Page 33 - CCGA Best Practices Version English

Practice Description: The notification service needs protection from
natural disasters and other threats. Since the notification service is a critical
link in the communication chain between the excavating community and
facilities, it is important that the notification service does whatever it can
to provide adequate security, taking into account that it may well need to
be operational in times of natural disasters or in the face of other threats.
Security components could include:
• Physical security for the building and its employees through locked
operations areas, lighting, employee key cards, guard patrols.
• Physical security for critical systems components. This may include
locating the facilities in locked enclosures and restricting access to
necessary personnel.

• General fire protection for the notification service personnel and property.
• Specialized fire protection for critical systems components.
• Specialized theft protection for critical systems components.
• Telephone demarcation points in a protected area within the notification
service.

• Passwords and protections to limit access to computers and other
systems.
• Offsite storage of duplicate data base and necessary system software.

2-22: Hardware Designed to Tolerate a Single Point of
Failure

Practice Statement: The notification service uses fault tolerant hardware
for its critical path operations, such as ticket taking, database access, and
ticket delivery.
Practice Description: A fault tolerant system can withstand any single
hardware malfunction without any interruption or degradation of service.
These systems have the ability to identify the malfunctioning hardware
component and permit its replacement while remaining online and processing
its normal applications. These fault tolerant systems maximize the probability
that the notification service will be able to properly process an excavation
request in the event of a failure or malfunction.

2-23: Notification Quality Standards

Practice Statement: The notification service establishes performance
standards for the operation of the centre for the purpose of promoting
accuracy, cost effectiveness and efficiency.

Canadian Common Ground Alliance
Best Practices Version 3.0 – October 2018
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