By PAULA OLIVER
A return to the dark days of the 1998 Auckland power crisis can be avoided if infrastructure assets are managed more effectively, say the authors of a new manual.
The just released Australia New Zealand Infrastructure Management Manual has already been snapped up by many local councils keen to avoid any failure in their own infrastructure.
Co-author Warwick Busch said the power crisis and the similar Melbourne gas failure have highlighted the need for stringent risk management.
He said that while the manual might not be legally required for infrastructure owners, it would be an important tool.
"The electricity and gas industries are now required to declare asset management plans, and if there is no risk management in place it is going to be obvious," said Busch.
"Weak links can be picked up ahead of something going wrong."
Busch said it was also important for infrastructure owners to make the most out of what they had now, as well as plan.
Engineer Lisa Roberts, part of the project team, said previous manuals have not covered management as completely as this one, which is a joint transtasman product.
She said regulations requiring asset management plans in the gas and electricity industries demonstrated the need for effective risk management.
The manual, which costs about $300, takes a small amount of material from manuals published in 1996 and 1994.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from Business
Steven Joyce: Kids need to know they have the power to succeed
OPINION: Our bureaucratic, top-down education system is visibly failing us.