After The Big One, Will Critical County Services Survive?

De~artmenSt afetv Re~resentatives:8 6 Department Safety Representatives have other duties and responsibilities and no formal safety training. Conflicts of interest may arise when employees inspect their own departments, and any such inspection lacks organizational independence. Response: Disagrees partially with finding. The County Safety Office has offered Department Safety Training on a quarterly basis since 1999. Since 1999, we have provided in excess of 128 training classes to our Department Safety Representatives (DSR). During these classes, 26,500 individual attendees have received training, which equates to 53,000 hours of actual training. (The majority of the attendees have been present for multiple class sessions.) While it may betrue that not every DSR has attended all of the training offered because it is not a mandated training program, the County Safety Office strongly encourages our departments to send each selected DSR to our training sessions as this is one of the best ways we can disseminate information. The DSR is a "collateral duty" position; therefore, the individuals assigned may have limited time to perform safety functions. Presently, it is up to the department management to determine how much time they will allow the DSR to spend on safety. As to potential conflicts of interest that may arise, one of the primary duties of County Safety Office staff is to keep in contact with each of the DSRs who are in their assigned agencies. As part of that contact, on site inspections are frequently conducted and provide an excellent opportunity for an "outside" look at an issue that may exist. All of our DSRs are encouraged to contact their assigned Safety Officer to discuss any issues that are of concern to them so that we may assist them in resolving them.

Earthquake Hazard Mitipation: There is a lack of adequate nonstructural earthquake hazard mitigation standards consistently applied across all County Exhibit 2 building, including those owned and occupied by the Orange County Fire Authority. Response: Disagrees with finding. As of the date of this response, there are no formal "nonstructural earthquake hazard mitigation standards" in existence from either the State of California or the Federal Government. The State does provide recommendations but has not imposed a mandatory duty on any employer when it comes to earthquake mitigation standards. In February 2008 the County Executive Officer sent a memo to all Agency and Department Heads asking that they allow their designated DSRs sufficient time to inspect all areas for non-structural hazards, complete a Non-Structural Hazard Checklist (copy provided for the department), and submit the checklist to the County Safety Officer by March 30,2008. This checklist was designed to identify those items that need to be secured and to allow effected departments to formulate an action plan of how and when to complete the task All departments have responded, and several have already begun securing the hazards that were identified during their inspection. The County Safety Office has published its Non-Structural Seismic Hazard Reduction Policy on the County intranet site. This policy provides guidelines to County departments on how to evaluate the potential hazards that may exist in their respective facilities in the event of an earthquake as well as the steps that can be taken to abate those hazards.

Data Cent=: Some County data centers housing critical computer and telecommunications equipment are using water in their fire suppression system rather than inert gas. Thef ollowing chart provides individual responses to this finding for each County data center. The Orange County Sheriff-Coroner will provide a response separately for its data centers. Agencymepartment Response to Finding Providing Response CEOIIT Disagrees partially with the finding. The Orange County Data Center utilizes two different fire suppression systems in its computer equipment area. One is Halon 130 1, and the other is a water suppression preaction sprinkler system, which has compressed air, not water, in the piping. Preaction systems limit the accidental discharge of water. Exhibit 2 AgencyIDepartment Response to Finding Providing Response Critical computer systems for the Public Library, Public Defender, and Probation are all housed at the Data Center. The Hall of Administration computer area in Building 10 has a Halon 1301 system installed. Clerk-Recorder Disagrees wholly with thefinding. The Clerk-Recorder server room fire suppression system consists of a Halon 1301 system. District Attorney Disagrees wholly with the finding. The District Attorney's computer room at 401 Civic Center Drive does not have a water based fire suppression system. Instead, the computer room has an inert gas based portable fire extinguisher. Health Care Agency Disagrees wholly with thefinding. The Orange County Health Care Agency Data Center utilizes two different gas fire suppression systems, Halon and HFC 125. OC Public Works Disagreespartially with the finding. Currently, OC Public Works utilizes inert gas in both the main data center (HFC-227ea) and the 3rdf loor data center (FM-200) at the Osbome building, 300 N. Flower Street. In addition, we have fluid and particle detection, temperature and humidity sensors, as well as video monitoring. Other server room areas within OC Facilities, Geomatics, and the Operation & Maintenance sections utilize water suppression systems. Social Services Agency Disagrees wholly with thefinding. The Social Services Agency's data center located at 888 N. Main St, Santa Ana, CA utilizes an FM-200 fire suppression system. Water is not used as a fire suppression system at this location. TreasurerITax Collector Agrees with the finding. The Treasurer1 Tax Collector has two computer rooms, neither of which have a fire suppression system. We have requested an estimate from OC Public Works for the cost of Exhibit 2 Response to Finding installing such systems, and other security measures in the rooms, but have not received a response. Child Support Sewices Disagrees partially with the finding. (CSS) CSS uses an FM-200 fire suppression system but there are overhead water pipes in the server room. CSS is conducting an investigation into the possibility of water in those pipes. If water .is found, an assessment of the cost to remediate the situation will take place and a solution will be implemented. Registrar of Voters Disagrees wholly with thefinding. The Registrar of Voters currently uses Halon as our fire suppression system in our local data center. OC Waste and Recycling Agrees with the finding. (OCWR) The OCWR Data Center will be relocating within the next 12 months to a new county facility that will utilize an inert gas fire suppression system. Auditor Controller Disagreespartially with the finding. The Auditor Controller currently maintains its critical computer equipment at the County of Orange Data Center located on Grand Ave. Other Auditor Controller non-critical servers (Print Server, File Server) located in Building 12 are in a secured room with no water fire suppression system. These servers are backed up with tape storage off site for recovery purpose. I Assessor Disagrees wholly with the finding. The Assessor's computer room does not have a water based fire suppression system. Instead, the computer room has an inert gas based portable fire extinguisher. Agrees with the finding. John Wayne Airport (JWA) is planning a project to replace the water-based fire suppression system with one using inert gas, based upon the Standard on Extinguishing Systems, 2004 Edition published by the National Fire Protection Association. JWA is planning to complete this project within 24 months. Design and installation will require coordination with both the Orange County Fire Authority and the Costa Messa Fire Department for approvals. Exhibit 2 Resvonse to the Recommendations R-la Safetv~ectionS vstm: Revert to a centralized County safety organizational structure reporting directly to the Deputy CEO in charge of Risk Management. Response: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable. The County of Orange has never had a "centralized County safety organizational structure" in place. The County Safety Officer position was created pursuant to Board of Supervisors Resolution 62-572, which also called for the creation of a policy for Loss Prevention and Safety. The resolution defines the County Safety Officer as an employee "who will function as a staff advisor, and will counsel and assist" all departments and agencies in promoting safe working conditions. At no time has the County Safety Officer been exclusively charged with the day-to-day responsibility for safety in all County facilities. The position was created as, and continues to be, an advisory one that provides services as requested by the various County agencies. In an effort to maintain safe work environments for all of the County's employees, the County Safety Office created a program utilizing personnel in each department as Departmental Safety Representatives (DSR). The DSR program was first established in the early 1990's with each department being responsible for appointing the needed personnel to be that agency's safety contacts. These individuals serve as coordinators responsible for the implementation of workplace safety programs for their respective departments or divisions. There are currently 256 DSRs throughout the various departments of the County and their assistance with the safety program has proven to be very valuable. At present, there is one County Safety Officer and three Safety and Training Officers located in the CEOIRisk Management Office to service the entire County. There are four full time Safety and Training Officers located in larger departments: OC Waste & Recycling, OC Public Works, Sheriff-Coroner, and Health Care. With enhanced coordination and communication between the County Safety Office and the four departmental Safety Officers through monthly meetings and ongoing training opportunities, a more effective Countywide safety and loss prevention program can be achieved. R-lb Centralize Countv Safetv Office: Transfer the full-time Safety Officers positions at OC Waste and Recycling, OC Infrastructure, Health Care Agency and Sheriffcoroner Department to the centralized County Safety Office. Response: The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable. Exhibit 2 At present, the County Safety Officer and three Safety and Training Officers are located in the CEO/Risk Management Office, and they provide service to all other agencies in the County. The four full time Safety and Training Officers located in larger departments: OC Waste and Recycling, OC Public Works, Sheriff-Coroner and Health Care are addressing safety issues that are unique to each of their respective agencies. With the advent of increased coordination and communication between the County Safety Office and the departmental Safety Officers housed in the four largest County agencies, a more effective Countywide safety and loss prevention program can be achieved.