What to look out for: Risk Management Framework
Your risk process needs to consider what could go wrong at your dam that would cause it to fail. What would happen if that did occur and what can do you to prevent this event?
Do you understand key failure modes, such as flood events, seismic events, internal erosion, seepage, dam stability through all possible conditions, sabotage, fire, mechanical/electrical failure and human factors?
Make sure you document these failure modes with respect to your dam and your response to them, this is known as risk treatment.
Have you used the correct methodologies to determine and prioritise risks? If not, make sure you have familiarised yourself with the Societal and Individual Risk Rating Methodology available on the DSNSW website.
What to look out for: ISO Standards
Make sure you keep accurate records of all the corrective maintenance activities you undertake for the dam. This will help you show that you have not only identified what you need to do but also that you have completed the corrective actions and solutions that are required. In addition, you must also document all your visual inspections.
As a dam owner you need to ensure that you not only identify the risks that could affect your dam, but you must also document procedures to measure and evaluate those risks. Simply put, identify what needs to be monitored and how you are going to do it. For example, if you have invasive vegetation encroaching on your dam embankment you need identify what you are going to do about it, how it can be resolved and what the result was.
ISO 55001 and 9001 require you to plan, establish, implement and maintain an internal audit programme. This includes the frequency, methods, responsibilities, planning requirements and reporting plan. After the internal audit dam owners need to undertake a management review of the audit to ensure it is achieving its required objectives.
What to look out for: Operations and maintenance plan
Make sure your operations and maintenance plan spells out:
- procedures down to the operator level such as monitoring, routine inspections, vegetation management and incident reporting as opposed to just the administrative level.
- triggers for major dam failure modes such as the point at which you will issue an amber alert for overtopping risk or when to update your operations and maintenance plan when new potential failure modes are identified.
- how often you will inspect the dam, your criteria for choosing that frequency and your methodology, including how you review inspection findings.
- triggers for maintenance activities e.g., what height of tree growth will trigger a vegetation management program.
What to look out for: Emergency plan
What would happen if your dam failed? What can you do to minimise the impact of such an event on the community, property, and the environment?
Make sure you consult with the NSW SES and any other relevant emergency response organisations while developing your plan.
Have you been updating your plan annually?
Emergency plans need to contain key vital details relating to their dam such as:
- contents of the dam
- consequence category of the dam,
- population at risk
- plans for emergency exercises
- inundation maps where relevant
- up-to-date contact information of key staff and stakeholders
- summary page with key information