How to prepare your warehouse in case of a flood warning
Unfortunately, this next decade in Britain, flooding related insurance claims are likely to double in number and lacking in preparation could end up having devastating results.
Having insurance gives many people a false sense of security when it comes to instantly recover their financial losses. It's true that destroyed stock and damaged buildings can be adsorbed safely but that’s not where it ends. Overtime more losses will be incurred due to having to replenish stock and turn away workers while you have ongoing repairs and not only that but you there’s always the possible risk of damaging your reputation through a knock-on efficiency effects which in turn could cause loss of clients.
Flood damage can potentially cripple a business when combined with the disruption and destruction caused by the aftermath, insurance should be your first step in disaster preparation, not your only one.
Proactive preparation only becomes more and more essential as the frequency of flooding increases.
Preventing flood water damage in your warehouse
By drawing up a flood plan you can cover how you will ensure your staff, your hardware and your stock against immediate flooding. It's likewise essential to get ready for dangers to health from water that is tainted with sewage or risky synthetic substances and electrical dangers from wet equipment.
If your business is in a high-risk area for flooding you could:
- Store things at height were possible on high-rise racking
- Store paper documents in waterproof containers or again at a height
- If you can, park any vehicles on an elevated loading bay
- Raise your sockets, fuse boxes and wiring to an above the ground level.
- Fit flood guards to external doors and covers
- Invest in flood guards to be fitted to your external doors and covers
- Have non-return values installed to drainage pipes
Be sure to check that any products you buy are compliant with PAS-1188 requirements by looking for the kitemark.
Keeping your staff safe if your business floods
If your business floods and staff are in the building, there are a few things you can do to better ensure their safety:
- Keep your staff safe and warm in protective clothing such as rubber boots and water-resistant overalls.
- Turn the mains power off to avoid any electrocution risks
- Stick to your pre-planned evacuation tactics is the best way to get people out of the building safely
- In the case of contaminated water, make sure you get your staff to wash their hand and disinfect their garments.
Flooding is one of the most across the board catastrophic events in the UK, by setting up your barriers, you can assist with guaranteeing that your staff and business are sheltered and damage control is kept to the minimum. For more data or help with flood planning, look at the government’s guide to preparing your business for flooding.
The second most significant thing in the wake of being truly shielded from flooding is having frameworks set up to quickly make something happen in the occasion your safeguards are breached. Knowing precisely what stock you have and precisely where it's put away, will make indexing any harm done by flooding far quicker.
Giving your insurers exact details regarding what was lost, and comprehending knowing what you still have available to sell, could be the data that affects your business remaining above water, or sinking underneath the floodwater.