Section 1: Overview

General – Steps in Disaster Recovery Planning

A disaster is generally defined as an event that causes widespread destruction and distress. When a disaster causes the irreparable loss of information, it may be called a catastrophe. This chapter contains information to help Districts and Divisions plan and respond for disasters.
Disaster recovery planning includes the following steps:
  • Disaster prevention measures.
  • Development of a Disaster Recovery Plan.
  • Development of disaster recovery and records salvage procedures.

Vital Records Protection

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission requires each state agency to provide for the economical and efficient storage, accessibility, protection, and final disposition of vital records. It is important to identify and take adequate steps to protect confidential and vital records, in order to rapidly retrieve records from backup convenience copies after a disaster.
TxDOT has a legal responsibility to protect all records; however, confidential, vital, or essential records require extra consideration and protection because they are the records that are necessary to resume or continue essential business operations in the event of a business disruption.
The risk management process involves understanding the business impact, risk analysis and assessment of records to determine the proper strategy to protect vital records. Methods of protection will vary depending on the format of the vital or essential record and the accessibility timeframe.

General Risk Assessment

Records risk assessment is the process of evaluating the existing or potential risks to official records and information. The baseline assessment involves the following:
  • Conducting physical site surveys of any or all storage sites to determine existing security and controls.
  • Evaluating existing security and control measures to identify threats to official records.
  • Identifying the natural and other community-wide disasters to which the agency is susceptible.
  • Identifying vulnerability to acts of deliberate destructiveness, building failure, equipment failure, and human error or carelessness.