T 1.12 Problems caused by big public events

Big events of all kinds can have a disruptive impact on normal business operations of an agency or company. These include street festivals, concerts, sporting events, industrial disputes and demonstrations. Rioting in the vicinity of such events can in addition have results such as intimidation of staff through to the use of violence against personnel or the building.

Examples

• During the hot summer months a demonstration took place in the vicinity of a computer centre. The situation escalated and some violence occurred. In a side road one of the computer centre's windows was open, and a demonstrator took the opportunity to climb in and steal some IT hardware containing important data.

• During the setting up of a big fair by mistake an electrical transmission line was cut. In a computer centre that received its electrical supply from this transmission line this resulted in a failure, although it was possible to cushion it using the existing standby generator unit.