Prioritising Safety, Security and Green IT in a 25-Seat Office
A 25-person IT-enabled services office occupies one floor. There is a single 5 kVA UPS, but staff have daisy-chained three extension boards to reach 30 workstations, and two boards run under a carpet. Eight old CRT monitors are stored in a corridor. All staff share one administrator password for the billing application; the password is written on a whiteboard. Printouts with customer names are left on the shared printer. The air conditioner is set to 18°C, and windows are open. The landlord will not allow rewiring for three months; the office has ₹40,000 and two weeks for immediate fixes. The billing application has no individual login feature yet, so the team must use workarounds in the meantime.
1. Rank the five most urgent actions and justify the ranking using risk of harm and likelihood.
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Ranking by risk of harm × likelihood:
- Electrical overload and cables under the carpet - fire and shock risk, high likelihood with 30 workstations on one 5 kVA UPS and daisy-chained boards. Remove the under-carpet boards, reduce the load, and have a qualified electrician check the UPS load immediately; do not wait for rewiring.
- Shared administrator password on a whiteboard - unauthorised access to billing data, high impact. Change the admin password, remove the whiteboard note, use a password manager, and create individual accounts where possible.
- Customer printouts left on the shared printer - privacy breach. Enable secure print/PIN release and clear the output tray.
- CRT monitors in a corridor - e-waste and trip hazard. Move them to a locked area and book an authorised recycler; never sell or trash them.
- AC at 18°C with open windows - energy waste and discomfort. Set 24–26°C, close windows, and use timers.
Life safety comes before data security, then privacy, then green IT.
2. What should not be attempted within the two weeks, and why?
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Do not attempt full rewiring: the landlord has not approved it, and unauthorised electrical work creates liability. Do not dispose of the CRTs through scrap dealers or general waste; schedule an authorised e-waste vendor and keep a manifest. Do not simply buy more extension boards or fit a larger fuse - that increases fire risk without fixing the load. Do not change the billing application's admin password without a rollback plan and a test account. Within the budget, prioritise the electrician inspection, individual accounts, secure print, and moving the CRTs to a locked room.
3. How would you measure whether the changes worked after two weeks?
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Use leading and lagging indicators: UPS load as a percentage of capacity after removing extra boards; number of daisy-chained boards (target zero); count of shared accounts (target zero) and password-reset tickets; secure-print jobs released versus left on the tray; monthly kWh and AC set-point readings; e-waste weight handed to the recycler with a manifest. Review after two weeks and again after rewiring. If the UPS load stays above 80%, the office still needs a capacity upgrade, not just tidier cables.