Stay Safe During Winter Weather and Power Outages

5 min

During poor weather or power outages,

don't get left in the dark.

The best plans for power

outages and winter weather account for:

1. Safety

During a power outage, unplug electronics. Have a contingency plan for sending and receiving information during the outage: for instance, text alerts. For extreme winter weather, have a clear plan for notifying workers to stay home. Stay ahead of storm warnings to give employees enough time to prepare key files or laptops.

2. Business continuity

Be prepared to keep your business running under compromised conditions. Back up important data onto hard drives, and set a client communication plan if the outage affects work timelines or services you provide. Have a clear work-from-home protocol that includes team progress check-ins and a central resource to access and share work.

Are you ready for the next winter storm or power outage?

Download this checklist.

Time for a quiz.

The last time there was a winter storm in the office, Gary hadn’t prepared his team to work from home, and one of Gary’s colleagues slipped on ice while trying to access important files. What’s one thing that Gary and his colleagues can do now to prepare for the next storm?

Quiz 1 of 1

What can Gary and his colleagues do now to prepare for the next storm?

a

Designate an “office czar” who will brave any weather to help people access files throughout the day.

b

Set a system for backing up and accessing important files remotely so everyone can stay safe.

c

Create a “Made it in” bonus to encourage people to come into the office if at all possible.

d

Develop a clear system of time tracking for people to prove they got work done, even when unsupervised.

The correct answer is B.

Gary's team needs a remote work plan: when they're down to the wire, employees should never feel they have to compromise safety to finish their work.

During extreme weather and power outages,

you can protect yourself — and your work.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:

Are you ready to work remotely?

Don't let a storm slow you down – talk to your manager about setting up a remote work plan. That means making sure you have secure access to your work, tools to centralize and share work, and a plan for team checkpoints throughout the day.

Why People Don't Prepare for Natural Disasters

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