According to the Insurance Information Institute, the United States has about 3 major hurricanes during a typical year. Not only can these hurricanes damage homes and businesses, they can also cause issues with utilities. These include major power outages and other problems.
Do you want to learn more about how you can prepare your utility company for hurricane season? Keep reading this guide to minimize harm during these storms with proper storm preparation.
Plan Ahead
First, you need to make sure you are regularly planning ahead and updating your protocols. You never know when a hurricane is going to hit your area, so you need to prepare ahead of time.
Hurricane season runs from the beginning of June to the end of November. Actively preparing for storms in this season will allow you to effectively respond when the time comes.
Preparedness is essential if you want your company to be resilient during these storm emergencies. A plan will allow you to respond more quickly, accurately assess the damage, and find solutions for problems. It is important to continuously review your policies and find ways to improve your emergency planning.
Reach Out To Customers
Next, it is vital to find ways to contact your customers. During power outages, your customers will typically call your business to inform you of the power loss. However, in huge storms and hurricanes, there are many reasons why customers can’t contact you.
Whether they are displaced out of their homes, their phones are dead, or they don’t have access to a working phone, they will not be able to contact your business. Make sure you have alternative ways to communicate with your customers.
If phone lines are down, mobile apps or website may allow customers to reach out to utility workers. If you are unable to reach out to your customers directly, you can use other methods. For example, you may consider putting a press release in the newspaper or updating your website.
Practice Field Worker Safety
One of the most important things you can do to prepare for hurricane season is to practice field worker safety. While it is always important to practice safety on the job, hurricanes create much more dangerous conditions to work in.
Whether they are working in flooded or damaged areas or are dealing with dangerous electrical equipment, workers face more difficulties during and after storms. This means that your company must do what they can to prepare and protect its employees.
Give your employees protective gear, make sure they are up to date on tetanus shots, and do what you can to make sure your workers are safe in these hazardous conditions.
It is also vital that you teach your employees about the dangers of electrocution in the wake of hurricanes. By practicing field worker safety during the rest of the year, you can better protect your employees during hurricane season as well.
Collaborate With Others
After hurricanes and other storms, there may be severe damage. Especially with larger hurricanes, like Hurricane Irma, many people can be without power or displaced.
Because there is so much damage, it is virtually impossible for one local utility company to handle these issues on their own. One company likely doesn’t have the equipment or the manpower necessary to help every one of your clients.
To work more efficiently, it is important to collaborate with others. For example, you can meet with other power providers in your area, or even in another part of the country. When you have more manpower and more people working on utility issues, you will be able to restore power to your community much more efficiently. These voluntary partnerships are called Regional Mutual Assistance Groups (RMAG).
In your hurricane preparation, you may consider reaching out to other utility companies to offer support and to form emergency partnerships.
Have The Right Equipment
Finally, to be prepared for hurricane season, it is vital that you have the right equipment for the job! While you will likely have most of your equipment anyway, there are other tools that can help.
For example, having bucket trucks or other utility trucks can help you get hard to reach areas. The bucket at the end of a hydraulic pole allows your workers to safely reach the power lines and will prevent other injuries on the job.
Make sure each of your employees has access to the equipment they need to perform their job safely and efficiently.
Get Help With Hurricane Season Preparedness Today
While there is nothing you can do to prevent utility damage during hurricane season, it is vital that you do everything you can to prepare for it. Not only will this allow you to keep your employees safer, but it will allow you to work more effectively when the time comes.
If your company needs custom trucks or bucket trucks to help prepare for hurricane season, Custom Truck Source can help! We offer specialized utility trucks and other heavy equipment solutions that can help you be prepared for emergencies. Contact our team today to learn more about our products.
