When the air conditioning breaks
It is a hot Friday night. The air conditioning in the server room fails. The room gets hotter. The servers could shut down.
Then a second cooling unit switches on by itself. The servers keep running. That second unit is a compensating control: the back-up for a control that failed.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Compensating control | A control that protects you when the main control fails. | |
| Primary control | The first control you rely on. | |
| Failure | When something stops working as it should. | |
| Temperature control | Equipment that keeps a room at a safe temperature. | air conditioning |
| Awareness training | Teaching people the risks that matter for their own job. | |
| Environmental monitoring | Checking heat, humidity and water in a room. | |
| Standard operating procedure | Written steps for a task, the same way each time. | SOP |
| Firewall | A filter that allows or blocks network traffic by rules. | |
| Sensor | A device that detects something, such as heat or water. | |
| Network | Computers and devices joined together so they can share data. | |
| Server | A computer that gives data or services to other computers. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can explain what a compensating control is and give a physical and a written example.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Cycle 1: the back-up for a control
Every control can fail. A lock can break. A person can forget. A machine can stop.
A compensating control covers that gap. It does not replace the main control. It waits. It helps when the main control fails.
Air conditioning is a preventative control. A second unit that starts when the first fails is a compensating control.
Main control and its compensating control
| Main control | What can go wrong | Compensating control |
|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning unit | It breaks | A second unit, or a portable cooler |
| Firewall rule | A rule is missed | Extra alerts on strange traffic |
| Staff training for everybody | It is too general for one job | Role-based awareness training |
| Temperature sensor alarm | Nobody hears it | A daily check that follows a procedure |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: back-up controls
Have a go
Check: back-up controls
4 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.