While the planet was unbearably hot during summer, you’d think that winter would be a respite from the heat waves. But any extreme weather condition can be harmful to your health, and it could even affect your business. So, it would help if you prepared for the worst-case scenario when the weather gets too cold so you can still stay open without losing any customers. In the event that you need to close your business until the weather gets better, you should also know what you need to do to prepare for it.
Keep Your Business Warm During Winter
Whatever business you have — whether it’s a store or an office — it would be best to know how you can adequately prepare when the winter gets too extreme. From salting the sidewalks to heating, here are some essential things you should know of:
1. Communication is important.
The first thing you should do is listen to the news and pay attention to the weather report so that you will know what the weather will be like for the week. Of course, weather forecasts aren’t entirely accurate, but they can still give you an idea of what to expect so you can set your employees’ and customers’ expectations.
If the weather forecasts are showing an extreme winter storm on a specific day, let your employees and customers know that there is a chance you will be closed for those days. Posting this information on your social media and a sign in front of your store would help you reach more customers in no time.
During the days leading to the winter storm, you should also sprinkle some salt on the sidewalks in front of your workplace. Doing this would prevent any ice from being formed in those salted areas. In case ice has already formed, you can put up a sign that the sidewalks are slippery to avoid any accidents. Winter accidents are pretty common, and 24% of winter-related accidents happen when vehicles crash on snowy pavements, and preparing for it could help lower this figure.
2. Consider the electricity.
Blackouts will be common during this season, so you should check your power lines and see if everything is still good. It would also be beneficial if you have a generator in your workplace so that you would be able to continue operations if you decided to still be open during a storm and the power suddenly goes out.
There are many other things that are important for you to check, like your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, as your generator could produce some carbon monoxide when used. Make sure their batteries are still good and that you change them regularly. One more thing you should keep an eye out for is your heating. If they need any kind of maintenance, you need to hire emergency furnace repair services handy just in case you need their help.
3. Prepare for an emergency.
You would need to prepare for the event that you’re stranded with your employees and customers in your business during an extreme snowstorm that you decide to stay open. Being stranded could take hours up to days, so you should have a winter emergency first aid kit which has some essential items such as batteries, flashlights, candles, water, food, snacks, radio, toiletries, chargers, medications, first-aid kit, blankets, winter coats, etc. Having these items would allow you to stay safe and warm if you end up needing to wait out the weather.
4. Winter-proof your workplace.
Winter proofing your store or office, whether you’re closed or open during a winter storm, it would help if you could double-check every corner of your workplace to make sure every window is closed. If you decide not to go to work during the next few days, you should make sure that every machine is turned off to save energy and prevent any fire.
5. Have a plan B.
There are several reasons that you will need backup plans during winter. One of them is the chance of you not being able to resume operations or your workplace getting damaged by the winter storm. Another reason that you need a plan B is when you need to send and receive critical work-related letters and documents in the mail. Having a backup plan would ensure you that there wouldn’t be any interruptions in these emails.
Being ready for any accidents and disasters that winter could cause would help you minimize the damage and anticipate any problems. By doing this, you wouldn’t be caught unprepared.
