Power outages may be a rare circumstance at your facility, but they are dangerous and costly. Storm-related power outages cost U.S. businesses between $20 billion and $55 billion every year. In Tampa, Florida, where MaintenX is headquartered, we are all too familiar with the impact of power outages due to hurricanes. Just last year our friends and neighbors in the Florida panhandle faced a devastating hurricane that caused power outages for weeks. And, not a year later, the Bahamas were hit with an equally devastating hurricane that knocked most of the island cities off the grid completely.
Because of this, MaintenX takes power outages very seriously. They are a detriment to our economy and way of life, and can cause serious ramifications to the individuals of our communities. We want to provide our clients and community fast-acting power outage solutions to prevent loss of revenue and comfort in the Tampa Bay area.
For small businesses, power outages are typically solved by closing shop and waiting for the city to resolve the issue. However, this leads to thousands of dollars in lost revenue. For medical and residential facilities such as hospitals, shelters, nursing homes, and hospice care, power outages are not an option. As the owner or facility manager, you must invest in planning for your power needs in the future, when the city’s power is unavailable. Here is what we recommend to create an outage plan:
Consider your specific business needs.
Your facility’s size, capacity, and daily operations will determine what power outage prevention measures you need to invest in. Not every facility has the same needs, and therefore you need to prioritize your power outage plan based on the following criteria:
- The health and life safety of individuals. Medical facilities or services that perform life-saving services should invest the most in power outage prevention. Emergency lighting, environmental controls, and temperature control for extremely hot or cold areas are second priority, to maximize the usability of your space during downtime.
- The importance of business operations. As part of your power outage plan, you should perform a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) to determine which operational processes are most critical to the continuity of your company. Some tasks, such as your marketing activities, can be put on hold while others cannot.
Based on your needs, determine the amount and type of backup power required.
Based on your business’ and individuals’ needs, you can then determine what power outage equipment is necessary for your facility. A backup power system for a hospital, for example, should be instantaneous. However, if you run a non-essential service-based business, you may be able to invest in lower-cost power outage equipment. Talk to your landlord to determine the best vendors for your specific needs.
Determine procedures for those functions that will not be supported by backup power.
Once you have ensured that critical business operations can continue without city power, you must create a plan for continuity of non-essential business functions. For example, you’ll need to communicate with staff if they need to come into work, how they should communicate to their supervisors without regular work communications, and how you will communicate with customers while your office or facility is out of use.
Determining your needs and your emergency power outage plan will put you one step ahead of recovering after a natural disaster or major storm. At MaintenX, we are here to help you plan, prepare, and implement your power outage plan for an affordable price. MaintenX provides emergency maintenance services as well as installation services for backup power sources. We want to ensure the safety and continuity of our community’s individuals and businesses.
Contact us today to learn more about our installation and emergency maintenance services.
