How to Deal with Unexpected Emergencies such as a Water Leak on your Business Premise.

One of the worst things that can happen during your day-to-day operations is a catastrophic incident such as a leak. Imagine if your bakery was running perfectly fine, only to be ruined by a burst pipe in your kitchen area that starts to flood the entire store. Or perhaps some old plumbing work unraveled itself, causing water leaks that disrupt your operations. Not only can this lead to an incredible loss of profit due to closing your store, but it might also affect your customers by giving them a negative perception of your business.

Something like a leak can be incredibly damaging, but it can affect virtually any business that isn’t prepared for it. What you do after could bolster your reputation and potentially even win you some new customers if you’re lucky. So here’s how to deal with a leak on your business premises.

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Identify the leak and contain it immediately

The first thing you should do is identify where the leak is coming from. If there is an obvious source of the leak, such as a burst pipe, then you should move to contain it immediately. This will help to prevent the water from spreading around your business, potentially towards where customers are. However, if you’re unsure where the leak is but know that there is excess water appearing in places that there shouldn’t be, then you may need to do a little searching around. Get your employees on it as soon as possible and prioritize maintaining your business operations if possible.

Get in touch with a local service

You’ll also want to get in touch with a local commercial plumbing company as soon as possible. This will ensure that they have ample time to reach you in an emergency situation, and it will drastically reduce the potential damage to your business. Make sure they offer some kind of emergency service because you want them to arrive as quickly as possible. While they’re on their way, you should dedicate your time to finding the source of the leak and containing it if possible.

If needed, communicate with your staff and customers

If the leak has already reached your customers, such as spreading to a dining area where they’re sitting, then you should immediately make a decision on whether you should evacuate the customers for their own safety, or if you should present them with that choice. For many high-end stores, it’s better to ask the customers to leave and let them know that there’s a problem within the store. However, if the leak isn’t too bad and there’s a very small chance of it spreading to somewhere they can see, then it might be better to just act as if everything is normal.
A mix of good communication and crisis management skills will help you through something devastating such as a water leak on your business premises. The key is to take immediate action to avoid the problem getting worse over time, while also thinking about your customers and how to best keep them safe and unaffected by it.