Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1406432
12 I PSAI Association Insight, September 1, 2021 Preparing for Weather Events (continued from page 11) If you live near a coast, you may be missed by a particular storm, but it is almost a sure thing that your market will be affected by hurricane sooner or later. If you are well inland, you will dodge these weather events but face other hazards from time to time including tornados, blizzards, wild fires, and ice storms. Nobody is in a hazards-free zone. Because of that, we hope all PSAI member companies already have a hazards pre- paredness plan that works for you, and you're ready to execute it if you should need to do that. Here are some easy steps to help you prepare for whatever might happen. • Check your insurance policy. Are you covered for the things you think you are? Are the limits high enough? If you've bought new equipment recently, or hired more staff, these things may need updating. Also be sure to ask about wind, flood, sink holes, and business continuity coverage. • Update your staff communication information. The worst time to find out you don't have up to date phone numbers is during an emergency. Try actually calling the numbers you have for your team and make sure they go through. • Check out your data backup procedures. You may think you have all this covered, but what if your office floods, burns down or blows away? Are you backing up to the cloud or some other off-site location? How quickly could you recover your data if you had to start from scratch? What would you do in the meantime? • Communicate with your customers. Send an email to cus- tomers, make phone calls, or talk to them personally about what to expect from your company when a storm is forecast for the area. Especially teach customers how they can help secure the portable restroom equipment on their property. Make sure to tell your customers what they need to know and do that will save your equipment and avoid dangerous situations. Be Ready to Roll After the Storm. When the hurricane – or whatever storm plagues you – is over, you'll want to be able to conduct business as quickly and completely as conditions allow. You may be able to pick up extra contracts as part of the emergency response and rebuilding efforts as well. So it is important that you hit the ground running, and that can happen if you take care of some things before the storm. • Check all your equipment in light of expected conditions and make adjustments or upgrades as needed. • Ensure you have enough consumable supplies on hand. You may need more than usual, and supplies may be interrupted for a while after the storm. • If feasible, consider pre-loading your trucks for fast dispatch. • Make sure all truck gas tanks are full and you have a source for gas that is not dependent on commercial suppliers. When electricity and the internet are down, you won't be able to get fuel at a gas station, even if it has a generator because their payment systems rely on the internet. • Identify and confirm a water source that is not dependent on electricity. • Anticipate disposal site issues and have a plan for disposing or temporarily storing waste until your provider can operate again. • Have ready cash. Your crew may not be able to use credit cards to purchase food or other supplies during a time when utilities are down. Communication is key no matter what extremes come your way. Your team, your customers, and your suppliers will all benefit from knowing what is going on at all stages of the process – and your company will thrive when everyone has the information needed to recover from the situation as quickly as possible. Here's wishing you all a safe ride through the weather.