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- Business Disaster Survival Guide
- Planning Process
- Hazards Analysis & Response
- Hurricanes & Tropical Storms
- Flooding & Flash Flooding
- Thunderstorms & Lightning
- Tornadoes & Water Spouts
- Wildfires
- Sinkholes
- Extreme Heat
- Emergency Water Shortage & Drought
- Winter Storms & Extreme Cold
- Agricultural Diseases & Pests
- Emerging Diseases: Pandemic Influenza
- Hazardous Materials
- Building Fire
- Power Service Disruption
- Terrorism
- Bomb Threats
- Building Explosion
- Chemical & Biological Weapons
- Cyber Attacks
- Radiological Emergencies
- Violence In The Workplace
- Sabotage, Fraud & Theft
- Loss of Key Staff
- Civil Unrest
- Workforce Disruption
- Adjacent Hazards
- Recovery & Mitigation
- Disaster Planning Wizard
- Exercises & Training
- Preparedness Information Center
Power Service Disruption
Power Service Disruption can be the result of a weather event, an accident or a terrorist attack. There are some physical measures a business can take to be prepared for power service disruptions (i.e., surge protectors or backup generation for critical equipment). As in the case of any other emergency, the business owner needs to address liabilities, risks and response activities in advance. An emergency plan can include some of the following measures:
- Facility
- Medical Emergency
- Facility Protection & Security
- Determine your threat level and communicate to employees.
- Employers are encouraged to develop a business security plan. Included in this plan should be security processes dealing with power outages/disruptions. For example, will you need security guards if your alarm system is not functioning?
- Be on the alert for fires and call authorities if smoke or fire is spotted.
- What to do if you have another emergency during the outage (e.g., material spill).
- What to do if water enters your facility. What equipment could you use when the lights come back on?
- Procedure for re-entering the building.
- Employee Field Work
- Inform personnel that any fallen wire is potentially hazardous.
- Inform personnel how to deal with a fallen power line on their car.
- Communications
- Inform the employees how they will be communicating with their supervisor or employer if they are in the field during a large-scale power outage.
- Publish a telephone number to be used by employees to call their supervisor and be prepared to provide reporting instructions.
- Make appropriate communication to your customers.
If your lights fail, first try checking your breakers or fuses. Re-setting the breakers or putting in new fuses may bring your lights back on. To reset a breaker, turn it to the OFF position, press firmly off, and then push to the ON position. If re-setting the breaker or replacing the fuses does not help, call your local electric utility. If using back-up generation, what are your procedures to avoid "backfeed"?
In the case of a medical emergency during a power outage, employees should seek immediate care at the nearest appropriate health care facility. Please note that some telephones require electricity and may not be in service during an outage. Businesses are encouraged to have a back-up communication plan in case of such an event.