When it comes to natural disasters and preparedness, you can never be too proactive. While not everyone may live in hurricane prone areas, that is just one extreme condition that needs special preparedness as a facility maintenance manager.
Here are a few tips on how to prepare for extreme weather conditions at your facility.
Documents
One of the most important things to take care of other than the safety of your employees and/or guests at the facility is to secure your documentation in case it is needed for insurance purposes later. Equipment warranties, documents on employees, and records are just a few of the items you will need that can be destroyed in a natural disaster. By having these documents somewhere that is accessible other than one computer or in a filing cabinet, you can rest assured that everything is easy to find when you need it.
Security
It is important to secure your facility as best you can. Not every disaster has a warning time but in the case of flood or hurricane warnings, you do have a few days to prepare. One thing to make sure of is to protect your facility as best you can from water damage. If you can, a barrier of some kind can protect low-lying areas and if possible raise up any electrical equipment that can be moved. Make sure any leaks are taken care of and in the case of hurricanes, have boards on hand to protect windows. Your facility may be evacuated but you can help protect the building as best you can with the time allotted.
Work Plan
Have a work plan in place for your employees for afterward. This can mean having all of their contact information available at any location you may be (not just at work) and assigning special schedules if clean-up has to be done. It is better to have an idea of who may be needed and when so that your employees do not have to call in to check on a schedule during any chaos. Obviously, some may have evacuated and cannot come in but at least you will have an idea of who may be available and when they are needed.
Also read: Come Hell Or High Water: Maintenance Software
Emergency Kit
If you work at a facility that cannot evacuate, make sure you have emergency kits available for everyone that has to stay. This includes enough clean water to drink, food that won't go bad in a loss of power, and any supplies that will be needed. You should have enough supplies for a 72 hour period according to FEMA.
By utilizing CMMS, you can make emergency preparedness much easier because everything you need as far as documentation and scheduling is available remotely.
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