5 Tips to Prepare Your Utility Crews for Hurricane Season
If you are involved in the utility industry, you might be concerned about hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th. Making sure that your crews are able to get out to restore power or other utilities is essential. These tips will help you prepare your crews for hurricane season so that you can provide your customers with the best and most prompt service.
1. Choose the Right Vehicles
Of course, no matter what type of vehicles your company might have, you will have conditions in which your workers will be unsafe if they get out on the roads. However, choosing heavy-duty vehicles higher off the ground is a good start.
Additionally, some vehicles have bigger gas tanks and can go further on just one tank of fuel, which is ideal during hurricane conditions when you might have a shortage of fuel or when your drivers might have a tough time getting to a fueling station.
2. Stay Informed About Local Road Conditions
You and your employees should always stay up-to-date on local road conditions throughout the area that you service. Then, you can avoid sending your crews out when conditions are too dangerous for them to be on the roads, but you can also look for safer routes and make sure that your crews head out as soon as they are safe to do so.
Working with local law enforcement, using navigation and road condition apps, and keeping an eye on the news will help you stay aware of which roads your utility workers can and cannot use before, during, and after a storm.
3. Set Up an Emergency Fueling Station
Fuel stations in your area might close down during the storm, and many fuel stations may run out of gas as people prepare for evacuations. Obviously, your utility crew can't get out and work without fuel in their work vehicles, but you do have a solution: setting up an emergency fueling station.
You can arrange for large tanks of fuel delivery to your shop or headquarters so that you will have ample fuel available for your utility company's needs, even if you have a fuel shortage in the area. Additionally, your workers will not have to worry about potentially coming to fuel stations that are closed, and they can avoid braving dangerous conditions to attempt to purchase fuel.
4. Hire Extra Workers
This might be the time of year when hiring additional workers to work for your business is a good idea. You will probably need to have more workers on each shift to help with preparing for the storm and dealing with downed lines and other issues.
Some workers also may not be able to make it to work because of dangerous conditions around their homes, so having other workers on standby who can come into work if needed is also smart.
5. Focus on Safety Training
You might have a talented and experienced team of workers who know how to do their jobs on a day-to-day basis, but many of these individuals might not be accustomed to dealing with tropical conditions.
Focusing on safety training for these workers is essential. After all, even though your workers should keep services on for your customers, your workers should always stay safe. Learning how to deal with dangerous road conditions and how to work on utility lines safely when weather conditions are less than ideal are all important.
Preparing your utility company for hurricane season can be challenging, but the tips above can help you get started. Then, you can make sure that your utility company is as prepared as possible for tropical conditions that might affect the area throughout this year's hurricane season. Call Paul Murray Oil, Inc., today to learn more.