AN ASSESMENT ON DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLAN IN PROLONG THE LIFE SPAN OF RECORDS: CASE STUDY AT BAGAMOYO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Records are a vital asset in any organization because they support decision-making, accountability, service delivery and the protection of the rights of both the institution and the public it serves. Despite their importance, records held by public institutions remain highly vulnerable to disasters such as fire, flooding, theft, pest infestation and poor handling, all of which threaten to shorten their life span and, in some cases, lead to permanent loss of information. This study assessed the disaster preparedness plan in prolonging the life span of records at Bagamoyo Municipal Council. The study was guided by three specific objectives, namely: to examine the availability of disaster preparedness plans in managing records; to assess the effectiveness of existing disaster preparedness plans in managing records; and to identify the challenges facing the implementation of disaster preparedness plans in managing records at Bagamoyo Municipal Council. The study adopted a case study research design with a mixedmethods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative techniques. A total of twenty (20) respondents (N=20), comprising records officers, departmental heads and administrative staff, were involved through questionnaires, interviews and documentary review. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, presented in frequency tables and percentages, while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that although Bagamoyo Municipal Council recognizes the importance of protecting its records, a comprehensive and formally documented disaster preparedness plan is largely lacking, and where fragmented measures exist, they are neither well known nor uniformly applied by staff. The existing measures, such as fire extinguishers and locked storage rooms, were found to be only moderately effective in safeguarding records against disasters. The study further identified inadequate funding, limited staff training, poor storage infrastructure, lack of awareness and weak institutional commitment as the major challenges hindering effective implementation of disaster preparedness plans. The study concludes that the absence of a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan puts records at Bagamoyo Municipal Council at continuous risk, which threatens their life span and the institution's ability to preserve evidence of its operations. The study recommends, among other things, the development and formal adoption of a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan, regular training of staff, improvement of storage infrastructure, allocation of adequate funds, and continuous awareness creation among staff on disaster risk reduction for records.

Type

Other

Language

English

Peer review

Not peer-reviewed

Licence

All rights reserved