We all know that without electricity, business would likely come to a standstill. However, we often forget that we could experience an outage at any time. If you were to experience a power cut at work, what should you do?
Turn off computers and appliances
Although it may seem a little pointless at first, when there’s a power cut, be sure to turn off any computers or other sensitive appliances you may have been using prior to the outage.
Turning off these appliances will protect them from any possible power surges, which could damage them if they are left turned on. However, if you make sure you leave one light on, this will allow you to know right away when power is restored.
Check other buildings
If your electricity does seem to have cut off, before assuming the worst, be sure to check with other offices in the building, or any nearby buildings, if their power has also gone off.
If your neighbours still have mains electricity, there may just be a fault with the wiring in your building, or a fault with your appliances, as opposed to the local mains power. If this is the case, you should be able to remedy the situation fairly easily by calling out an electrician to identify the issue.
Call 105
If there does appear to be a power cut in your area, you can report the outage by calling 105, who will put you through to your local electricity network operator.
105 is a free service, available to anyone in England, Scotland and Wales, and can also be used to obtain information about a power cut so you can find out when you are likely to be back up and running.
Make others aware of the power cut
During a power cut, it’s likely that your office phones won’t be working, meaning that if you’re expecting any calls from clients or business partners, you should make them aware of the outage at the first opportunity and, where possible, arrange to speak on a different day.
Sending an email out to your key contacts/customers, and publishing posts on your social media about the power outage will also help to minimise any frustration from customers who may try (and subsequently fail) to get in touch while you’re not operational.
Backup power
If your mains power is cut off, but you have a standby generator installed onsite, it should start automatically to minimise the effects of the outage and prevent you from losing valuable business.
If you do use a generator while your mains power is off, make sure you either have extra fuel stored safely, or you use a provider who offers a fuel management service. This is especially important if you’re unsure how long your electricity will be off for as the last thing you want is to run out of fuel and be left in the same situation as you would be without the generator!
Are you prepared for a power outage?
From ensuring you have a process in place to make your customers aware of the situation, to choosing which temporary power provider you’d turn to in an emergency, are you and your business well prepared for a possible power cut?
If you do experience an unexpected power outage, learn about our emergency response, or give us a call, and your local representative will be happy to talk you through your options.
