Preventing Risk and Making Warehouses Resilient to Man-made and Natural Disasters

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Effective risk mitigation is not merely a checklist. It is an ongoing commitment to understanding potential risks, conducting thorough analyses, and strategically planning for contingencies. A responsible businessis proactive in its preparationto be robust, secure, and safefor unhindered operation.

Disaster recovery planning is like purchasing a personal insurance. It is a safety net that one hopes never to use but it is always good to have as a safeguard.

While disasters are not controllable, the need for meticulous planning is undeniable. How can we minimise the damage? How can we swiftly restore normalcy post-event? These questions underscore the importance of disaster risk management especially for an industrial warehouse with a high-risk environment. And good warehouse risk mitigation and management solutions play a pivotal role in averting the worst-case scenarios effectively.

In this blog, we delve into disaster risk management from the perspective of exploring how strategic planning, disaster recovery, and warehouse management solutions collectively contribute to ensuring warehouse safety and security measures. Discover the essential disaster preparedness guidelines for a warehouse and how these measures contribute to a resilient and secure environment.

Design Resiliency Against Disaster Risk

Natural Disasters:
The process for risk planning and mitigating starts before the warehouse building even takes shape. All structures, especially high-risk structures like industrial buildings and logistics parks, are mandated to be resilient to the forces of nature to a certain extent by the local regulations.

“This involves comprehensive contour studies and drafting grading plans, with careful consideration of land cut-and-fill,” explains Mahendra Waghule, Head of Projects & Development, Horizon Industrial Parks. Certain areas require for a flood analysis. Technological augmentation such as use of drone surveys, topographic studies, and GIS mapping help in these studies and preparation to get accurate assessment of potential flood risks. This data then dictates the effective risk mitigation strategies that need to be incorporated in the design plans such as the heights of the structural plinths, the grade of the materials, the skin of the building and more.

Mahendra adds, “At Horizon, we adhere strictly to all Indian Standards, including IS 1893 and IS 13920, for seismic resilience in our steel and concrete structures.”

Additionally, the design stage also accounts for an optimal drainage system, necessary fire systems inside and around the built structures, and the required ancillary and circulatory infrastructure. While necessary for everyday functioning, these also act ascritical safety and security measures in a warehouse, which especially come to play for effective intervention and evacuation in case of a disaster outbreak.

Man-made Disasters:
A breach of security via burglary or break-ins are also events that are accounted for in the design stage, contributing to the disaster preparedness guidelines for the warehouse. “To discourage burglary, we implement robust safety and security measures in the warehouse. This includes setting up a 1.8 m perimeter wall and equipping it with monitoring and surveillance systems,” Mahendra says.

Additionally, there is a 15-lux perimeter lighting installed, which ensures constant visibility throughout the premises. This measure enhances security by eradicating the creation of any dark nooks or potential hiding spots, deterring possible intruders.

Operation Resiliency Against Disaster Risk

Planning:
To manage something, you must first understand it. Lt. Col. Janmejay Srivastav, Head of Operations, Horizon Industrial Parks, rightly explains, “An effective risk mitigation begins with a clear understanding of potential risks This is followed by a thorough risk analysis and then the strategic planning to mitigate or avoid it.”

For example, Horizon’s disaster preparedness guidelinebegins with the creation of detailed emergency plans that cover every imaginable disaster scenario – from fire outbreaks to floods, and from earthquakes to accidents. These plans are meticulously outlined in a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which is readily accessible to all the stakeholders concerned such as the facility management team, the tenantemployees, and others.

Furthermore, risk identification extends to man-made disasters as well, which includes analysing and preparing for robust security and any challenges toward that.All these possibilities are documented and accounted for in what then becomes the holistic Warehouse Emergency Response Plan (ERP). Janmejay adds that rather than being reactive, Horizon’s approach to leans towards being proactive.

Communicating:
Next is making sure everyone is on the same page.

It is a good practice to train and refresh the procedures for all the stakeholders who might need to use them. Additionally, it is also important to evaluate if the SOPs established and the safety and security measures installed in the warehousehave any redundancy or acquired gaps over intervals of times.

At Horizon, Janmejay summarises, “Regular revisions of our emergency plans are conducted to incorporate the latest insights and lessons learned. Quarterly drillsare organised, involving all stakeholders, to ensure that everyone is well-prepared to execute the emergency plans effectively.”

Another great way at ensuring good communication and preparedness is conducting regular training sessions. Horizon collaborates with various state departments, including fire, traffic, electricity, and healthcare institutions so that the tenant employees of the warehouses are made aware of the evacuation routes if they ever need them and what actions to take in case of each emergency.

Technology is a great way to augment fast communication in real-time. This includes setting up traffic control systems to avoid and monitor mishaps and accidents and visitor management system to restrict access to unfavourable elements.

Detecting:
A stitch in time saves nine. In the age of technology, industrial and logistics parks are well positioned to intelligently monitor and detect any early signs of potential disaster.

A good exampleof employing technology in a warehouse for rapid risk identification and timely maintenance, Janmejay mentioned, was using smart meters to identify unusual consumption activity. With smart meters, it is possible to get real-time data for electricity and water usage. In case there is anunusual water reading, it can mean only two things: either there is a leakage in the supply that needs to be attended or there is a fire outbreak for which the water has been utilised.

Similarly, the traffic and pedestrian monitoring systems such as the CCTV cams and the visitor management systems also play a crucial role in identifying if or when things go amiss – making it easier to act before any untoward situation spirals out of hand.

In Conclusion

Disasters are a fact of life. That’s why the terms are ‘preventing risk’ and ‘managing crisis’ – because those are the only controllable variables in the unpredictable equation of a disaster.

True business resiliency comes from not avoiding getting hit but getting the operations back up quickly. In having a warehouse disaster preparedness guidelinein place, we have a rudimentary plan to navigate most scenarios including the best way to protect people and property from major threats and hazards. Being prepared also helps everyone involved to stay mindful, not get caught unaware or give in to panic, and thwart the opportunity for the crisis to magnify.

As a result, there is minimal damage to address, which drastically reduces times in the aftermath of a crisis and finally, operations are more likely to be back up in no time.