How long product lasts when a cold store stops depends on the store, so the time is measured, not guessed. WHO's model guidance for storing pharmaceuticals (TRS 961, Annex 9) asks for the time taken for temperatures to exceed the limits in a power failure to be demonstrated when a new cold area is qualified. The same logic works for food: with that time in hand the plan fits inside it, who does what in how many minutes is written down, and the first half hour is not spent arguing.
- Keep the doors shut and stop entries; every opening shortens the time left.
- Establish whether the fault is power or the refrigeration system.
- Call the service and ask for an estimated repair time; the move decision follows from it.
- Identify the most sensitive product; the moving order comes from that.
- Bring the alternative cold area into use.
A full store warms more slowly than a half-empty one, because the mass of the product holds the temperature. Do not spread the load; keep it together and the doors closed.
The alternative area is not searched for during the failure. The WHO guidance asks for a plan to move product to a safe place before it is damaged if equipment cannot be repaired in time, and for emergency maintenance to be arranged within a period that does not put product at risk. The plan lists a second cold room, insulated containers prepared with charged eutectic plates or a working refrigerated vehicle, with phone numbers and capacities.
Temperature, time and decisions are kept in a single record throughout the failure; that record is what later shows sound product to be sound. The guidance also looks for responsible staff to know and have rehearsed the emergency scenarios. Test the plan once without a real failure and measure how long moving product to the alternative area takes.
