the batteries, the UPS itself also needs to be looked at
in line with its service schedule, and always by factory
trained, certified engineers that are using original
manufacturer parts.
With regards to decisions on what to protect, this will
depend on the individual organisation and the nature
of its load. For example, some KUP clients choose to
only protect key process equipment – where a power
disturbance would a ect a trial, experiment or batch
of material or goods being produced. Other customers
include key communications equipment. In these
cases, it is o en that it is critical that they are able to
coordinate the response to a power disturbance and it
can take some time for such equipment to restart a er
a power disturbance. Similarly, the equipment must not
be lost to a power spike or brownout that damages the
equipment or confuses it into shutting down. Taking
things to the next level, clients might also protect key
workstations, such as those handling graphics packages
or trading. Power issues can cause file corruptions
or delay, perhaps even lose a trade, which would
understandably be a significant issue. The ultimate
level is to protect everything, or almost everything
on a site. The UPS will ensure power is conditioned
and all users connected to that power input get high
quality, stable power that does not have any disruption,
FM CLINIC
Lucy Hind
Let us help change your world.
T: +44 (0)1708 251900
E: info@fsifm.com
www.fsifm.com
Tim Wilkes
ADVICE & OPINION
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/www.fsifm.com
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