1. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Vital Records Training September 11, 2013

2. What is a Vital Record? A vital record is any document that contains essential operating, legal or financial information that is needed to: – Meet operational responsibilities during an emergency or disaster. – Protect the Laboratory’s rights and interests. – Recreate an organization’s legal and financial position

3. Definition of Vital Records Emergency Operating Records  Records essential to the continued functioning or reconstitution of an organization during and after an emergency. Included are emergency plans and directives, orders of succession, delegations of authority, staffing assignments, selected program records needed to continue the most critical agency operations, as well as related policy or procedural records that assist agency staff in conducting operations under emergency conditions and for resuming normal operations after an emergency.

4. Definition of Vital Records (continued) Legal and Financial Rights Records  Records essential to protect legal and financial rights of the government and individuals directly affected by its activities (also known as rights and interest records). Examples include accounts receivable records, social security records, payroll records, retirement records, and insurance records.

5. Vital Records Responsibilities  Vital records staff are responsible for ensuring that the records are kept current, legible and reproducible.  They are responsible for controlling, protecting and ensuring the proper retention and disposition of these records.  They are responsible for notifying the Records Administrator (currently Kathryn Duerr) of any additional records that have been determined to be vital records.

6. Determining if a record is vital Ask yourself the following questions when determining whether or not a record is vital: 1.Are these records necessary to restart operations? 2.How important are these records to operations? 3.How do you use these records? 4.How does it impact your job/task functions? 5.Can you operate without these records? 6.Do these records include legal, financial or regulatory information?

7. Accessibility Once you have determined that you have vital records, you need to consider the accessibility of these records. Are these records duplicated and made accessible at another location, such as off-site storage or another location on-site? What is the time frame within which the information would need to be accessible? – Immediately to within 24 hours of incident – Within 2 – 3 days of the incident – Within 4 – 5 days of the incident – Within 6 or more days of the incident

8. Cycling/Updating Vital Records When duplicated and stored at a secure off-site location, records need to be cycled/updated regularly to ensure that they will be useful in an emergency. The physical format of the records needs to be considered when cycling/updating these records. Paper is relatively cheap, but can be time consuming to cycle/update. Electronic records use many different programs and the machines needed to access these programs will need to be kept up to date also.

9. If you have any questions, please contact the Records Administrator: Kathryn Duerr ext 5693 kadnz@fnal.gov