Do you remember the time that you walked into your offices on a Monday morning after a great weekend break to find that you were paddling due to flood damage from a mains water burst or worse a sewer burst that had flooded the entire building
What did you do?? Well below are a list of actions you need to take if ever faced with a flooded building.
1) Wear protective clothing – Appropriate footwear is vital as you may not know what you’re stepping on, so boots with protective, hard soles is a must. Try to ensure whatever you wear is waterproof. As you will soon find out that working with wet products especially in the winter zaps your strength.
2) Turn off the mains – Dependant on the amount of water damage you may need to ask for a qualified electrician to isolate the mains. But get the power turned off. By turning off the mains you remove electrocution risks.
3) If other employees have already entered the building you should evacuate them to a safe area. Most companies have an evacuation plan for this type of event. Put it into action ASAP. In the rush to evacuate it can be very easy to slip and fall due to flood water. It is important to evacuate in an orderly fashion to avoid any injuries. You should be careful of standing water as you can’t be sure how deep it is, or what’s underneath.
4) Watch out for exactly where the water came from. If this flood was not mains related it could contain foul water from the sewers. Pollutants can seep into the floodwater and diseases can develop and spread. Therefore it is extremely important to look after your own health and for those around you.
5) If faced with a foul water flood it will be obvious due to the smell. You can deal with this situation, however, you are now entering into a health and safety nightmare. Diseases and health hazards will be everywhere. Unless you are trained in decontamination this is the time that you speak to your insurance company and or look up a qualified company that will know what to do.
All of our teams at Rainbow-International.co.uk will know what to do and how best approach such a disaster.
We are available on 01375 847522 and will be happy to advise you what is the best course of action for the situation you are facing.
